“Speak to the sons of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sin which he has committed, . . . “ Numbers 5:6-7a NASB Is guilty – Are you guilty? Well, that depends. Is guilt a forensic condition or…
Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. Psalm 51:14 NASB Guilt of Bloodshed – Notice how Chabad translates this Hebrew verse: Save me from blood, O God, the God of my salvation; let my tongue sing praises of Your charity. Chabad There is a…
Behold, I was brought forth in guilt, and in sin my mother conceived me. Psalm 51:5 NASB In guilt/ in sin – We’ve looked at this crucial verse several times. If you’re interested in how it was mis-used to justify a doctrine of original sin and sinful nature, then you may want to review the previous…
For I know my wrongdoings, And my sin is constantly before me. Psalm 51:3 NASB Constantly before me – What’s it like to live with constant reminders of your mistakes? What if your worst sins were never forgotten, never faded away? Douglas Murray’s comment about the omniscient, unforgiving internet is a terrifying specter of living in…
Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2 NASB Guilt/ sin – “This time I will praise the Lord.” So said Leah (Genesis 29:35) on the birth of Judah. But “praise” isn’t the only derivative of this Hebrew word, yādâ. It can also mean “confess, give thanks.” It is the…
Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2 NASB Guilt/ sin – Jonathan Sacks makes a very important point about guilt. Do you remember? “. . . Judaism is overwhelmingly a guilt rather than a shame culture. Shame attaches to the person. Guilt attaches to the act. . . In…
Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2 NASB Wash/ cleanse – David employs two verbs in this verse. They don’t mean the same thing. The first, translated “wash,” is kābaš. “This root occurs fifty-one times, all in verbal forms. Of these, all but nine appear in the Pentateuch, thirty-one…
Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings. Psalm 51:1 NASB Wipe out – Do you know the pseudepigraphical “Prayer of Manasseh”? Perhaps you should. Here it is: O Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous…
And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25 ESV Naked – In the last 200 years of the great Portuguese Empire, Portugal imported nearly 6 million African slaves to its territories in the New World. The British and the Portuguese accounted for nearly 70% of all trans-Atlantic slavery. …
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. Joshua 7:6 NIV Tore/ fell/ sprinkled – These three actions indicate the gravity of the situation. Joshua never expected to have any losses at all in the…
