Today’s Word

Familiar Obscurity

God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds.   Psalm 71:17  NASB I still – The Hebrew word is just a tiny add-on, ʿad, stuck in the middle of ve-ăd- hēnnāh (“and still”) I declare.  You can see that there’s something odd about this.  Hebrew uses two words (ăd- hēnnāh) to…
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Update on baby Malaki

Rosanne and I are on the way back to Parma. Last week I spent three lovely days with baby Malaki. He was alert, hungry, and being a typical baby. However, it is too soon to tell if he will have ongoing complications from the hematoma, so continued prayers are needed. The big test comes at…
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Wallflower Witnessing

I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.  Psalm 71:16  NASB Make mention – What do you think about the choice “make mention” for the verb zākar?  Does it capture the feeling of this verse?  Not for me!  “I will come with the mighty deeds”…
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Now Hear This

My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the art of writing.  Psalm 71:15  NASB Art of writing – A bit ironic, don’t you think?  According to this translation, here is a poet writing that he doesn’t know the art of writing.  Does that make sense?  Everything thus…
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Outliers

But as for me, I will wait continually, and will praise You yet more and more.  Psalm 71:14  NASB But as for me – The Mosaic Code seems to exhort fundamental conformity and compliance.  After all, how much freedom can a man enjoy when there are rules for everything: what to eat, what to wear, how…
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Public Enemy Number 1

May those who are enemies of my soul be put to shame and consumed; may they be covered with disgrace and dishonor, who seek to injure me.  Psalm 71:13  NASB Shame/ disgrace/ dishonor – Before the Greeks invented reward and punishment in the afterlife, Semitic societies focused ethical attention on contemporary experience.  Cut off from the Egyptian preoccupation with the…
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