{"id":82757,"date":"2020-11-07T18:11:41","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T16:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=82757"},"modified":"2020-11-07T18:11:41","modified_gmt":"2020-11-07T16:11:41","slug":"points-to-ponder-psalm-39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-psalm-39\/","title":{"rendered":"Points to Ponder – Psalm 39"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  1. Nice to meet you, Jeduthun.<\/em> The psalm opens with the heading \u201cFor the leader; for Jeduthun.\u201d In another 274 chapters, in I Chronicles 16, we will meet Jeduthun, one of the levitical musicians in First Temple\u00a0 times. Perhaps there is a connection, or perhaps Jeduthun is a sort of musical instrument, or some other musical term.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. A chorus from Ecclesiastes.<\/em> The recurrent refrain in verses 6 and 12, \u201cno man endures any longer than a <\/span>hevel<\/span><\/em> breath\u201d sounds like it is taken directly from Ecclesiastes, whose motto is \u201cUtter <\/span>hevel<\/span><\/em> futility!\u2014said Koheleth\u2014 Utter futility! All is <\/span>hevel<\/span><\/em> futile!\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Job, similar yet different<\/em>. In another 145 chapters we will meet a man in a similar situation. Job suffers, and at first remains silent, and does not sin with his words, but then opens his mouth in existential reflections. But, though Job is critical and insists that the suffering he is experiencing is not just, the psalmist justifies the judgement against him: \u201cI am dumb, I do not speak up, for it is Your doing\u201d (verse 10) – and he only asks for a pardon.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Two sides to every shadow\u2026<\/em> \u201cMan walks about as a mere tselem<\/em> shadow; mere futility is his hustle and bustle…\u201d (verse 7). Right at The Beginning, 605 chapters ago, Genesis 1, the human was created in the <\/span>tselem<\/em> image of God. But this <\/span>tselem<\/em> is a passing shadow (<\/span>tsel<\/em>) in the world. What is the psalmist trying to tell us when he specifically chooses this word, <\/span>tselem<\/em>? Is he mourning how far we are from being godlike? Or is he comforted, and comforting, that despite that our transience in this world, we are the creation that is closest to the divine image?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","image":{"ID":53645,"id":53645,"title":"general-qs-points to ponder","filename":"general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-chapter-9\/general-qs-points-to-ponder\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"general-qs-points-to-ponder","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":53644,"date":"2019-04-13 21:49:41","modified":"2019-04-13 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