march 10 bible reading

Today’s Old Testament chronological reading is in Leviticus 8 and 9.

The Psalms/ Proverbs reading is in Psalm 70.

The New Testament reading is in Luke 6.

Psa 70:1-5 {p} Chiastic structure.

Hebrew root words.

A pairs: To deliver; my deliverer.

To deliver. Strong’s H5337 נצל natsal, “to draw out, to pull out” (of danger).

Deliverer. Strong’s H6403 פלט palat, a primitive root meaning, “to slip away, to escape.” The 3-letter root is pey + lamed + tet.

pey פ ף = mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge
lamed ל = shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind
tet ט = basket, thus surround, contain, hold, mud

To open (pey) a way out of the bindings (lamed) which surround and hold back or still (tet). As we saw with Psa 23, YHVH is my Shepherd, literally, YHVH shepherds me, this is another case where a verb is being used as a noun in the translation.

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B pairs: to help, my help.

To help. Strong’s H5833, ezrah, a concrete noun meaning, “aid, help, succor;” from Strong’s H5828, ezer, a concrete noun meaning, “one who helps, a helper;” from Strong’s H5826 עזר azar, a primitive root meaning, “to help.”

My help. Strong’s H5828, ezer, a concrete noun meaning, “one who helps, a helper;” the same as above.

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C pairs: make haste, the same verb in both instances.

To make haste. Strong’s H2363 חוש chuwsh, a primitive root meaning, “to hurry.” The 3-letter root is ghah + vav + shin, as per the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, the modern chet was transposed from an original ghah.

ghah § = rope, thus twisted, goat, dark, negative
vav ו = tent peg, thus add, secure, hook
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again

The story: When a negative (ghah) anxiety or worry is added to (vav) pressure (shin) to accomplish something, then one makes haste.

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The D pairs are so instructive. In the front of the structure, the enemies do three things:

1) They SEEK after David’s soul.

2) They DELIGHT in any harm coming to him.

3) They SAY, “Aha! Aha!” – the gotcha equivalent.

David’s prayer is that they are 4) ASHAMED and ABASHED when their desires are thwarted.

In the back of the structure, the verbs are repeated, but in the context of what the Lord’s people do in the face of the evil desires of the wicked.

1) They SEEK Him.

2) They LOVE His salvation as opposed to delighting in harm coming to anyone.

3) They SAY, “Let God be magnified.”

David’s prayer is that they 4) REJOICE and are GLAD regardless of circumstances, because God is with them is implied.

To seek. Strong’s H1245 בקש baqash, a primitive root meaning, “to search out, to strive after.” The 3-letter root is pey + quph + shin, as per the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, the modern bet was transposed from an original pey.

pey פ ף = mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge
quph ק = on the horizon, thus condense, circle, time
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again

To turn (pey, as the lip of a bowl is a turned edge) and concentrate (quph, as light leaves the earth and sky and is concentrated to the sun when it is on the horizon), pressing in (shin) to a goal.

To delight. Strong’s H2654 חפץ chaphats, a primitive root meaning, “to bend, to incline favorably.” The 3-letter root is chet + pey + tsadey.

chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
pey פ ף = mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge
tsadey צ ץ = trail, thus a man concealed, journey, chase, hunt

The wall (chet) is opened (pey) in order to conceal (tsadey) something precious within, as a safe.

To love. Strong’s H157 אהב ahab, a primitive root meaning, “to desire, to breathe after.”

To say. Strong’s H559 אמר amar, a primitive root meaning, “to say.”