Tehillim / Psalms 38, Part 1, Our Aim in Prayer and the Lord Remembering Us

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This week’s study is from Tehillim / Psalms 38:1-22, David opens the Psalm saying א  מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד לְהַזְכִּיר: ב  יְהוָה אַל-בְּקֶצְפְּךָ תוֹכִיחֵנִי וּבַחֲמָתְךָ תְיַסְּרֵנִי: ג  כִּי-חִצֶּיךָ נִחֲתוּ-בִי וַתִּנְחַת עָלַי יָדֶךָ: ד  אֵין-מְתֹם בִּבְשָֹרִי מִפְּנֵי זַעְמֶךָ אֵין-שָׁלוֹם בַּעֲצָמַי מִפְּנֵי חַטָּאתִי: A Psalm of David, for a memorial. 38:1 O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath, And chasten me not in Your burning anger. 38:2 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me. 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin.  (NASB)  David makes a distinction between sin that goes down to his bones, and the lack of soundness of his flesh because the Lord is indignant towards him.  This is because his iniquity is heavy (38:4-8), his sin causes the wounds of his skin to fester and become foul, which may be a possible reference to Parashat Tazria (Vayikra / Leviticus 12:1-13:59) and the disease of Tsaraat.  He continues saying י   אֲדֹנָי נֶגְדְּךָ כָל-תַּאֲוָתִי וְאַנְחָתִי מִמְּךָ לֹא-נִסְתָּרָה: יא   לִבִּי סְחַרְחַר עֲזָבַנִי כֹחִי וְאוֹר עֵינַי גַּם-הֵם אֵין אִתִּי: 38:9 Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You. 38:10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; And the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me. (NASB)  Tehillim / Psalms 38:11 suggests that David is in fact speaking of the disease of Tsaraat and Parashat Tazria saying יב   אֹהֲבַי | וְרֵעַי מִנֶּגֶד נִגְעִי יַעֲמֹדוּ וּקְרוֹבַי מֵרָחֹק עָמָדוּ: 38:11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand afar off. (NASB)  Read more here: Tehillim 38-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!