1 LORD, you were favorable to your land;you restored the fortunes of Jacob.2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;you covered all their sin. Selah3 You withdrew all your wrath;you turned from your hot anger. – The verbs here are in the past tense suggesting that the Psalm is recalling an event or repeated eventsContinue reading “Psalm 85: 1-13….Eat all your breakfast, kids!”
Category Archives: character
Psalm 84: 1-12….Be honest with God!
Introduction: I am going to go through this psalm and make a ‘polite, nice’ comment in green and a fiery, biting, critical one in red! I’m not in a bad mood but I feel like commenting as if I have wakened up ‘grumpy and doubting’ and ‘at peace with the world’! In fact I’m challengedContinue reading “Psalm 84: 1-12….Be honest with God!”
Psalm 79: 11-13….A Postscript.
Introduction: Yesterday I re-wrote Asaph’s Psalm 79 in ‘modern’ English. I’ve copied it here because the last 3 verses of the Psalm, which I didn’t include in yesterday’s reading, say things which I think that we, as Christians, have to think deeply about. My transliteration of the Psalm read – Dear God, we are Yours,Continue reading “Psalm 79: 11-13….A Postscript.”
Isaiah 40: 9-17….God continues His talk with Isaiah!
Introduction: Verse 9 seems to be definitely the words of God Himself. I think finishing what God says at the end of yesterday’s passage. The voice at the beginning being God’s voice – ‘A voice says, “Cry!”And I said, “What shall I cry?”All flesh is grass,and all its beauty is like the flower of theContinue reading “Isaiah 40: 9-17….God continues His talk with Isaiah!”
Isaiah 39: 1-8….A Stupid, Stupid Thing to do!
Why do you think that that man with the un-pronounceable name who sent envoys to Hezekiah was sincere in his motives? Has a politician ever told a lie or have hidden rotten aims under nice words? Had Hezekiah with his illness lost his ability to think clearly? Or did pride overcome common sense?1 At thatContinue reading “Isaiah 39: 1-8….A Stupid, Stupid Thing to do!”
Revelation 3: 7-13….There is NO substitute for faithful persistence!
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no oneContinue reading “Revelation 3: 7-13….There is NO substitute for faithful persistence!”
Psalm 78: 41-51….’They did not remember his power’
Introduction: I normally try to rotate roughly seven days in Psalms, seven in an OT book and seven days in a NT book. Not thinking far enough ahead I’m caught in the middle of Psalm 78, which has a continuous thought woven into it so I’ll write until I finish the whole of Ps 78Continue reading “Psalm 78: 41-51….’They did not remember his power’”
Psalm 78: 9-20….An Example of Foolishness!
Introduction: Asaph apparently died before Solomon died. The nation didn’t split into two kingdoms until after Solomon’s death. The northern kingdom, Samaria, which had its own king after Solomon was often called by the prophets ‘Ephraim’. You may recall that Ephraim was not a son of Jacob. Two of Jacob’s sons don’t have areas designatedContinue reading “Psalm 78: 9-20….An Example of Foolishness!”
Psalm 78: 1-8….Things which our children NEED to know!
Asaph, the author of this and many psalms, was a prominent Levite musician appointed by King David to lead worship music, specifically serving as a chief musician and singer in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) in Jerusalem. He was known for playing the cymbals to “raise sounds of joy” and was considered a “seer” who prophesiedContinue reading “Psalm 78: 1-8….Things which our children NEED to know!”
Sola Fide or Sola Scriptura….Are they the same? Faith alone or Scripture alone.
Introduction: Recently I heard a man use the phrase ‘kindergarten theology’ in a rather negative way. I don’t like the phrase except if used in the way that the healthy faith of a kindergarten child is good but needs to mature. If it is said relative to an older person there are, at least twoContinue reading “Sola Fide or Sola Scriptura….Are they the same? Faith alone or Scripture alone.”