Category: Psalms

Psalm 2:1-6 There is a specific response that God demands from us in Scripture. When you hear that someone makes a demand, there is an underlying implication of authority. In our culture, the very mention of the word demand automatically invites skepticism. In our age of anti-authoritarianism, anyone making a demand is likely to face stiff opposition. However, God is not moved. The Creator makes a series of demands that every creature is obligated to obey: God calls all people to acknowledge the greatness of his worth. ““Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like...

Discouragement is as common to the human experience as birth and death. Most of us experience a fair amount of happiness, pleasure, love, and hope; God is good to send sun and rain, food and clothing. But all of us know what it is to suffer loss, disappointment, and heartache. Some pains are temporary and relatively minor, others are lifelong and heart-stabbing. How do we, how should we handle these inevitable seasons of discouragement that come into our lives? In Psalm 42, David models for us the way to battle our way out of pits of despair: “Why are...

Psalm 99:1-5, “The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he! Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the Lord, and he answered...

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:5-6). Several years ago my wife and I stayed at a bed-and-breakfast style hotel in San Francisco in which the hospitality was so thoughtful, so plentiful, and so unflagging that our every need seemed to be positively anticipated and then more than met. Soft terrycloth robes enwrapped us, cushy down blankets snuggled us,...