Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Habakkuk 1:3-4 NIV Tolerate – What is the subject of the second question in the NIV translation? “You.” That pronoun stands in the place of “God.” If the…
Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Habakkuk 1:3-4 NIV Make me look – “A startled, tormented man is Habakkuk. He is…
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NIV Pure – Scrubbed! But not just on the outside (although that is also included). At least that’s the way we usually think about a “pure” heart. We are reminded of Yeshua’s insight about the exterior and interior of the pot. The Hebrew verb is ṭāhēr. The verb…
While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. Genesis 29:9 NASB Shepherdess – Today is my daughter’s birthday. I remember with incredible clarity the day she was born. I was there when she took her first breath. So tiny, so fragile—and loved beyond anything I could have imagined. This was, and is, one…
“Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their wrongdoing, and to the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1 NASB Wrongdoing – What do you really want? What is so important that everything else pales by comparison? What is the one thing you absolutely must have…
For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. Ecclesiastes 3:19 NASB Fate – In Hebrew, the word miqreh comes from…
Your Attention Please The four noble truths – Abraham Heschel wrote: “Only intense self-reflection—at least as powerful as the conditions and falsehood it sought to transcend—could alleviate corruption. As such, this cure arrived at Truth by way of authenticity; it required unrestrained introspection, reflection. This search for increasing, progressive intensity is usually distasteful to man,…
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; Philippians 2:12 NASB Work out – I distinctly remember the conversation. We were discussing the various philosophical ideas about the nature of time. I pressed the other person to reconsider how…
Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom, instruction, and understanding. Proverbs 23:23 NASB Wisdom – A little etymological investigation shows us why “wisdom” is a subset of Truth: The main synonyms are bîn, bînâ, and tĕbûnâ. The verb bîn is used more widely to mean “consider,” “discern” “perceive,” but the nouns are close synonyms to ḥokmâ and are used especially in Prov and…
Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom, instruction, and understanding. Proverbs 23:23 NASB Do not sell – The verb is mākar. Kaiser comments: “One passage uses the verb figuratively, ‘buying the truth and selling it not’ (Prov 23:23). Perhaps the Israelite king, Ahab, illustrates that passage, since ‘he sold himself to work wickedness’ under the…
