Psalm 40:1-10 Dear RTB’ers, After two days of posts about David’s anger at God and his desire for a restoration of that relationship, we see a very different mood today: I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of …
Category Archives: RTB 2024 – Search the Scriptures, Part 1
November 24 / Psalm 39
Psalm 39 Dear RTB’ers, My NASB translation names this Psalm “The Futility of Life”. That sounds a lot like Ecclesiastes, and today’s reading does read a lot like Ecclesiastes, with a bit of Job sprinkled in: O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how …
November 23 / Psalm 38
Psalm 38 Dear RTB’ers, We cannot read David’s words today without feeling for him and whatever is troubling him, especially when his opening sentences speak of pain that the Lord has inflicted: …Your arrows, Your hand, Your indignation… (vv. 2,3a) But he quickly clarifies that he, himself is the source of his pain: …my sin, …
November 22 / Psalm 37:21-40
Psalm 37:21-40 Dear RTB’ers, The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way… (v. 23) We had an interesting discussion on the pronouns in this verse two years ago. Compare the two interpretations when we first have the Lord as HE, then again when we have the Lord as HIS: “…when …
November 21 / Psalm 37:1-20
Psalm 37:1-20 Dear RTB’ers, Fret not yourself because of evildoers… (v. 1a) Today’s first verse spoke to me, but in my teacher role, not in a personal way. I have a student who is weak in her economic background and is not doing well in class – but she has an obsessive concern for the …
November 20 / Psalm 36
Psalm 36 Dear RTB’ers, I can’t read today’s psalm without singing it in my mind. And the sung words say more than I could ever offer. Sing along if you know the song: Your steadfast love extends to the heavensYour faithfulness reaches to the cloudsYour righteousness is like majestic mountainsAnd your wisdom like the depth …
November 19 / Psalm 35
Psalm 35 Dear RTB’ers, Much of today’s Psalm is David speaking about his enemies, about how they are going after his life. There were, however, two verses that spoke to me differently. First, For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. (v. 20) …
November 18 / Psalm 34
Psalm 34 Dear RTB’ers, The header on today’s psalm reads “Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” I went to I Samuel 21:10-15 to provide more details on this header. There, however, the person to whom David is feigning madness is King Achish …
November 17 / Psalm 33
Psalm 33 Dear RTB’ers, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.” I feel like many/most/all of us look on the USA as a nation blessed by God. I certainly do. Two verses earlier David has this to say, “The Lord nullifies the counsel …
November 16 / Psalm 32
Psalm 32 Dear RTB’ers, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” (v. 8) How do we hear from the Lord? I daresay people have been asking that question for the two millennia since Jesus ascended. Our most straightforward answer …