God examines hearts and kidneys

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PSALM 7  for the weekly PsalmChallenge which is centered in Athens.
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1. A Shiggaiaon. Of David, which he sang to the LORD, concerning Cush, a Benjaminite

2. O LORD, my God, in You I take refuge; deliver me from all my pursuers and save me,
3. lest he, like a lion, rend me, tear me apart, with no one to save me.
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4. O LORD, my God, if I have done this: if my hands bear the guilt of wrongdoing,
5. if I have dealt evil to my ally, or plundered my foe without cause,
6. then let the enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground, and lay my body in the dust. Selah.
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7. Rise O LORD in Your anger; lift Yourself up against the fury of my foes, bestir on my behalf the judgment You have ordained.

8. An assembly of peoples gathers about You - above it return on high.
9. The LORD brings the peoples to trial; judge me, O LORD, for the righteousness and blamelessness that is in me.
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10. Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; He who probes the heart and conscience  is the righteous God.
11. My shield is with God, the deliverer of the upright in heart.
12. God judges the righteous; God pronounces doom each day.
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13. If one does not turn back, but whets his sword, bends his bow and prepares it,

14. then against himself he prepares deadly weapons, and makes his arrows sharp. 



15. See, he hatches evil, conceives mischief, and gives birth to lies.

16. He has created a pit and dug it out, and he will fall into the trap he made.17. His mischief will turn back on his own head; his lawlessness will come down upon his skull.
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18. I will praise the LORD for His righteousness, and sing a hymn to the name of the LORD Most High.

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Note  Verse 10:  ט יְהֹוָה יָדִין עַמִּים שָׁפְטֵנִי יְהֹוָה כְּצִדְקִי וּכְתֻמִּי עָלָֽי

: י יִגְמָר־נָא רַע
רְשָׁעִים וּתְכוֹנֵן צַדִּיק וּבֹחֵן לִבּוֹת וּכְלָיוֹת אֱלֹהִים צַדִּֽיק

Bochen libot uklayot  means literally  "examines hearts and kidneys." 

 
In Biblical times, the kidneys were the seat of emotion; the heart was the source of thought.
Today the idiom is translated "God tests the hearts and insides" or "probes the heart and conscience" or " tries hearts and minds."
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Photos:  1. Detail, exterior of Church of the Holy Sepulchre   2. a courtroom in Israel's Supreme Court  3 and 4. an archer in Switzerland  5. Canaanite shaft tomb,  Holyland Park excavations
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A is for Archaeology, Antiquities, Artifacts

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For several weeks 35 men and I excavated a very old quarry in an area that today is within Jerusalem's boundaries.

For the final stage we were only 7 workers and 2 or 3 staff.
A sealed burial chamber from the Middle Bronze age waited to be opened and explored.
Canaanites were here!

Here is the archaeologist in charge and our surveyor.

Fortunately I was not required to work underground (but I donned the required hardhat to crawl into the cave for a look).
It was hot and humid down there, and at the beginning the ceiling was very low.

No more than two could work (i.e. fit) in the cave at one time at first.
The men excavated and sent up countless buckets of dirt.
I really admire their strength, courage, and good humor working in those conditions.
The photo below is fun to see full size:

One of the most exciting finds, to my mind anyway, was this stone pommel of a dagger.
In Hebrew: gulat hanitsav.
The hilt of the dagger fit into the center hole and a pin would fasten it through those two little holes.
The pommel acts as a counterbalance to the weight of the sword or dagger and can also be used to bash your opponent.
This one is 5 cm/2 inches across.

And it is some 4,000 years old!

Another cool find is this green toggle pin that people once used instead of buttons to keep their clothes together.

We did many hours of sifting, finding human and animal teeth and bone fragments, potsherds, little pieces of glass. . .

On Monday, our last day at this site, our surveyor did her final measurements

and made her final drawings inside the burial chamber.

Time for a last self-portrait inside, for posterity. :)

Then we climbed the two and a half meters up and out.
(You see the net over our work area that gave semi-shade and the tall crane.)

Soon this area will come under the bulldozers and a tunnel will be dug so the condominium owners in those tall buildings (modern vertical cave dwellers?) will be able to drive to the main road faster.

What we did is a salvage dig.
Whenever new construction is planned, the Israel Antiquities Authority must first come and check to see what is hiding beneath the surface.
It means there is never a lack of work in Jerusalem for fieldworkers like me.

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For other bloggers' A words jump over to Mrs. Nesbitts Place and the new website http://wednesdayabc.blogspot.com/.