Jesus is both the Temple and the Temple-builder. In Jesus, the honor of Temple-building and worship are ours. Psalm 132 is our song.
Read MoreIn the end, contentment is not something that happens to us when we are no longer unsettled about life and the many questions that remain unanswered. Rather, we can be content because we know God, before whom all questions are answered.
Read MoreHow shall we respond to God’s mercy? We must not continue to think of him like a harmless trinket, as if he were a useful fool. We all want the God for forgiveness. But did you read what follows? “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” Now we must be broken before him, although in a different sense. We shatter our pride, stubbornness, selfishness, self-adulation, that we may find ourselves made whole in God. And so we will find his mercy made complete in us.
Read MoreSo we sing and pray. May the LORD give us the grace to love and do good to those who hate us. In doing so we will grow ever closer to the LORD who daily loves and does good to us. But we can also sing and pray that all oppression come to an end and all oppressors be utterly rejected by God. In this way, also, we will grow closer to the LORD, who is goodness himself.
Read MoreThis is how we keep on. The end of our pilgrimage is blessing, indeed. All that a happy family and a good job can merely hint at will be truly and really ours. Keep on, then. And look forward to joy.
Read MoreRest in God. Both on the Lord’s Day, and throughout your life. Face all your life’s task and joy in trusting dependence on God, and believe that he will build and accomplish. You are his beloved for Jesus’ sake. Now get some sleep.
Read MoreIn this world we will bear the cross for a while. But Christ no longer wears the crown of thorns. He is now crowned with glory. So we, also, will one day exchange our sorrow for joy. And we will also know glory.
Read MoreThe Lamb is our shelter and refuge, our fortress and rock. And he who protects us is greater and mightier than all who threaten us. The mighty Savior will carry us through this tough world.
Read MoreBut our trials and challenges are just as unpredictable. Yet amidst the seeming chaos and randomness of life, we have a sure hope. And we confess, “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”
Read MoreWho am I? What do I celebrate? What informs my life’s direction and passion? We are the resurrection people. Our identity rests not in our race, political leanings, likes and dislikes, but in the resurrection of our Lord. He rose from the dead, and it changes everything about us.
Read MoreThe ultimate aim of Jesus’ cross is not our salvation per se, but his glory. Our desires must rise higher than our own safety, and our aspiration must rise higher than our entrance to heaven. Jesus must receive glory, both now and in the future, both in our life and death.
Read MoreWe are pilgrims. We will never be “at ease” in this world. We will be looked down upon. Do not think something strange is happening. Instead, look up to the Lord.
Read MoreBut our pilgrim life is both already/not-yet. We laugh. But we also cry. We carry the cross and live a life of self-denial. But we are also seated with Christ in his glory where no wants and needs are denied. What has your pilgrim life been like? Would you say you are overwhelmingly a person who lives in the “already”? Then your worship is a call to remember the “not-yet,” to bow before the suffering Lord and look upon his cross. Or would you say that you are overwhelmingly a person of “not-yet”? Then your coming to worship is a call to be comforted by the Lord who has overcome, who sit glorious over death, suffering, and tears.
Read MoreIndeed, our pilgrimage is also fraught with danger. We are hard pressed in every way, and we often meet stiff resistance. We stumble in many ways, and the far-off heavenly Jerusalem feels all but unreachable. That is what discouragement is. We lose heart in life’s many trials, and our hearts sink at the thought of pressing on.
Read MoreRead slowly. Read deeply. Let these words sink in. Obey what you have learned. And see how this psalm leads us to our Savior. Jesus visited the temple as a 12 year old and surprised the learned and aged with the depth of his understanding. Surely it is because of vss. 99–100. “I have more understanding than all my teachers…I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.” Jesus obeyed. Shouldn’t you?
Read MorePsalm 119 unpacks for us what Psalm 1 puts so succinctly. In Psalm 119 the psalmist mediates on God’s word, not only day and night, but through all seasons of life both good and bad.
Read MoreA wise saint (Spurgeon?) once said, “He who has a bible that is falling apart has a life that isn’t.” In other words, the believer whose frequent study and mediation of God’s word has left his bible worn and tattered, will be known by the quality of his life. He makes wise decisions. People trust his character and word. There is an integrity about his life that is very attractive. God’s Word has produced good fruit for him.
Read MoreThe psalmist who penned the words of Psalm 118 could only dimly understand what the Holy Spirit was inspiring and guiding him to write. So how blessed are we that we can see far clearly than he did? If so, how much more willing and eager should we be to join the psalmist, and say, “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” Indeed, we say, Amen and Amen!
Read MoreAnd it is on Christ’s account that we, as representing all nations, gather and worship our covenant LORD. And we worship with a longing for all nations and all people to know the LORD. May we not be a dam, withholding God’s grace from flowing freely. Instead, may we be wide open channels of God’s grace to many people. For our God is worthy of praise by all nations and peoples.
Read MoreUnbelievers often argue that the presence of suffering (what they call “evil”) proves Christianity false. After all, if God is loving, why does he not prevent suffering? And if he could prevent suffering but does not prevent it, then he is not good.
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