But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. Exodus 9:34 NASB Sinned again – “Although Pharaoh has said earlier that he sinned, the text has never before characterized Pharaoh’s change of mind in that way. Why, all…
“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7 NASB Master – “To be sure, we sin. Each of us has a yetser, an impulse to evil,…
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; Romans 6:6 NASB Done away – So when did you stop sinning? Weren’t you symbolically crucified with the Messiah? Doesn’t that mean that…
Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:1 NASB Stayed – The story is so well known that…
If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! Psalm 139:8 ESV If – David’s famous poetic line expresses the impossibility of escaping God’s concern. David is the precursor to Paul’s similar passage in Romans 8. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. But…
But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.’ Deuteronomy 3:26 NASB On your account – John Maxwell aside, the role of the biblical leader is not so wonderful. It’s easy for us…
We are generally (perhaps deliberately) unaware of the giant chasm created by the smallest of sins and the demands of God because the Church has taught us that we are under grace and therefore the tiny sins don’t really matter. They are simply errors in judgment. If my greatest sins can be easily forgiven by…
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17 NASB Broken and contrite – How would you recognize a broken and contrite heart? Is this just some kind of inner psychological state, a feeling you experience? Is it spiritual depression or humility?…
Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Psalm 51:9 NASB Hide – What does God know about you? Everything. That means He knows all your faults, all your sins, all your rebellious acts. Since God knows all these, do you think it possible for Him to stop knowing them? Can…
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7 NASB Purify me – The key to correctly translating this word is hyssop. If we understand the history of hyssop, then we can comprehend David’s request. Otherwise we are left with a very odd verb,…
