Friday, 25 May 2018

Sacrifice of praise

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Let's start with this blessing ...

Psalm 20:2-3 "May Adonai answer you in the day of trouble! May the Name of the God of Jacob set you up securely on high. May He send you help from the Sanctuary and support you from Zion."

There are four promises from God in these 2 verses.

First, but almost incidentally, I want to point out that the beginning of verse 2 in the Hebrew Bible appears as the last part of verse 1 in most Christian translations. (Please don't ask me why because I don't know.)

Getting an answer in the day of trouble? Priceless! The Hebrew word for trouble is Tzarah (where we get the word for leprosy). This is also where we get the Yiddish word for trouble, tsuris. God promises to answer and in the TLV (Tree of Life Version), He will "set you up". The amplified is that God will "set you securely on high". Two blessings in two verses.

Now in verse 3 we get another promise, "God will send help from (what the Hebrew refers to simply as a place called) 'the Holy'". Then in the last part of verse 3 (in a better translation than "support"), we pray God will sustain you from Zion. The connotation of support or sustain is that God will "provide a meal" for you that will give you nourishment, and strengthen you.