Read 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 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 MoreWhen man raises a battle cry against God, what peace can we know? So the fallen man lives his whole life in fear and steps into eternity filled with dread.
But God has given us a gift of Peace.
Read MoreWe are often haunted by the remembrance of our sins, and try hard to forget them. But we may benefit from reviewing our sins. Our sins are the grounds for shame and guilt. They are also the backdrop to God’s goodness and steadfast love. So we give thanks. And we hope for better things to come. Praise the LORD!
Read MoreNewton wrote, “whoever is well read in these four books, is a wise person, how little soever he may know of what men of the world call science. On the other hand, though a man should be master of the whole circle of classical, polite, and philosophical knowledge, if he has no taste for the Bible, and has no ability to apply it to the works of creation and providence, and his own experience, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. I have pointed out a treasure more wroth than all the volumes in the Vatican.”
Read MoreOur worship becomes man-centered when it is built around our needs and comforts. Ironically, when man looms large over the horizon of worship, then there can be no real or lasting comfort.
Read MoreWhat makes an ideal king? Does it take a large army? Great luxuries of his court? A large harem? These are all the things that godless pagan kings crave after.
Read MoreDo we think God will be pleased if we appear before him with less than a great enthusiasm? How would you feel if your children or friends came to visit you not with joy, but with a begrudging sense of obligation? We should not expect that God will be pleased with what would not please us.
Read MoreEnglish poetry often utilizes rhymes and meters. Thus the repetition of sounds and the cadence of words play important roles. Hebrew poetry (i.e. Psalms), on the other hand, do not utilize rhymes and meters
Read MoreMembership in Grace Fallbrook is a membership in a Reformed and Presbyterian congregation. When we identify ourselves as a Reformed congregation, we are asserting an identify that is historically informed, theologically shaped, and has clear boundaries in our piety.
Read MoreQ. 34. What is adoption?
A. Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges, of the sons of God.
Read MoreQ. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
Read MoreQ. 23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
Q. 24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
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