Tehillim / Psalms 124, ספר תהילים קכד, Part 1, The God of Life, not the God of Death

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In this week’s study from Tehillim / Psalms 124:1-8, the psalm opens saying א שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת לְדָוִד לוּלֵי יְהֹוָה שֶׁהָיָה לָנוּ יֹאמַר-נָא יִשְֹרָאֵל: A song of ascents. Of David 124:1 ‘Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,’ Let Israel now say, (NASB) The psalmist asks the question, had the Lord not been on our side, to get us thinking about what life would be without the Lord. The Psalm continues saying, ב לוּלֵי יְהֹוָה שֶׁהָיָה לָנוּ בְּקוּם עָלֵינוּ אָדָם: ג אֲזַי חַיִּים בְּלָעוּנוּ בַּחֲרוֹת אַפָּם בָּנוּ: 124:2 ‘Had it not been the Lord who was on our side When men rose up against us, 124:3 Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us; (NASB) The concept being put forward here is that Evil men do not understand justice, and for such persons, the fellow man is in danger of being consumed in the flames of one’s sin. The Psalm describes this in the following way, ד אֲזַי הַמַּיִם שְׁטָפוּנוּ נַחְלָה עָבַר עַל-נַפְשֵׁנוּ: ה אֲזַי עָבַר עַל-נַפְשֵׁנוּ הַמַּיִם הַזֵּידוֹנִים: 124:4 Then the waters would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; 124:5 Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.’ (NASB)

Read more here: Tehillim 124-Part1

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Dr. Duane D. Miller received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron Ohio. He is currently a Chemical Engineering Researcher. Duane’s research expertise has focused upon functional materials development for the control, conversion, and release of process gases in Energy production technologies. His R&D interests include computational chemistry, developing novel technologies for converting biomass to fuels and studying their fundamental interactions during the chemical conversion process. His past experience includes sorbent development for pre- and post-combustion CO2 and SO2 capture, selective absorption of H2S from methane streams, O2 capture for oxy-fuel combustion, photocatalytic reduction of alcohols, NOx reduction catalysis, the development of oxygen carriers to combust fossil fuels (CH4 and coal) for the chemical looping combustion processes, and the extraction of rare earth elements using patent pending sorbents. His research expertise has focused on operando-characterization using Infrared, Raman, and UV-Vis spectroscopy to observe the nature of the catalytic active sites and reaction intermediates under realistic reaction conditions, allowing direct correlation of molecular/electronic structures with catalyst performance during Gas-Solid / Liquid-Solid Adsorption and Photocatalytic Processes with real time online analysis of reaction products using ICP-MS and mass spectrometry. His current work involves a multi-disciplinary approach to developing, understanding, and improving the catalytic gasification of coal and methane, high temperature chemical looping combustion, and the catalytic decomposition and gasification of biomass and coal using novel microwave reactor.​ He has been studying the Hebrew Scriptures and the Torah for 20+ years and sharing what he has learned. The studies developed for MATSATI.COM are freely to be used by everyone, to God be the Glory!