Sarah laughed ]to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Genesis 18:12 NASB Pleasure – By this time you know the definition of hapax legomenon. You also know that such words are extremely difficult to translate. Context helps. Guesswork is good. But in the end, we don’t…
“With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; surely every man is a mere breath.” Selah. Psalm 39:11 NASB Precious– By now we should have noticed that David’s vocabulary pushes us back into the history of Israel. From allusions to Moses, we returned to Egypt. From Egypt we made our…
Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments. Psalm 112:1 NASB Blessed – Congratulations! You who follow God’s instructions are blessed. Of course, that doesn’t mean you have all the measures of success in this world. The psalmist might go on to say that those…
“but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:24 NASB Delight – The psalmist declares that YHVH will provide us with the desires of our hearts….
Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 NASB Delight – Now we know that this verse is not about getting what you want, at least not until what you want has been transformed by what God wants. But that still leaves us with a question….
But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. Psalm 115:3 NASB Whatever – Richard Nisbett’s book, The Geography of Thought, is a contemporary study of ancient differences in worldviews. Contrasting the Western Greek view with that of the Chinese, Nisbett’s analysis demonstrates that our “world” is hardly uniform in conception or observation….
For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. Psalm 51:16 NASB Do not delight – Does David declare the end of sacrifices? Does he state that God is not interested in slaughtered animals on altars? If we read this verse as it is translated,…
Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His will. Psalm 103:21 NASB Will – What does it mean to do God’s will? We often think it must mean fulfilling His commandments and ordinances or listening to the guidance of the Spirit or acting in righteous ways. But I’m not so…
I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word. Psalm 119:16 NASB Delight – Moses Luzzatto published Mesillat Yesharim in 1740. His insights into the relationship between righteous acts, joy and obligation are just as important today as they were two hundred and fifty years ago. Luzzatto argued that human beings are…
“Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?” Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers. Isaiah 58:3 NASB Find your desire – This evening we begin Yom Kippur. Fasting is appropriate on the day…
