{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Boker Tov! Welcome back to Mishkan Katan and our ongoing psalms study. Last week, I taught on ps 57-59, but I did not mention if those psalms were directly quoted in the Brit Chadasha, the New Testament. The fact is that they are not. If you make note of such alliances, I figured some of you might want to know that. I ran long last week, and did not have time to add that additional comment.
This morning we move on to Psalm 60. It has an interesting background. Basically, this psalm is a psalm of war and peace.
I have been fascinated by the foreign policy of this second Trump administration, if you are watching this broadcast in real time. This US President is very delirious of world peace. He has dedicated supreme efforts to solving regional wars between foreign countries, such as India and Pakistan, such as expanding the number of nations in the Abraham Accords. He repeatedly states that he wants to be The Peace President. A warmonger he is not. On the other hand, he is a strong leader. He makes it plain that other nations had better not trifle with the USA, because they will get a fast smack down if they do. Think what you want of this man. I don’t mention this to be “political”. I’m mentioning it because this is the way King David was. David’s dream was of universal order between the 71 nations of the world, united in peace and harmony. The Jewish viewpoint, which comes from the Tower of Babel, is that God established there 70 “nations” of the entire earth, with Israel being the 71st and the most pre-eminent. According to the sage named Rambam, the ruling body of ancient Israel, the Sanhedrin, as a result had 70 members, with the 71st being the Nasi, the Chief Justice, representing Israel. Jews and some Christians believe that there is in heaven a “council of sons of God”, an advisory body to Hashem, a conclave which the Sanhedrin mirrors on earth.
Peace is a monotheistic concept, flowing from a belief in only one Supreme God Almighty, one Creator of all. He created the Universe to serve His purposes. The people of God are at the center of this world order, and always have been, from the book of Genesis. By contrast, pagan belief systems feature a quarrelsome, warring, competing group of various gods, who are constantly fighting one another for supremacy. They are essentially a reflection of the baser attributes of man’s sinful nature. Consequently, the idolator’s life is one of struggle, conflict and division, the very antithesis of peace. This is true on both the personal and the regional levels.
David, though a mighty warrior, was not a belligerent warrior. He preferred peace when he could get it, and he was an ambassador of peace.
Now, let’s look at the superscription of this psalm.
It is a miktam, like the several ones preceding. Remember that a miktam is a psalm of instruction. You see a reference in the superscription to something called Shushan Eidus which, translated directly from the Hebrew means “rose of testimony”. This is believed to be a beautiful musical instrument shaped like a rose, as eidus is related to the word eh-DEE, which means “adornment”.
Now, there is, once again, as you can tell from this superscription, a “backstory” to this psalm. Who were the people of Aram, the Arameans? Specifically, Aram Naharaim and Aram Tzovah. If you want to turn with me to Genesis 31:44, we will read through verse 48. I’m using the CJB version.
44 So now, come, let’s make a covenant, I and you; and let it stand as a testimony between me and you.”
45 Ya‘akov took a stone and set it upright as a standing-stone.
46 Then Ya‘akov said to his kinsmen, “Gather some stones”; and they took stones, made a pile of them and ate there by the pile of stones.
47 Lavan called it Y’gar-Sahaduta [“pile of witness” in Aramaic], while Ya‘akov called it Gal-‘Ed [“pile of witness” in Hebrew].
48 Lavan said, “This pile witnesses between me and you today.” This is why it is called Gal-‘Ed
49 and also HaMitzpah [the watchtower], because he said, “May Adonai watch between me and you when we are apart from each other.
If you have studied Genesis, you are probably familiar with Lavan (Laban), who was the FIL of Jacob, Ya’akov. After serving Laban for many years, Ya’akov and he had a sort of “falling out”. Essentially, Laban wanted to lay claim to what Jacob had achieved while under his patronage. Jacob, predictably, disagreed. The Lord spoke to Jacob and told him to return to the land of his father, Isaac. But, before Laban would let Jacob and his daughters and his grandchildren go, he entered into a covenant with Jacob. It is that covenant we just read about.
Now, in the time of David, some of the people of Aram, descendants of Laban, had broken this covenant, because they had initiated hostilities twice with the people of David. Accordingly, the Targam says that David went before the Sanhedrin and asked their counsel, whether or not he would be breaking covenant if he waged war against the people of Aram. In the Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 74:15, the word “miktam” has an additional meaning. It is a contraction of two words which put together forms “total beatings”. This refers to how the Sanhedrin answered David by giving him permission to “beat down” the Arameans, to wage total war. The Midrash also records that when Joan, David’s foremost general, informed him of the Arameans’ recent antics, David wanted to resolve the matter right away. Since the Sanhedrin gave David permission to take care of business, David composed this psalm to make this fact known. The sage, Meiri, judges that an additional benefit of this psalm is that it instructs mankind by instilling in them the faith and acknowledgement that all of mankind’s affairs are directed by the One Divine God, who does all things, “decently and in order”, you might have heard it said.
We are still on the superscription! I don’t know about you, but I had never heard of these two places, Aram Naharaim and Aram Tzovah. The commentary says that both of them are in the area we today call Syria. The name Aram Naharaim means Aram of the pair of rivers. The river was, see Genesis 5:8, “the great river”, Euphrates, which formed the eastern-most border of the land of Israel in the time of David. But, was there another river in play? It is said in the Midrash that the reference to two rivers is to the fact that David split the river Euphrates into two rivers, during the conquest of that city, so that the river flow would be less effective at dissuading or impeding his army. He re-directed the water flow. The second city, near modern-day Aleppo, Syria, was Aram Tzovah. The king of this country was the main protagonist in the sorties against Israel, King Hadadezer, as he was attempting to expand his own boundaries by annexing/taking Israeli territory on the other side of the Euphrates. Hadadezer was joined by the king of Aram-Damascus, who chose poorly, as he was defeated soundly, right along with Hadadezer.
Later on in the psalm, you will see reference to the country of Edom, and possibly wonder, “What is going on here?!” You might ask that, if you know where Syria is and where the land of Edom is. Basically, the land of Edom lies just off Israel’s southeast border. The land of Aram (Syria, essentially) lies just off Israel’s far northeast border. When you see references to these battles in Scripture, you encounter some seeming contradictions. The ArtScroll Tanakh series book on Psalms, volume 1, page 748, does an excellent job of explaining and reconciling those seeming contradictions. For our purposes today, I am not going to get that much in the weeds, as my doing so might send some of you running for your favorite coping beverage, coffee or whatever. Suffice it to say, for our purposes in studying this psalm, that when you see Edom and Aram in the psalm the psalmist is referring to largely the same, extended conflict. Edom jumped on the bandwagon, uniting with Aram against David. This was a bad move on their part. After David defeated the area of Aram, he annexed it and named it Surya. However, the Sanhedrin had not given him permission to David to do that annexation. Their argument was, “You have Canaanite areas near Jerusalem that you have left to the pagans, left un-annexed, and yet you want to go off in foreign wars and annex way out there?” But, the difference, you see, is that those Canaanites were not bothering the Jews, and so David left them alone, whereas he wanted to punish the people of Aram for being such provocateurs and causing him such problems…”disturbing the peace”, you might say.
Allright, let’s read this psalm in its entirety, and then I’ll go back and make more comments.
0) For the leader. Set to “Lily of Testimony.” A mikhtam of David for teaching about when he fought with Aram-Naharayim and with Aram-Tzovah, and Yo’av returned and killed 12,000 from Edom in the Salt Valley:
(1) God, you rejected us; you crushed us;
you were angry; but now revive us.
(2) You made the land shake, split it apart;
now repair the rifts, for it is collapsing.
(3) You made your people suffer hard times,
had us drink a wine that made us stagger.
(4) To those who fear you because of the truth
you gave a banner to rally around, (Selah)
(5) so that those you love could be rescued;
so save with your right hand, and answer us!
(6) God in his holiness spoke,
and I took joy [in his promise]:
“I will divide Sh’khem
and determine the shares in the Sukkot Valley.
(7) Gil‘ad is mine and M’nasheh mine,
Efrayim my helmet, Y’hudah my scepter.
(8) Mo’av is my washpot; on Edom I throw my shoe;
P’leshet, be crushed because of me!”
(9) Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
(10) God, have you rejected us?
You don’t go out with our armies, God.
(11) Help us against our enemy,
for human help is worthless.
(12) With God’s help we will fight valiantly,
for he will trample our enemies.
Charles Spurgeon says that this psalm can be divided into three sections, complaining (or grieving) vs. 1-3, happy (rejoicing) vs. 4-8 and prayerful vs. 9-12. Let’s consider first the first three verses. Although David was laboring valiantly to turn things around, the throne he had inherited was pretty much a mess. The Lord God had not wanted to give Israel a king, so that they could be like the pagan nations (their chief desire), but He had acquiesced to their wishes. While Saul could have been much worse a king, he was not a great one either. Furthermore, as we have seen, his counselors and magistrates, the government officials, were corrupt. Little wonder David commented that that land was “staggering”, in verse 3.
In verse 1, this is a reference to God allowing the Arameans to breach the border of Israel, to come west of the Euphrates and wreak havoc. David acknowledges that in His anger, Hashem allowed this to happen and that he is the nation’s only hope.
Now, there are two schools of scholarly thought as to what David is referring to here. One group, most notably the sage Radak, interprets these verses as referring to the military campaign of David’s day. The other group, led by the sage Rashi, applies David’s statements to the future campaign by the Romans. The sages say David was given a vision of that era, when Rome would conquer the land of Israel, and that he grieved over what was to come. Could be one or both, right? Keep that in mind as you look over verses 1-3.
Next, you’ll notice in verses 4-8 those who fear Hashem, His beloved ones. Most commentators see this reference to righteous people in general. The Targum, however sees it as a specific reference to Isaac/Yitzchak. Yet another opinion is that this is a reference to the Tabernacle/Temple, because in Psalm 84:2 it is recorded “how lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts”. The builder of the Temple was Solomon who, like Isaac, was called “beloved”, specifically in Deut. 33:12 “beloved by Hashem.
There are several regions mentioned in these verses. They are Shechem, the Valley of Succot, Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, Yehudah, Moav, Edom and Philistia. After Saul’s death, his son, Ish-Bosheth, supported by Abner, set up a kingdom in Ephraim. All these places mentioned in these verses were part of that area/kingdom, claimed by this upstart son of Saul. David is here proclaiming that God was true to His promise to David. Ish-Bosheth eventually acquiesced to David’s rule. God’s faithfulness to him in that skirmish gave him confidence God would be with him in the campaign against Aram.
Another layer of interpretation of these verses is that the city of Shechem symbolizes the patriarch, Jacob’s, claim over the holy land. When he returned from his years serving Laban in the land of Aram, Succot/Shechem was the first place Jacob camped. And, it was there he made his first land purchase from the Canaanite inhabitants.
Judah is referred to as a scepter in this translation, and as a lawgiver in another. Judah was David’s own tribe, and even they had given him push-back initially, when he came to rule. But, they fell in line, as did these other regions, eventually. Judah was awarded the special privilege of being the home to the “capitol” city of Jerusalem, eventually, although David did not begin his rule there. Genesis 49:10 says this about Yehudah. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the lawgiver’s staff from between his feet until Shiloh come.” This is widely accepted as a Messianic reference/prophecy to the end of days Messianic reign (of Yeshua.)
From gotquestions.org :
“In the Abrahamic Covenant, then, God laid out the extent of the land that would belong to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—a territory including all of Canaan and stretching from Egypt to modern-day Iraq. Several centuries later, when it came time for the Israelites actually take possession of the Promised Land, God again spoke of a vast area “from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites” (Joshua 1:4, NLT).”
So, although Moav, Edom and Philistia are spoken of disparagingly in these verses, they are part of the land grant Hashem made to Abraham. And, they will eventually, one day, be included within the Holy Land boundaries. That being said, let’s look at these disparagements.
Moab is referred to as a washbasin full of dirty water. David “had a bone to pick” with this country, to put it mildly, despite the fact that his great-grandmother was a Moabitess. That was Ruth, if you recall. She and Boaz had a son named Obed. Obed’s son was Jesse and Jesse’s youngest son was King David. It was because of this association David ran to the king of Moab to place his family, for safe-keeping, when he was being pursued by King Saul. However, Jewish tradition states that the king of Moab betrayed David and killed his parents and all but one of his brothers, who escaped to Nachash, king of Ammon, who refused the king of Moab’s demands that he be returned so that he could be killed too. While this story is not in Scripture, it is likely true, because it explains the vengeance David later took on the country of Moab, when he put to death 2/3 of the Moabite people/army, as recorded in 2 Samuel 8:2. That’s why Moav is referred to here as a “cooking pot”. A stew pot or cooking pot dissolves/tenderizes/breaks down meat, and so was the flesh of David’s family devoured in Moab.
Now, for Edom. It’s easy to remember Edom if you remember Esau and that both names start with “E”. Edom is the land due south of Moab, which was settled by the 12 sons of Esau. The most literal rendering of the Hebrew here is something like, “upon Edom will I cast my lock”. In other words, I will put Edom in chains. The CJB gets “throw my shoe” from Radak’s interpretation, indicating that David’s armies trampled them, subjugating them. Edom was further away than Moab, from David’s headquarters. Therefore, in order to keep them in line, he put a lock on Edom’s fortifications and strongholds, to stave off their resistances and attacks. Or, he stomped them down, if you go with Radak. Five hundred or so years later, the prophet Isaiah 63:3 says something similar in a prophetic fashion: “I (God) trod the winepress alone … I trod them (Edom) in my anger and trampled them in my fury.”
The CJB speaks of Philistia being “crushed”. Other versions say “shattered”, but the version in the ArtScroll Tehillim commentary translates this as an appeal to Philistia to “join together with me” (with David, that is), since otherwise it is a foregone conclusion that you’ll be conquered anyway. Ibn Ezra, Radak and Hirsch, three prominent commentators, translate this phrase as a taunt to Philistia after it has been defeated by David’s armies.
Concerning verse 10 here, Deuteronomy 23:15 says, “For Hashem, Your God, walks in the distance of Your camp to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you; therefore, your camp shall be holy. Ramban, the sage, compares the Israeli army camp to the Beit HaMikdash, the Tabernacle/Temple, where Hashem’s holy presence dwells. Both are sacred ground. There HAVE been times though, and we can read about them in the Scriptures, where the Sh’kinah has NOT gone with the armies of Israel into war. Almost invariably, this has happened because of someone’s disobedience to God’s clear commands. Sometimes, it has been because of poor leadership. Other times, it has been because of the waywardness of the people.
The remaining verses re-affirm that truth that victory lies in the hands of and will of Hashem, not in the power of man’s efforts. Wise and righteous people recognize this indisputable fact.
Allright, let’s move on to Psalm 61. This is a short psalm of 8 verses, but it is a very poignant one. It speaks of legacy, spiritual and physical. In this psalm, David extols his love for God, which no adverse circumstances of life could diminish. According to the commentators Sforno and Metzudo David, this psalm was written at the time when David was on the way to oppose the Arameans, after they had threatened to overrun and to annex the far eastern boundaries of Israel. That makes this psalm sort of a “sequel” to Psalm 60. So, it is good that we are studying it in tandem with the previous psalm. Psalm 61 is not directly quoted in the New Testament, the Brit Chadasha. However, Yeshua did use some of its imagery in His lament over Jerusalem. We’ll look at that more closely in a little bit.
In the superscription we see a reference to what most scholars agree is a “new” Levitical musical instrument, the Neginnat (N’GHEE-naught). Several psalms make reference to performance of that psalm on a stringed instrument or instruments - - 4, 6, 54, 55, 67, 76 - - and commentators hypothesize that the N’GHEE-naught is likewise a stringed instrument. But, we really don’t know for sure.
Let’s read this short psalm together, as we did the last one, and then look at some of the key themes afterwards.
(1) Hear my cry, God;
listen to my prayer.
(2) From the end of the earth, with fainting heart,
I call out to you.
Set me down on a rock
far above where I am now.
(3) For you have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength in the face of the foe.
(4) I will live in your tent forever
and find refuge in the shelter of your wings. (Selah)
(5) For you, God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
(6) Prolong the life of the king!
May his years go on for many generations.
(7) May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever!
Appoint grace and truth to preserve him!
(8) Then I will sing praise to your name forever,
as day after day I fulfill my vows.
Verse 1 - - we often see such a heartfelt plea in the psalms. It is possible to both believe that Hashem hears our prayers immediately and at the same time FEEL as though He is either distracted by something else, or unwilling to answer in our time frame, or unwilling to give us the answer we seek. Therefore, the psalmist, like many of us do, is here in prayer grabbing hold of the feet of the Almighty and pleading for his CRY to be “heard”, not his words, his CRY. There’s a difference in intensity there. Ibn Ezra says this is an audible cry out to Heaven. Haven’t many of us prayed similarly?
In verse 2, David admits that his heart is faint, that is drained and exhausted, shrouded in misery and suffering. He has been traveling and when the psalm is written feels like he is at “the end of the land”, both spiritually and physically. Recall that the sages say he is en route to the far Northeastern border of Israel, to do battle, literally the end of the land. We can also interpret this as David saying, “I am at the end of my rope.”
As an alternative interpretation, the Midrash Shoker Tov interprets “the end of the land” as prophetically referring to Israel in exile. Lamentations 3:55-56 records the people crying out to God from “the end of the land” after they had been exiled, whereas had they made teshuvah, returned to Hashem, exile would not have been a necessary disciplinary tool in the hands of the Almighty to begin with.
I like the translation Stern does here in the CJB of the latter part of verse 2. “Set me down on a rock far above where I am now.” The advantages of being on firm ground, high above the other land, is vision. When you are high above the plain, you can see further and with more clarity. I believe David is asking for several things - - the confidence of knowing He is on safe ground, firm ground; the ability to see clearly for a great distance, in order to make wise decisions, and finally to be held in the cleft of that rock, to be protected from all sorts of this life’s “weather”. As I wrote these words, I was getting alerts on my phone that we were about to have a severe thunderstorm. Later this week I plan to put away my fall décor on the front porch - - artificial pumpkins of various shapes/sizes, stuffed scarecrow people, etc. I love my fall décor; it’s my favorite. So, not wanting that stuff to get wet right before I plan to pack it away, I went out and moved the items back away from the weather, to “safety”, you might say. I took them to a higher elevation. They could not take themselves, just as David could not take himself to this higher rock he was seeking. Only Hashem could do that for him.
This verse is the inspiration for the mighty gospel song, “Rock of Ages”. “Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee.”
In verse 3 David affirms God’s faithfulness in the past, in past battles of life, and this history gives David confidence God will come to his aid again.
Verse 4 is a Messianic verse, for two reasons. First, it is a shift in David’s emphasis, because here in this verse he moved from merely lamenting his dismal situation in his present circumstances to expressing his longing for God’s future redemption, when he would live in God’s presence in the olam haba, the world to come, forever. So, you see, David was able (from his vantage point on the rock) to have “the long view”. He did not let his present, adverse circumstances define him or dictate his attitudes or actions. He knew Hashem’s “wings” would be his refuge, would cover and shelter him, forever. That’s why there is a “Selah” at the end of that verse. It bears embracing, contemplating, giving a hearty “so be it!” to.
As alluded to earlier, Yeshua was likely borrowing imagery from this verse when He made His lament over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37. Here’s what He said:
“Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!
Verses 5 through 8 turn to the topic of vows and descendants. What vows did David make to the Lord God? The Psalms are full of them. Here are a few.
Psalms 22:25, Psalm 101:2, Psalm 116:17-18, Psalm 56:12-13, Psalm 132:2-5. David’s vows to God flowed out of him being “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).
Here, in these final verses, David is asking for a long life and a productive reign, so that he can see his vows to Hashem through to fulfillment. Also, he is asking for heritage and in verse 8 that his descendants be granted to sit on the throne of Israel forever.
The sage “Malbim points out that when David made his vows to God, the Almighty reciprocated with the promise that if David’s descendants would fear His Name, then the monarchy would remain as their heritage forever. Let’s look at Psalm 132:11 and 12, where we find this promise.
11The LORD swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your bodya
I will set on your throne.
12If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne.”
The sages teach in Pesachim 87b, a commentary, that even prophets often outlived kings in the ancient near east. It was said that the throne “buried” its royal occupants, because of rivalries, assassinations, etc. And, if you read the history of the Hebrew kings, you will see this in action. Just because a king inherited a throne did not mean he could keep it without great effort. It was not a “given”, you might say. The Jews have this legend that says the first man, Adam, was allowed to “donate” 70 of his allotted years to David, so that he might have a normal life span. I don’t hold to that, personally, but I have run across that story more than once in the commentaries.
The phrase “may he sit forever before God” is both a reference to David and a Messianic reference as well. As a whole, David is a type of the coming Messiah, whom we recognize to be Yeshua HaMashiach.
I know that not all people are like me, but it has always bend a fond desire and dream of mine to have children. And, not only to have them, but to be able to raise them “in the nurture and fear of the Lord”, as Scriptures say. For a time, in my 30s, it appeared this dream would not be realized. But, then, I was allowed at the age of 36 to become a mother. My youngest, whom I bore at 38, rags me, saying, “You waited until 40 to have me and that’s why I have all these physical ailments.” Not true on either count, but he likes to grouse about his lot in life, I guess. At any rate, late in life or not, I feel truly, extraordinarily blessed to have had two children with my husband. We did our best to show them how to love the Lord God. Their lives, despite our best efforts, were also influenced by worldly, godless factors and people. So, while they are fine and upstanding young men today, they do not walk as closely with the Lord as I had dreamed they would. I still pray about their halacha, and that of their wife/fiancée daily. I know that Hashem is in control and that He loves them more than I could ever be capable of doing. That’s all any of us can do.
In this largely godless age, in this highly self-centered, material world in which we live, it is very difficult to raise up godly children. I say, “in this age”, but honestly, even if you look at Scripture, godly men and women had children who were for at least a time “errant”. Maybe you are in this place at the moment you are watching this video. Let me encourage you to hang on, to have what I call “unreasonable faith” - - faith that perseveres even when things look hopeless. We serve the only God who can work amazing miracles, unreasonable miracles, miracles that can’t even be dreamed of. Keep loving them fiercely and praying for them constantly. Trust God with them. It will build your faith.
Allright, we are coming to the end of our time together this morning. The next to last verse, verse 7, speaks of chesed v’emet, lovingkindness and truth, as being preservers of the righteous person. This is so powerful! You literally cannot follow God effectively without both. I heard a well-respected moreh a few years ago say that if another person greatly and immediately needed his aid on Yom Kippur he would drop his observance to go and help the other person out of the jam he or she was in. This is an illustration of compassion, lovingkindness working in tandem with truth. Both are so necessary! The converse of this story is the story of the Good Samaritan, from the Brit Chadasha. Because of religious observance and the risk of becoming “unclean” at least two “holy men” walked by the beaten and bloody Samaritan man lying by the road. They were devoid of compassion. If you do not love your fellow man, it does not matter how much truth you possess, how much knowledge you have. By the same token, compassion without truth is what we often see among Leftists on the political spectrum today. Compassion without truth leads to affirmation of sinful lifestyles and practices. This is heresy just as much as orthodoxy without love. So, verse 7 teaches a very powerful truth.
The first word in verse 9 is “cane” (ken). It is the modern-day Hebrew word for “yes”. But, literally, it means “so”, like “make it so”, as the fictional TV sci-fi character, Jean-Luc Picard, used to say. This “so” means that, yes, I will praise you in the good times, and I will likewise praise you in the difficult times as well. This “so” is also a reciprocation on David’s part, a response to the faithfulness of God toward David.
Well, here we are, out of time. I want to end this week’s broadcast with a word of thanks. Tomorrow, in real time, is Thanksgiving Day. I want you to know how thankful I am for you, that you tune in here to study God’s Word with me each week. I don’t count viewers or do this for my own self-aggrandizement. I do it because I love the Word of God, and because it brings me great joy to share it with you. Happy Thanksgiving! And, Happy Kislev, the month of lights! I’ll see you next week.
