Today, we are jumping to the blessing Solomon pronounced upon the assembled congregation and the nation of Israel as a whole. In a French, Italian or Spanish translation the verbs in this section would be in a form used to express a wish or desire. We don't use it very much in English - the most common one would be in the expression, "If I were you ... " The usual way of expressing this idea in English is by using the word "may" as an auxiliary verb. And so we find eight "mays" in the blessing that Solomon pronounces:
May Yahweh, our God, be with us - May he never desert us or cast us off - May he turn our hearts toward him so that we may follow all his ways - May these words of mine ... be present with Yahweh our God, that he may uphold the cause of his servant so that all the peoples ... may come to know that Yahweh is God indeed - May your hearts be wholly with Yahweh, our God.
Solomon begins by saying, "May God be with us" and concludes with, "May your hearts be wholly with him." A good thought for today.
