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When comfort abandons us and earthly props crumble, the soul rises on wings of intercession toward Yahweh.
Our Lord entrusted His gospel to merely twelve apostles—destitute of human learning, worldly influence, and secular power.
Each represents a distinct posture before the throne of the Almighty.
First, the object of love is clear: "Thy commandments"—not the psalmist's own desires or the world's counsel, but the very Word of Elohim *theos* (God).
First, consider your *private* ways—those moments in solitude when no eye observes but Yahweh's.
Some have even become atheists in practice, though they claimed faith in theory.
These two graces mutually reveal and react upon each other in the penitent heart.
While absent from the Psalms until this passage, it surfaces repeatedly in later books: 2 Chronicles xxxvi.23, Ezra i.2, v.11–12, vi.9, vii.12–23, Nehemiah i.4, ii.4, Daniel ii.18–19 and 44, and Jonah i.9.
The psalmist approaches Scripture not as mere literature but as the utterance of Elohim *Theos*—God Himself.
First, *believing prayer* speaks of deliverance and help, looking to God alone as the sole source of rescue.
His enemies occupied positions of influence and control.
The Hebrew word *mashal* (similitude) carried the weight of mockery—so completely had the nation's condition deteriorated that "a miserable man" would be called "a Jew" in contempt, just as liars were branded "Cretans" and wretched slaves were named "Sardians." This...
Buffon noted that humanity's essential nature remains constant: "Every circumstance concurs in proving that mankind are not composed of species essentially different from each other; that, on the contrary, there was originally but one species." While external conditions—climate, sustenance, disease,...
The Lord expects to hear from you before you can expect to hear from Him.
The Almighty does not merely tolerate the godly; He loves them as His dearest friends, entrusting them with His very secrets.
If Adonai values our salvation so deeply, why does He withhold His hand and permit our enemies to rage?
The original word *El* — meaning 'the Mighty One' — establishes God's supreme power and authority.
He prayed: "Lord, let thy blessing so accompany my endeavours in their breedings, that all my sons may be Benaiahs, the Lord's building, and then they will all be Abners, their father's light; and that all my daughters may be...
First, the MODEL of prayer demands wholehearted engagement.
He observed that many servants labor in obscurity, their virtues unnoticed by earthly masters, yet their work is recorded in the ledgers of Almighty Adonai *—* the Lord God.
The psalmist cries, "Let thy mercies come unto me"—he opens the door of his heart and welcomes divine comfort as one would receive honored guests.
He prays because his brothers dwell in Jerusalem—their physical presence matters to him.
Augustine offers a remedy that transforms daily life into continuous worship.
Consider the steadfastness of nature itself, dependent utterly upon God's ordinances *mishpatim*—His decrees and established laws.