APRIL 1, 2025 Psalm 85:8-9 Let them not turn back to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. According to Jewish tradition, when God spoke to Sinai, the sound of His Voice purged the evil inclination from the people. More than once, Scripture describes His voice as being […]
MARCH 31, 2025 Psalm 85:8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints. When Israel awoke on the morning on the third morning after arriving at Mount Sinai, the Bible says that the mountain was engulfed in a thick dark cloud. There were lightnings […]
MARCH 29, 2025 Psalm 85:6-7 Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation. As we discussed in the previous devotion, in Jewish thought, exile from the land of Israel is akin to death because it is emblematic of being separated from God. […]
MARCH 28, 2025 Psalm 85:6-7 Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation. It is understood by Jewish commentators that the psalmist’s question concerns Israel’s exile and being scattered among the nations. Throughout the Scripture, exile has been the worst possible outcome […]
MARCH 27, 2025 Psalm 85:1-2 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah There are several times in Scripture where the word “captivity” is used when speaking of God’s people returning to the land […]
MARCH 26, 2025 Psalm 85:1-2 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah This psalm begins on a very interesting note; it connects the fertility of the land with the return of God’s people […]
MARCH 25, 2025 Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. As stated above, God will not withhold good things from His people. But this notion prompts the question: What do we consider good and what does our Creator regard as good. When […]
MARCH 24, 2025 Psalm 84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. In verses leading up to this statement, the psalmist considered that those privileged to dwell in God’s House were the most blessed of […]
MARCH 23, 2025 Psalm 84:3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. The Jewish commentator Ibn Ezra provides a unique perspective on this verse. He interprets the Hebrew word דרור d’ror — rendered above as swallow — to mean “free one” or […]
MARCH 21, 2025 Psalm 84:1-2 How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. In the Hebrew version of the Bible, the very first letter of the Scripture is the letter beit, which is symbolic of a house […]
MARCH 20, 2025 Psalm 83:15-16, 18 Pursue them with Your tempest and frighten them with Your storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O Lord…that they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth. Many are the enemies of Israel […]
MARCH 19, 2025 Psalm 83:9 Deal with them as with Midian, as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the Brook Kishon. In the verses leading up to this statement, Asaph lists ten nations who entertained thoughts of taking for themselves “the pastures of God for a possession” (Psalm 83:12). As he sees this great conspiracy taking shape, he appeals to Heaven […]
