Dignoscentia

There is a passage in Romans chapter 7 that had a huge impact on me during a recent reading. I have to share it, because I think it represents perfectly every Christian’s struggle to stay close to God and obey His Law. The words resonated deeply with me, even though I read that passage plenty […]

This psalm is a warning to the wicked rulers and judges of Israel, who, in the writer’s own words, “give unjust judgments and uphold the prestige of the wicked” (verse 2). It addresses its audience in the voice of God.
It starts by portraying God as sitting in the “divine assembly” and giving judgment, and verses […]

I can’t help thinking as I read this psalm that the author is praying in vain. It’s like crying for spilled milk. The deed is done, you can’t bring back the old times. Focus on the future, and work in the present with a view of that future.
You may wonder why I’m so cruel […]

The prayer of a down and out man is recorded in this psalm. It is a lament, where the author recounts the injustices done to him because of his steadfast belief in God, and asks God for divine rescue, as well as retribution against his enemies. The NJB calls this a Messianic psalm, but I […]

This psalm is rightly called a “harvest song”. It is a prayer of thanks, that once again calls our attention to the complete dependence of Israel’s agrarian society and economy upon God. More on this in my comments on Psalm 65. But here, in Psalm 67, we see the results of those pre-harvest prayers: “The […]

This is the prayer of a Levite in exile, longing to be restored to God’s Temple. I like the metaphor used in the second verse to refer to the Temple, namely, “the high rock”. We meet this image throughout the Bible when referring to God’s Word, or to Jesus Christ - the two being the […]

A tone of wailing can be heard throughout this psalm. Pain and defeat are confessed, and help is asked of God. It’s a tortured prayer, after a battle that’s left Israel in a pretty sorry state. “God, you have rejected us…” the author cries out. A better exclamation would have been, “God, what have we […]