Psalm 58 is very interesting! It doesn't appear to be very positive at first glance! If you look at different translations, though, it will become more clear. Look at verses 1-2 from the Amplified Bible:
1DO YOU indeed in silence speak righteousness, O you mighty ones? [Or is the righteousness, rightness, and justice you should speak quite dumb?] Do you judge fairly and uprightly, O you sons of men?
2No, in your heart you devise wickedness; you deal out in the land the violence of your hands.
Now let's look at the Complete Jewish Bible:
Ps 58:2-3
1 [Rulers,] does your silence really speak justice?
Are you judging people fairly?
2 [No!] In your hearts you devise wrongs,
your hands dispense violence in the land.
We can see here that David is talking to and about the rulers of the land! Doesn't that make a little more sense? Now for some real fun! Let's look at the same 2 verses from the Message Bible:
1-2 Is this any way to run a country? Is there an honest politician in the house?
Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil,
behind closed doors you make deals with demons.
Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil,
behind closed doors you make deals with demons.
Sounds a little like today, don't you think? Now let's look at verses 3-5 from the Amplified Bible:
3The ungodly are perverse and estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4Their poison is like the venom of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder or asp that stops its ear,
5Which listens not to the voice of charmers or of the enchanter never casting spells so cunningly.
These are a little easier to understand, especially because we see more clearly what the first 2 verses are saying. Now let's look again at the Message Bible for verses 3-5:
3-5 The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle;
their first words out of the womb are lies.
Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison,
drips from their forked tongues—
Deaf to threats, deaf to charm,
decades of wax built up in their ears.
their first words out of the womb are lies.
Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison,
drips from their forked tongues—
Deaf to threats, deaf to charm,
decades of wax built up in their ears.
That certainly sounds like some politicians we know! Verses 6-8 result from the righteous anger that rose up in David over these unjust judges that were causing the innocent to suffer and helpless people to be abused. David's words may seem a little harsh here, but remember that he is calling on God to avenge the innocent. The precedence for this is found in Deuteronomy 32:35, Hebrews 10:30 and Romans 10:19. Romans 12:19 says:
19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God's] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord.
We see the results of God vindicating the righteous in verse 11:
11Men will say, Surely there is a reward for the [uncompromisingly] righteous; surely there is a God Who judges on the earth.
Then again from the Message Bible:
Everyone cheering, "It's worth it to play by the rules!
God's handing out trophies and tending the earth!"
God's handing out trophies and tending the earth!"
Isn't it fun to really study the Word of God? I love the way the Word ALWAYS pertains to today! Sometimes it seems as though it was written just for our time! Thank You, Lord, for Your Word!
In Mark 2 we see that so many people had already heard of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and were coming to see and hear Him that you couldn't get close! The people had needs and wanted them met! One of my favorite stories in the New Testament is found here. The story is about the paralytic whose friends were so desperate to see him delivered that, when they couldn't even get close, went up on the roof, dug a whole in it and lowered their friend down in front of Jesus! Do YOU have such good and faithful friends that would risk their reputation and possibly their lives to see to it that you were ministered to? Are YOU such a friend? Would you risk everything to make sure that all of your family and friends know the Way to Salvation? We all need to BE that person! AMEN! What were the results of their love and persistence? Let's look at verses 5 & 11-12:
5And when Jesus saw their faith [their confidence in God through Him], He said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven [you] and put away [that is, the penalty is remitted, the sense of guilt removed, and you are made upright and in right standing with God].
11I say to you, arise, pick up and carry your sleeping pad or mat, and be going on home.12And he arose at once and picked up the sleeping pad or mat and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and recognized and praised and thanked God, saying, We have never seen anything like this before!
And remember that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever! (Hebrews 13:8)
In Exodus 25 we see the Lord instructing Moses to take an offering of the people. Remember all of the spoils that the Israelites took from the Egyptians? We said that they would need some of these things for the building of the Tabernacle! Let's look at verses 1-8:
1AND THE Lord said to Moses,
2Speak to the Israelites, that they take for Me an offering. From every man who gives it willingly and ungrudgingly with his heart you shall take My offering.
3This is the offering you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze,
4Blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen and goats' hair,
5Rams' skins tanned red, goatskins, dolphin or porpoise skins, acacia wood,
6Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense,
7Onyx stones, and stones for setting in the ephod and in the breastplate.
8Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
I found out something very interesting in my study this time! The King James Bible says "badger skins" in verse 5. The Amplified Bible says "goatskins, dolphin or porpoise skins". When I did a little study on this from the "Theological Workbook of the Old Testament", I found this:
OT:8476
Since the badger is rarely if ever seen in Sinai, and since Arabic
tu-as
"dolphin, " seems to be cognate to Hebrew
taµaš
, most recent commentators translate the Hebrew word as "dolphin, porpoise, dugong" or the like (RSV "goat, " though not impossible, lacks cognate language support, as does KJV "badger"). The bottle-nosed dolphin (
Tursiops runcatus
) is found in the eastern Mediterranean, while the dugong (
Dugong dugong
) is plentiful in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba; the skin of the latter is still used by Bedouin to make sandals (see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, United Bible Societies, p. 22). If (as seems likely) the
taµaš
was the outermost protective covering of the tabernacle (see especially Num 4:25), the skin of a marine animal like the dolphin or dugong would have been eminently suitable, both for its toughness and for its waterproofing properties.
The dugong is similar to a manatee. Doesn't that make so much sense? Isn't it fun what a little study will dig up? I love it! The rest of Exodus 25-26 shows the instructions given to Moses for the precise building of the Tabernacle. It is very interesting to see how every detail is given. Our God is in the details! I am so glad He is! That gives me added confidence that He has thought of everything! AMEN! Keep reading with that in mind and it will be very hard to be bored!
Shalom in Him!
