December 30, 2015. Daily Reading: Psalm 142-144. Background: Psalm 139-141. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 142 The Lord as refuge: This psalm, attributed to David, is a cry and prayer of mercy and protection from the Lord. Notice how the psalmist puts his faith and trust in the Lord, even when he finds little refuge here…
Tag: strength
Psalm 120-122: Songs of Ascents.
November 11, 2015. Daily Reading: Psalm 120-122. Background: Psalm 119. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 120 A cry for deliverance: Psalm 120 begins a set of fifteen psalms (120-134) that are labeled as “Songs of Ascents,” a phrase of which different opinions have formed as to its meaning. Two notable views put forth that these psalms…
Psalm 93-95: Glory, vengeance and praise.
September 2, 2015. Daily Reading: Psalm 93-95. Background: Psalm 90-92. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 93 The Lord Reigns: This is a psalm of praise, ascribing power and authority to the Lord who reigns on high. We open with a royal picture of a reigning king, robed in majesty, sitting on a thrown that has been…
Psalm 27-29: The Lord’s glory.
March 11, 2015. Today’s Reading: Psalm 27-29. Background: Psalm 24-26. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 27 “Whom shall I fear?”: As in many of the psalms, David directs our minds here to the power and protection of the Lord when we are in His fold. Since the Lord is his light, salvation and stronghold, David assures all…
Psalm 18-20: The glory of God.
February 18, 2015. Daily Reading: Psalm 18-20. Background: Psalm 15-17. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 18 The Lord is the Rock, the Deliverer: The words of this Psalm can also be found in their entirety (verses 2-50 at least) in II Samuel 22, as it is recorded as David’s out pouring of praise after the Lord…
Matthew 8-10: Miracles and teaching.
January 31, 2015. Daily Reading: Matthew 8-10. Background: Matthew 5-7. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 8 1. Faith in Jesus’ power: This chapter focuses heavily on Jesus’ healing miracles after He came down off the mountain where He gave the sermon on the mount. In the next chapter we will see more of the purpose of…
Joshua 1-5: Preparing to Enter the Promised Land.
January 6, 2014. Daily Reading: Joshua 1-5. Background. The book of Joshua picks up right were the book of Deuteronomy leaves off. Moses has recently died (for God had told him that he was not to enter into the promised land because of the waters of Meribah, see Numbers 20) and Joshua, who was an…
Content in the Lord.
October 22, 2014. Are you content in Christ? Last Sunday I heard a good sermon on the peace of God that passes understanding and it really tied in to this idea of being content in Christ. We all know the verse. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) But this verse…
The Christian Virtues, Part 5: Steadfastness.
October 9, 2014. We are about halfway through our walk through the Christian virtues, and today we are hitting another hard one. It is very related to self control, which is probably part of the reason that it is difficult to obtain and easy to lose. I must admit that this is one of the…
The Shema, or the greatest command.
February 1, 2014. I have successfully posted once a day for a full month! Thank you all who are encouraging me and reading my posts. I hope they have been a blessing. “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these…
Twenty Eight Eighteen 