Jesus
A Lamp for My Anointed
The Babylonian captivity had shaken Judah to the very bone. After years of moral decadence and spiritual indifference, the harsh realities created by the destruction of the temple and their relocation outside of their homeland challenged their arrogant assumptions of having the LORD on their side and forced them to evaluate their relationship with the […]
Read MoreWhat Can Man Do to Me?
As a general rule, people feel sorry for themselves far too much. Self-pity fills social media when people take a break from arguing about mostly meaningless matters. Rather than seeing the challenges of life as regular occurrences and difficult circumstances as the nature of life, people behave as if they have some inherent right to […]
Read MoreMessianic Meaning
David’s words recorded in Psalm 110 anticipate the Messiah so precisely that his prophetic utterances from this passage formed the foundation of inspired arguments multiple times in the New Testament. As such, they deserve even deeper consideration and explanation because the implications of this single psalm offer powerful testimony to the truth of Christianity in […]
Read MoreNot Just a Name
In Psalm 97 David continues the regnal theme, beginning once more with the emphatic exultation, “The LORD reigns,” but rather than appealing to the Israelites to announce this to the nations against the futility of their paganism, the whole earth now has reason to rejoice in recognizing the LORD’s reign (Psa. 97:1). Building on the […]
Read MoreRefuge in Life
In God We Trust. The national motto of the United States of America rings hollow today considering the rampant march toward immorality perpetrated by her government. And yet this hypocrisy demonstrates, by its irony, the importance of real trust. Throughout the Bible, trust always serves as the central characteristic of a strong relationship with God. […]
Read MoreThe Hometown of God’s People
The city of Jerusalem regularly appears in the news throughout the world due to its historical and political significance in the struggle of competing worldviews, religions, and even civilizations. While the current political conflict between Jews and Muslims, clearly seen in various security checkpoints, and the religious conflict represented by the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the…
Read MoreCaptivity Captive
David regularly wrote psalms during the challenging times of his life. His heart provoked him to reflect on his relationship with God when running from Saul. The king cried out in anguish after realizing the depth of his sin with Bathsheba. He expressed a quiet grief throughout the rebellion of Absalom. Therefore, when one of […]
Read MoreMy Own Familiar Friend
The emotional and poetic nature of the psalms both highlight the true meaning of a relationship with God and make them more difficult to interpret. This is especially true of psalms applied in some way to the Messiah while other portions of the psalm make it quite impossible to refer to Jesus completely. David’s reflection […]
Read MoreThe King of Glory vs. a Glorified King
The pursuit of fame—or at least notoriety—has consumed many people throughout the centuries. In the ancient world, kings, soldiers, and even gladiators elevated their social status through victory in violence. Depending upon the values of a particular culture, different types of people had opportunity to lift themselves from obscurity to make a name for themselves…
Read MoreA Sheep’s Point of View
The twenty-third psalm remains the most quoted and easily recognized passage from the entire inspired collection. Its words offer comfort and strength in times of trial and pain in ways to which other poets can only aspire. It is so deeply personal in its character that it resonates to this day with most everyone—despite the…
Read More