Author The author of Hebrews is anonymous, and unlike the Gospels (which are also anonymously written), there is no longstanding tradition that supports any particular figure. This has left theologians throughout church history to make their guesses. The most popular suggestion is Paul, which is why Hebrews is placed alongside Paul’s epistles, and despite what …
The law of your mouth is better to methan thousands of gold and silver pieces. Psalm 119:72 ESV The psalmist has already expressed a variation of this idea in verse 14, saying, "In the way of your testimonies I delight, as much as in all riches." He will also return to this theme in verse …
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Their heart is unfeeling like fat,but I delight in your law. Psalm 119:70 ESV This verse is a continuation of the previous verse, making the subject of the first half the insolent who smeared the psalmist with lies. Now the psalmist explains that they hurl their lies at him because of their unfeeling hearts. We …
You are good and do good;teach me your statutes. Psalm 119:68 ESV This is a marvelous verse and a mighty confession for all of God's people to make alongside the psalmist. First, he confesses a deep truth regarding God's nature: God is good. As with all of God’s attributes, we must take care not to …
Before I was afflicted I went astray,but now I keep your word. Psalm 119:67 ESV A painful reality is expressed by the psalmist in this verse. God afflicts His people for their own good. A strain of hedonistic thought has wormed its way into the church that if God is truly good then He will …
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I am a sucker for reader's Bibles, that is, Bibles without chapters and verses. As a lover of the English Standard Version, I regularly use the six-volume edition and the individual volumes of Psalms and Proverbs. But when Crossway (the publisher of the ESV) released a boxset of the four Gospels and a volume of …
Teach me good judgment and knowledge,for I believe in your commandments. Psalm 119:66 ESV Having begun stanza teth by rejoicing in God’s good dealing with him, the psalmist now continues his prayer by making a petition: teach me good judgment and knowledge. This is a petition that all of God’s people ought to make alongside …
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You have dealt well with your servant,O LORD, according to your word. Psalm 119:65 ESV With this verse, we now move into the ninth stanza of Psalm 119, wherein each verse begins with the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, teth. This first verse very fittingly summarizes the overall theme of the stanza, namely, God’s …
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If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 1 Corinthians 8:2 ESV Paul is writing here to Corinthian believers who are still "infants in Christ" (3:1) yet confidently trust in their knowledge. They apparently think that Paul had no reason to write to them about eating …
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You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. John 5:39-40 ESV The Pharisees of Jesus’ day held the Scriptures in high esteem. They believed them to be the …
B. C. Newton 