For there is nothing trustworthy in their mouth; their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Psalm 5:9 NASB Open grave – Remember “enemies” from the previous verse? When we read Psalm 5:8, we might have thought that David described those who brandished the sword, who wanted to kill him. But…
Lord, how my enemies have increased! Many are rising up against me. Psalm 3:1 NASB Have increased – I want to take this out of context. Why? Because there’s something important here that is not related to the physical enemies David faced. There are other kinds of enemies. Most of us don’t live in a war…
I was tranquil—he shook me to pieces, seized my nape and broke me apart, set me up as a target from Him. Job 16:12 Robert Alter Shook me to pieces – If you’re reading Job, remember this: don’t look for answers, listen to the feelings! If you read with the expectation that you will tease…
Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. Psalm 119:98 NASB Than – We need to pay close attention to the Hebrew text here. מֵאֹֽיְבַי תְּחַכְּמֵ֣נִי מִצְוֹתֶ֑ךָ כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם הִיא־לִֽי The opening word is from the root ʾāyab (to be an enemy), but it is the preposition (the prefixed min) that…
They have surrounded me like water all day long; they have encircled me altogether. Psalm 88:17 NASB They – Suddenly, a change. Through seventeen verses the psalmist has decried God’s absence. His lament holds Godresponsible for the sorry state of his life, for the nearly impossible burden he must carry, for the approach of death. But now,…
We have become a disgrace to our neighbors, scorn and contempt to all round us. How long, O LORD, will You rage forever, Your fury burn like fire? Pour out Your wrath on the nations that did not know You and on the kingdoms that did not call on Your name. Psalm 79:4-6 (Hebrew Bible)…
But of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; and the Most High Himself will establish her. The Lord will count when He registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah Psalm 87:5-6 NASB Born there – The psalmist’s assertion that all citizens of the Kingdom will carry “born in Zion” passports…
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite. Psalm 7:1 (Hebrew) NASB translation Shiggaion – What is a shiggaion? Oh, and why should we care? First, let’s notice how Christian translations handle this Hebrew word. The NASB footnote defines it as “Dithyrambic rhythm; or wild, passionate song,” The NIV…
So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and…
Lord, how my enemies have increased! Many are rising up against me. Psalm 3:1 NASB Enemies – Have you noticed how often the psalms speak about enemies? This verse from the third psalm is just one example. Psalms 4 and 5 contain the same idea, and, of course, so do many, many others. These psalms are…
