january 15 bible reading

Today’s Old Testament chronological reading is in Job 17 and 18.

The Psalms/ Proverbs reading is in Psalm 15.

The New Testament reading is in Matthew 11.

The Psa 15 chiastic structure has these two bookends for the A pairs:

1A) 15:1 YHVH, who SHALL SOJOURN in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell upon Your holy mountain?

2A) 15:5B He that does these things SHALL NEVER BE MOVED. {p}

How on earth are they matching pairs? To sojourn is the same as to settle down and stop moving from place to place as a nomad. It signifies a dwelling place, that is, HOME. He is home. Who knew home was a person and not a place?! This is why living in the kingdom (Mat 10:7-10) is all about our journey freely giving kingdom works to those in need.When home is a person, we need not fear the journey, or the duplicity of men, for we are always home, and stable, unmoving, steadfast.

Hebrew root words.

A Psalm of David. YHVH, who shall sojourn in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell upon Your holy mountain? Psa 15:1

sojourn. Strong’s H1481 גור guwr, a primitive root meaning, “to sojourn.” The 3-letter root is gimel + vav + resh.

gimel ג = the foot, thus foot, walk, gather
vav ו = the tent peg, thus add, secure, hook
resh ר = the head of man, thus head, first, top, beginning, man

The story: The partial root is gimel + resh, the walking (gimel) man (resh) or nomad, sojourner, traveler. In his heart however, is a secure tent peg (vav), a place to cease from wandering. He is always looking for it.

*****

tabernacle. Strong’s H168, ohel, a concrete noun meaning, “nomad’s tent;” from Strong’s H166 אהל ahal, a primitive root meaning, “to shine.” The 3-letter root is aleph + hey + lamed.

aleph א = the ox head, thus strength, power, leader
hey ה = man w/ raised arms, thus look, reveal, wonder, worship, breath
lamed ל = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind

One looks up (hey) at the stars to guide them (lamed) on the way. The story is of the destination at the end of the journey, for the strong (aleph) shining (hey + lamed) is the light of home to which the “distant shining” of the stars guided the traveler.

*****

He that does these things shall never be moved. Psa 15:5b

be moved. Strong’s H4131 מוט mowt, a primitive root meaning, “to totter or shake.” The 3-letter root is mem + vav + tet.

mem מ, ם = the water, thus chaos, mighty, blood
vav ו = the tent peg, thus add, secure, hook
tet ט = the basket, thus surround, contain, hold, mud

The story: Mem (water) added (vav) within (tet, as a basket’s contents are contained within it), so one of the cognate words from this root is a green branch. The green branch contains water within it. Something green is still flexible; it can be shaped to the desired shape and then left to dry. Once the water is removed it is no longer flexible, it retains its shape, or becomes unmoving. To be moved is to be shaken as a green branch moves back and forth in the wind.