Psalm 97:10 Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
אֹהֲבֵי יְהוָה שִׂנְאוּ רָע שֹׁמֵר נַפְשֹׁות חֲסִידָיו מִיַּד רְשָׁעִים
For those of you that do not speak Hebrew, that second verse is also Psalm 97:10. Please note the lack of punctuation. While I do not read Hebrew, I can see that it does not contain English punctuation.
Would the use of periods in verse 10 render a different meaning where a colon and semi-colon are used? In the past I have allowed men to argue their position on scriptures by pointing out the placement of colons and semi-colons in scripture. Is that the right attitude considering such punctuation wasn’t used in the original language?
While I would need a degree in the Hebrew language to translate the original text to another language, I do not need a degree of any sort to understand the spirit of the Word. I do not need to use punctuation to prove a point. (pun intended)
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
I sit before scholars and teachers and preachers and evangelist, but when I listen to them I listen for the Holy Spirit. If you ask me how I can do that, I must say I cannot teach you that. The Holy Spirit speaks through the bible. If we allow our only source of Holy Scripture to be in the form of the speech of men, then we are cutting off the source of speech of the spirit.
Proverbs 19:15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep
Given without punctuation, without distraction, allowing the word of truth to speak for itself.
A wise man once said, “Eat the mean and spit out the bones”
We’ll never hear the perfect sermon, the perfect testimony, the perfect teaching.
Unless we:
“Preach the Word”
This was the advice given to an assistant pastor many years ago. He wanted to be truthful, helpful, not condescending, etc. from behind the pulpit. The simple advice “Preach the Word” didn’t come from the senior pastor. It came from an elderly man from the congregation who’d painted the walls, put down the carpets, built the chimney. But he knew truth and the source.
That makes it all rather simple in the end, doesn’t it?
Ern, the elderly man had a heart for the lost. The simple gospel is the hope of salvation. Once saved there is a work to be done and simple preaching falling on simple ears does not a great work make. Babes need to learn to use the ears to hear.
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.