Hearing Hosea’s Proleptic New-Covenant Call to Repentance

Overview: When Hosea says, “Repent!” is he talking to me?
In this paper I attempt to unpack the covenantal dynamics of Hosea’s call to repentance in Hosea 14. My goal is to help modern readers of Hosea apply the call to repentance within today’s dispensation of the covenant of grace: the church age, or the time [...]

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To be Planted by Grace – Psalm 1:3a

(To see the Hebrew text you need the free Ezra SIL SR unicode font.)
Psalm 1:3a, Part 2
 
We have seen that the blessed man is like a tree. Now the text invites us to explore further into the nature of the blessings attained by “treeness.”
שָׁת֪וּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵ֫י מָ֥יִם
Specifically, the blessed man is like a tree which “was [...]

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Simile in Psalm 1:3a

(To see the Hebrew text you need the free Ezra SIL SR unicode font.)
Psalm 1:3a
וְֽהָיָ֗ה כְּעֵץ֘ שָׁת֪וּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵ֫י מָ֥יִם
“He is [or will then be] like a tree, transplanted by channels of water,”
WCP Verb: “He is [or will then be]” (וְֽהָיָ֗ה)
Following Futato’s grammar (p. 164) on the use of a WCP verb ( וְֽהָיָ֗ה) that [...]

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Meditating on God’s Torah: Psalm 1:2b

Psalm 1:2b1
 
וּֽבְתוֹרָת֥וֹ יֶהְגֶּ֗ה יוֹמָ֥ם וָלָֽיְלָה׃
“and on His [Yahweh’s] Torah he [the blessed man] meditates both day and night [at all times].
To Meditate (יֶהְגֶּ֗ה)
The whole of verse 2 is a poetic line with two parallel cola. (See Futato’s Interpreting the Psalms, pp. 26ff., for more on the structure of Hebrew poetry.) So, we have to think [...]

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Delighting in God’s Torah: Psalm 1:2a

Psalm 1:2a1
כִּ֤י אִ֥ם בְּתוֹרַ֥ת יְהוָ֗ה חֶ֫פְצ֥וֹ
“but in the Yahweh’s Torah is his [the blessed man’s] delight”
The reasons why the blessed man has been described negatively with three “does not” phrases in verse 1 is now made plain in verse 2: the blessed man has a different delight. The force of the contrasting conjunction (כִּ֤י אִ֥ם) [...]

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Scoffers’ Seat: Psalm 1:1c

Psalm 1:1c1
וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֜צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב׃
“and in the assembly of the scorning ones [he] does not dwell.”
The seat, or assembly, (מוֹשַׁ֥ב) spoken of here is not a plastic or wooden or any other kind of chair. Rather, the language is regal; it refers to “a sitting or even an assembly of officials … [such as] … [...]

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The Way of the Wicked: Psalm 1:1b

Psalm 1:1b1
וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד
“…and in the way of sinners [he] does not stand”
As we enter the next phrase of v. 1, we begin to see a pattern in the Hebrew text. The person who is blessed by God is the one who (a) avoids a fealty-motivated, loving (i.e. loyal) action within (b) a [...]

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Blessed is the Man: Psalm 1:1a

Psalm 1:1a1
אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ
The first words of the Psalter are aimed at our hearts: “Happy/blessed is the man….” God wants our hearts to be full, satisfied, delighted, and overflowing with praise. The Westminster divines understood this well when they framed the purpose of life in a question: What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief [...]

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Starting into the Psalter in BHS

(Note: In order to view the Hebrew text in this post you will need the free Ezra SIL font.)

As I thought about how to approach sitting in the Psalter’s slow-cooker, I figured it makes sense to begin at Psalm 1. But before jumping in, I had to look up the Hebrew title to the Psalter: [...]

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A Revolution of Praise: The Psalter in a Slow Cooker

 

Today I begin the seminary project for which I am at once excited and afraid. The assignment for my worship class (with Dr. Reggie Kidd) is to spend at least 2 hours per week journaling through the Psalter, using as much of my Hebrew language skills as possible. The professor wants us to spend some [...]

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