Leviticus 25 / Psalm 25

Leviticus 25

1 - 7 The Sabbath Year

Every seventh year is a sabbath of liberating respite for Hebrew slaves. (This is where we get Sabbaticals for professors, etc.)

8 - 55 The Year of Jubilee

This is the 50th Year following 7 Jubilee years. During the Jubilee year, the land regulations of the Sabbatical year are to be observed, as is also the commandment "You shall return every man unto his possession" (10), indicating the compulsory restoration of hereditary properties (except houses of laymen located in walled cities) to the original owners or their legal heirs, and the emancipation of all Hebrew indentured servents whose term of six years is unexpired or who refuse to leave their masters when such term of service has expired (Gen. 18:6).

Psalm 25

Confident Prayer for Forgiveness and Guidance

1 - 7 The psalmist promises to wait for the Lord's guidance. He asks the Lord to "remember no more the sins of my youth" and to "remember me only in the light of your love."

8 - 15 "All the paths of the Lord are faithful love toward those who honor the covenant demands." (10).

16 - 22 The psalmist asks for an end to his anguish.

My notes: Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such acrostic poems are often a series of statements only loosely connected. The final verse begins with the Hebrew letter pe added to the normal 22-letter alphabet. Thus the letters aleph, lamed, pe open the first, middle, and last lines of the psalm. Together, the spell aleph, the first letter of the alphabet.

Leviticus 24 / Psalm 24

Leviticus 24

1 - 4 The Lamp

Aaron shall set up the lamp in the tent of the meeting, outside the curtain of covenant. My notes: "Since the lampstand stood inside the sanctuary, its greater sanctity required the use of pure oil and also required it to be lighted by a high priest."

5 - 9 The Bread for the Tabernacle

Instructions on preparing 12 loaves of bread.

10 - 23 Blasphemy and Its Punishment

My notes: "Blasphemy means spaking contemptuously of God, for which there is no stated penalty (Ex 22.28). It must involve the actual offense of uttering the sacred name of God (YHWH)." The combination of the two warrants the death penalty.

Psalm 24

Entrance Into the Temple

1 - 2 Everything belongs to the Lord

3 - 6 Question: Who can enter the temple? Answer: Those with clean and pure hearts, who don't worship what is false and don't swear deceitfully (this would be a good thing to ask of ourselves before we go to church). This kind of person will receive the blessing.

7 - 10 The Lord is the King of Glory!

Leviticus 23 / Psalm 23

Leviticus 23

Appointed Festivals

God tells Moses of His appointed festivals: the Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread, The Offering of the First Fruits, the Festival of Weeks, the Festival of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Festival of Booths.

Psalm 23 (KJV!)

1 - 3 The imagery is of the Lord as a shepherd taking care of His people.

4 Even though times are frightening, the Lord comforts the psalmist with His Rod and Staff (His guidence)

5 - 6 The Lord as host - His goodness and mercy follow the psalmist rather than persecutors.

Leviticus 22 / Psalm 22

Chapter 22

1 - 16 The Use of Holy Offerings

Aaron and his sons are directed to deal carefully with "sacred donations" so that they "may not profane (God's) holy name."

17 - 32 Acceptable Offerings

Aaron and his sons are directed be sure of the acceptability of offerings. (be sure the cattle don't have blemishes, etc.)

Psalm 22

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Spoken by Jesus on the cross (Mt 27:35; Jn 19:24).

This one's pretty intense. It's amazing how the psalmist takes his misery and turns it into praise for God. I see why Jesus liked it enough to remind us of it on the cross.

1 - 12 The psalmist contrasts his current woe with God's past mercy.

13 - 22 Enemies surround the psalmist

23 - 27 An invitation to praise God

28 - 32 The whole world praises God

Leviticus 21 / Psalm 21

Leviticus 21

The Holiness of Priests

From my notes: Priests must avoid corpses (contamination can come from merely being in the same room as a corpse - see Numbers 19.14). Impurity lasts for seven days (Num. 19.14, 16) and can only be eliminated by being aspersed with the ashes of a red cow. There is no prohibition against coming in contact witha corpse (it is assumed that one may bury the dead).

Psalm 21

Thanksgiving and Assurances for the King

2 - 8 Thanksgiving for the victory of the king

9 - 14 A Promise that the king will triumph over his enemies

My notes state, "The king's confident prayer and trust in God enable him to receive the divine gifts of vitality, peace, and military success. When kings ceased in Isreal after the sixth century B.C., the paslm was sung of a future Davidic king.

Leviticus 20 / Psalm 20

Leviticus 20

1 - 27 Penalties for Violations of Holiness

My notes: "The penalties for illicit sexual relations are graded according to their severity: death by humans (10 - 16), death by God (17 - 19), childlessness (20 - 21). Of illicit worship of God, only Molech worship and oracles through mediums are singled out, the former because of its monstrousness and the latter because of its prevalence."

Psalm 20

Prayer for the King in Time of War

2 - 6 The psalmist prays for the king before battle. The Psalmist asks for divine help.
7 - 10 He expresses confidence that help will be given. The last verse refers to the first.

Leviticus Nineteen / Psalm Nineteen

Leviticus 19

1 - 35 Various Laws

• Honor your parents and avoid idols - Keep the commandments (2 - 4)
• When you offer the well-being offering make sure it's acceptable (5 - 8)
• Reap to the edges of the fields (don't waste) Save some grapes for the pooer (9 - 10)
• Don't steal, lie, or take the Lord's name in vain - Keep the commandments (11 - 12)
• Don't defraud, steal, or make fun of the deaf and blind (13 -14)
• Don't be unjust, treat the poor and great the same, don't profit by others' blood (15 - 16)
• Don't hate (including grudges and vengeance) (17 - 18)
• Don't mix animals, sow two kinds of seed on the same field, or put on a garment made of two materials (!) (19) My notes: "God separated everything according to its species. The human world should mirror the natural world. Israel, therefore, may not mix with other nations, but be holy, set apart for God."
• Rules regarding punishment / retribution for having sex with a slave (20 - 22)
• When to eat the fruit in the land (23 - 25)
• Avoid consuming blood, witchcraft, rounding off the hair at the temples, or marring the edges of your beard, No cutting or tats. (26 - 28)
• Don't prostitute your daughter, plus keep the Sabbath and reverence in the sancutary (29 - 30)
• Avoid Gandalf and Dumbledore (31); Respect your elders (32)
• Be kind to aliens (33 - 35)
• Don't cheat when measuring stuff (35 - 37)

Psalm 19

God's Glory in the Heavens and the Law

The Heavens are telling the glory of God Click here for Haydn!

1 - 7 The sky seems to glorify God - the sun comes out like bridegroom, runs across the sky like an athlete. (Think of the "son" rising like a bridegroom as well)

8 - 12 God's Law is perfect

13 - 15 The psalmist asks for cleansing from his unknown faults - (The "son" did this as well) Good line to memorize - 15: "Let the words of my mouth meet with your favor, keep the thoughts of my heart before you, Lord, my rock and redeemer."

Leviticus Eighteen / Psalm Eighteen

Leviticus 18

1 - 30 Unlawful Sexual Relations

6. My NRSV says, "None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness." I read this to be a soft way of saying "Don't have sex with" (Hey look - that's how the NIV states it.

22. There it is!

24. Don't defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices I am casting before you have defiled themselves (My notes remind the reader of Adam & Eve, Cain, Noah's generation - "Here, however, the pollution is confined to the Land of Canaan. Therein lies the theological basis of the holy land, namely, that all who reside on this land, including all aliens, must observe God's prohibitive commandments"). Whoa.

Psalm 18

Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors

1 - 4 3. My God, my rock, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!

5 - 20 The description of God's saving reminds me of the creation story.

21 - 31. The psalmist is very sure that he has kept the laws of God, and therefore God has saved him. 26 - 27 "Toward the faithful you are faithful; to the honest you are honest. Toward the sincere, sincere; but to the perverse you are devious (This is NAB - my NRSV says, "with the crooked you show yourself perverse). This is Freud's theory of projection - we hate (love) in others what we hate (love) in ourselves.

32 - 35 The Psalmist praises God and how he "trained my hands for war" - prepared him for his tests.

36 - 46 The psalmist praises God for how he helped vanquish the enemy.

47 - 51 The psalmist praises the Lord - 47: The Lord lives! Blessed by my rock! Exalted be God, my Savior!

Leviticus Seventeen / Psalms Seventeen

Leviticus 17

1 - 9 The Slaughtering of Animals

Whoever kills a sacrificial animal outside of the sanctuary is guilty of murder (3 - 4).
Sacrifce to goat-demons is abolished (5-9)

10 - 16 Eating Blood Prohibited

Aliens are prohibited from eating blood (for it is the life of the flesh is in its blood). Persons who eat flesh that dies of itself or by being torn my wild animals must wash themselves or they shall bear guilt.

Psalm 17

Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors

1 - 5 The psalmist asks God to hear his pleas for he is righteous.

6 - 9 The psalmist declares his love for God.

10 -15 The enemies press upon the psalmist, and the psalmist asks the Lord to strike them down.

Leviticus Sixteen / Psalm Sixteen

Leviticus 16

The Day of Atonement

My notes: "The annual Day of Atonement for the sanctuary and people. (Chapter 16 follows chapter 10 - thus 11 - 15 are an insert listing the specific impurities that will contaminate the sanctuary). The impurities of the sanctuary are eliminated by purification offerings. The iniquities of the people are eliminated by the confession of the high priest over the dispatched goat while the people fast."

Psalm 16

A "mitkam" of David (there are six of these, always with David. The meaning is unknown)

The Lord is the Portion in Life and the Deliverer in Death

1. Keep me safe, O God; in you I take refuge.
2 - 4 God is good and false gods are worthless and multiply sorrows.
5 - 6 God has given the psalmist his portion and secured his destiny.
8. (good verse) I keep the Lord always before me; with the Lord at my right, I shall never be shaken.
9 - 11 The psalmist is glad for God will not abandon him to Sheol. 11. You will show me the path to life, abounding in you in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.

Leviticus Fifteen / Psalm Fifteen

Leviticus 15

Discharges Causing Uncleanliness

Be sure to make yourself clean after discharges. 'Nuff said.

Psalm 15

Description of a Citizen of Zion

1. Who may abide in your tent? Hey, this reminds me of two things! First, the description of the tabernacle in Exodus as a tent. Second, listen to Jesus in John ch. 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

2 - 5. Here are the qualities:

• Walk with integrity (2)
• Work righteousness (2)
• Speak truth in your tongue (2)
• Do NOT slander with your tongue (3)
• Do NOT do evil to your neighbor (3)
• Do not take up reproach against your friend (3)
• Despise reprobates (4)
• Do not swear to your own hurt (keep oaths) and not change (4)
• Don't lend money at interest (5) (take advantage of the disadvantaged)
• Don't bribe the innocent.
• He who does these things will never be shaken

Leviticus Fourteen / Psalm Fourteen

Leviticus 14

1 - 57 Purification of Scale-Diseased Persons and Houses

My notes: "Three separate purificatory ceremonies are required for a healed scale-diseased person: for the first day (2 - 8) for the seventh day (9, and for the eight day (10-32). They constitute a rite of passage whereby a person is successfully reintegrated into the community."

Also: "(49 - 52) For the cleansing of the house, only the first-day rite for scale disease is required since the impurity generating since the impurity generated by the house is not strong enough to contaminate the sanctuary from afar."

I'm starting to itch. What I continue to get out of these passages is the importance of keeping the sanctuary holy.

Psalm 14

A Lament over Widespread Corruption

1 - 3 Those who deny God are fools. When God looks down to see if one is wise, he sees that there is not even one (We are all sinners).

4 - 6 Will the evildoers never learn? They devour my people as they devour bread. (This could be about the bad influence of our culture). They should fear because the God is with the company of the just. 6 . . . The poor have the Lord as their refuge.

7. My note: "Israel . . . Jacob - The righteous poor are identified with God's people."

Leviticus Thirteen / Psalm Thirteen

Leviticus 13

1 - 59 (!) Scale Disease, Varieties and Symptoms

I imagine they didn't have dermatologists back then, so that's why the priests got involved. My notes: "The priest is instructed to identify and isolate those afflicted with scale disease, traditionally, but not properly translated "leprosy" (Hansen's disease). It is mainly a noncontagious condition, probably vitiligo or, less likely, psoriasis. Scaling is the common denominator of all theskin ailments described in ch. 13, as follows: boils (18 - 23), burns (24 - 28), infection of the hairy parts of the head (29 - 37), tetters and normal baldness (38 - 41) and impure baldness (42 - 44).

My line to memorize today is 40: "If anyone loses the hair from his head, he is bald but he is clean."

Psalm 13

Prayer in Time of Illness

The psalmist begins with a feeling that God has abandoned him. Then he askes God to look upon him so that his enemy does not rejoice in his death. Finally, he declares his faith in God. 6. I trust in your faithfulness. Grand my heart joy in your help, That I may sing of the Lord, "How good our God has been to me!"

Leviticus Twelve / Psalm Twelve

Leviticus 12

1 - 8 Purification of Women after Childbirth

Good information for me to know (especially since I'm having a boy) - He should be circumcised on the eighth day. After the days of purification, the mother should bring a lamb for sacrifice in the first year for burnt offering (and a pigeon or turtledove for sin offering).

Psalm 12

Prayer Against Evil Tongues

The psalmist prays for help from liars. "Those who tell lies to one another speak with deceiving lips and a double heart."

The Lord says (6) "I will grant safety for whoever longs for it."

Leviticus Eleven / Psalm Eleven

Leviticus 11

We begin a section on "Laws Regarding Legal Purity" My notes say 11 - 16 deal with four sources of impurity: carcasses (11), childbirth (12), scale disease (13-14) and genital discharges (15) "The common denomenator of these impurity sources is that they stand for death. Blood and semen represent the forces of life and their loss, death. . . Since impurity and holiness are opposites, it is incumbent upon Israel to prevent impurity, or, at least, to control its occurence, lest it impince upon the sanctuary, the realm of the holy God."

1 - 47 Clean and Unclean Food

Don't eat animals with divided hoofs, cleft foot and chews the cud, specifically, camels, rock badgers, hares, pigs. Do eat everyting in waters with fins and scales. (my notes say "Fish - alone among the creatures - were not named by Adam" There's a long list of birds not to eat and winged insects - so locusts are okay (I hear they are good with honey).

Psalm 11

Confidence in the Presence of God

1 - 3 Take refuge in the Lord, for where can you go when times are tough.

4 - 6 God watches. 5 "The Lord tests the good and the bad" hates those who loves violence, and punishes evil.

7. The Lord is just and loves just deeds; the upright shall see his face.

Leviticus Ten / Psalm Ten

Leviticus 10

(Over the weekend, I bought the New American Bible from Unclaimed Baggage for $1.00!)

1 - 5 Nadab and Abihu

Aaron's sons offer up "profane fire" before the Lord and they are killed. They are buried in their tunics with no shroud or funeral.

This is a pretty sad story. I imagine that these young men were more interested in playing with the fire than worship.

6 - 11 Conduct of the Priests

The Lord forbids Aaron and his sons to drink any wine or strong drink before going to the meeting tent so that they can "distinguish between what is sacred and profane." He also commands them to teach the Isrealites "all the laws that the Lord has given them through Moses."

Again, worship should be solemn. Also teaching scripture is important.

12 - 20 The Eating of the Priestly Portions

Aaron doesn't eat the sin offering and it upsets Moses. Aaron answers that since the misfortune had followed him, eating the offering wouldn't have pleased the Lord. Moses is satisfied.

Psalm 10

A continuation of the 9 (Thanksgiving for Victory and a Prayer for Justice)

1 - 2 The psalmist wonders how God distances Himself from the troubles of the poor.

2 - 11 The psalmist wonders why the greedy and those who deny God succeed. Still, "The helpless are crushed, laid low . . ."

12 - 15 The psalmist asks the Lord to rise up and not to forget the poor - to "Break the arms of teh wicked and depraved" and make them account for their crimes.

16 - 18 The psalmist ends by praising God and reaffirming how the Lord listens to the needs of the poor. "You win justie for the orphaned and oppressed; no one on earth will cause terror again."

Leviticus Nine / Psalm Nine

Leviticus 9

My notes: "On the eighth day following the week of consecration, the priests begin their official duties. They offer up special sacrifices for the people that the glory of the Lord may appear. Indeed, the whole purpose of the sacrificial system is revelation, the assurance that God is with his people. However, God's presence is never assumed to be a coefficient of the ritual performed; it is always viewed as an act of his grace."

Here's a little riff off of that passage (I doubt it reflects that passage): We worship God, but it is by His grace that he hears us. It is by His grace that sacrificed God Jesus for our sins. He didn't sacrifice His Son so that we would worship Him. Our salvation is God's gift to us - it is up to us to accept that gift.

Psalm 9

God's Power and Justice

This is pretty neat: My notes: "Pss 9 and 10 are to be read as a unit for several reasons . . . In Hebrew, they generally follow an alphabetic acrostic pattern in which every other verse begins with a successive letter of the alphabet beginning with the first leter in 9.1 and the final letter in 10.17. " Pretty neat. Sometimes I wished I had studied all of these languages so I could see all the little nuances.

1 - 2 "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart"

3 - 10 Thanksgiving for God is a righteous judge

11 - 12 A call for praise: "Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion. Declare his deeds among the peoples. (I looked up Zion in Wikipedia - it is "is often used metaphorically, to symbolize Jerusalem and the Promised Land come, in which God dwells among his chosen people")

15. Again, "the nations have sunk into the pit that they made." Ain't that always the way?

20. "Put them in fear, O Lord; let the nations know that they are only human." It's time for people to remember that they aren't in charge - that God is.

Leviticus Eight / Psalm Eight

Leviticus 8

1 - 36 The Rites of Ordination

Hey! We're back to the story! God tells Moses to take Aaron and his sons and assemble a congregational meeting. Moses conducts the inaugural service, and Aaron and his sons perform the tasks as Moses commands.

Psalm 8

Divine Majesty and Human Dignity

My notes say this is a "hymn of praise for God's exaltation of the human creature."

2. Even babies sing the praises of God!
3 - 4. Looking at the heavens reminds the psalmist of God's glory - he wonders why God would take interest in humans!
5 - 8. Yet God made humans just a little lower than God and gave them dominion over the earth.
1 & 9 repeat the refrain, "O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Any glory of man comes from God.

Leviticus Seven / Psalm Eight

Leviticus 7

11 - 38 Further Instructions

My notes: This chapter discusses "the types of well-being offering and their taboos (11 - 21), the prohibition against eating suet and blood (22 - 27), the priestly share of the well-being offering, set aside by the donor (28 - 36), and the summation (37 - 38)

Psalm 7

Plea for Help Against Persecutors

My notes: "A prayer for help of a person who has probably been falsely accused of some wrong."

1 - 2 The psalmist prays to God for refuge from pursuers or "like a lion they will tear me a part; they will drag me away"

3 - 5 The psalmist tells the Lord that if he has committed the crime, then let the enemy take him.

6 - 8 The Lord shall be the final judge. "The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and the integrity that is in me." We should live a live in order that we will welcome the Lord's judgement.

9 - 11 The psalmist prays for evil to come to an end. Line to memorize: "God is my shield, who saves the upright in heart."

12 - 16 What will happen to one who does not repent . . .

17 The psalmist ends by giving thanks to the Lord.

Leviticus Six / Psalms Six

Leviticus 6

8 - 29 Instructions Concerning Sacrifices

My notes (again): Supplementary instructions for sacrifices. Since the well-being offering is eaten chiefly by the donor, the rules pertain mainly to him. Otherwise they are the concerns of the officiating priest. The subjects are altar fire (8 - 13), the manner and place for eating the grain offering (14 - 18), the daily grain offering of the high priest and the voluntary one of the officiating priest (19 - 23), safeguards in sacrificing the purification offering (24 - 30), and the ritual for the reparation offering (7:1-7)

Psalms 6

Prayer for Recovery from Grave Illness

My notes (the first of seven penitential psalms - 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143)

1 - 5 The psalmist asks God for mercy and healing

6 - 7 The psalmist shares his pain

8 - 10 The psalmist is certain that God has heard his prayer and warns "workers of evil" to depart for "All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame."