Christmas is the season when believers and unbelievers alike speak often of joy. But it is only the believers who understand and experience this joy.
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 MoreOur celebration of Christ’s first advent is much the same. We gather as God’s family, and retell the stories that have shaped us and continue to mold us. So as we enter into the Advent season, we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Read MoreThe transcendent God who is not immanent would leave us in despair of ever knowing him. The immanent God without transcendence would leave us unsatisfied and bored. But God is both, and fills us with both awe and comfort. Indeed, this psalm gives us a written description of Jesus Christ, the exalted God over all creation who became a man. The transcendent God has drawn near us in Jesus Christ, and he is the friend of all in need, who humbly seek his gracious presence.
Read MoreWe know in our own lives God-fearing people who grieve for their children, who toil through difficult life. In view of such realities Psalm 112 seems to overpromise and underdeliver. What is to be done about this, then?
Read MoreAre you wise or are you a fool? How we participate in corporate and public worship of God is the answer to this important question.
Read MoreMaking Christ central in our worship and life is the only way we can truly honor the legacy of the Protestant Reformation and be the heirs of its legacy.
Read MoreWhen Scripture says God remembers, it means he acts in keeping with what has either been promised or done. Thus when people pray, “Remember me,” they are asking the LORD to act in keeping with his promises. Likewise, when the psalmist prays “Remember not the sins of my youth” or when we read “I will not remember your sins,” it does not mean the LORD’s mind somehow blanks out, but rather that he will not act in accordance to what we have done.
Read Morenot remember our sins in that he does not act as our sins deserve. But Scripture also lists our sins as the context of understanding God’s steadfast love. That is how the Holy Spirit uses our sins for our sanctification. In the remembrance of our sins we see fresh evidence of God’s steadfast love. And in the remembrance of our sins we remember why we sing our songs of thanks.
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We 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 MoreMany people take it for granted that worship is supposed to put us at ease. But Psalm 99 teaches us that worship will sometimes leave us shaking like a leaf.
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 MoreSo, then, let us do both, to weep and to laugh. We will mourn and we will celebrate. And one day his light will drive away all darkness.
Read MoreParents talk about their children. Athletes talk about their games. We can’t help it. We just have to talk about what we love. We are built to find a deep joy in the act of proclaiming our love. That is why we go out of our way to announce our love to everyone and anyone listening.
Read MoreLet us heed these words of exhortation and warning, and enter into God’s rest. For Jesus received our blows, and the Rock of Ages was cleft for us that we might live.
Read MoreA tree is more valuable when laden with ripe fruit, but it has a peculiar beauty when in blossom.
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