GOSPEL :: FAMILY :: MISSION
There are many places throughout the Bible, where we read bone-chilling words; words that cut deep into the dark places of our souls. I think of the time when God enters the Garden and calls out to Adam, “Where are you?” and then subsequently says “Who told you that you were naked?” (Gen. 3:9, 11).
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How would you describe your prayer life? Would you describe it as vibrant and full of wonder or dull and lacking? Sometimes my prayer life is a continual conversation with God where I am laying everything at his feet throughout the day. Other times, my prayer life feels like a series of Hail Mary’s in the final moments of a game where my opponent is kicking my butt. That is kind of how David’s prayer in Psalm 70 feels; it feels like David is throwing up a Hail Mary in a desperate situation.
Continue readingWhy do we praise God through thick and thin? Or better yet, how do we praise God through thick and thin, through the good times as well as the bad times? Admittedly, it seems easier to give God the praise when things are going well. But the fact that we have all experienced the difficulty of praising God in the bad times says something about our struggle with believing the truth about God.
Continue readingThe superscription of this Psalm, which reads “A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah”, helps us to understand the unique circumstances that were going on in David’s life when he wrote the words of this Psalm. Whenever you see the word “wilderness” in the Bible it usually means “desert”; like the hot, dry, desert, wastelands found in places like Texas, and New Mexico, and Nevada.
Continue readingPsalm 61 has been described as a Psalm of Desperation by many commentators.2 Desperation means, “Not having hope, filled with despair, a situation of urgency in which a person does not know what to do”.
Continue readingThere are many difficult aspects of following God. It is difficult to trust him when your world is falling apart. It is difficult to hear his voice amidst all the noise of this life. It is also difficult to discern what God wants for us when we are faced with deciding between two equally good options.
Continue readingAs we come to our passage this morning, we need to note that we are nearly halfway through our study of 1st Samuel. The general arch of the storyline is that Israel is coming out of the period of the judges where everyone dishonored God by doing what was right in their own eyes instead of living in obedience to God’s commands (Judges 2:11 – 23; 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).
Continue readingThe book of 1 Samuel is a great case study for those who want to become godly leaders. Through all the ups and downs in the story, we can observe godly leaders contrasted with ungodly leaders. We can see this contrast loud and clear in chapters 13 – 15 where – as one commentator notes – Saul, an ungodly leader, is constantly caught up by contrast with godly leaders like the prophet Samuel and his very own son, Jonathan.2
Continue readingReading this passage kind of leaves you feeling a little yucky does it not? It is kind of like watching a movie go from bad to worse, or maybe it is more like watching a movie that you know has a sad ending while hoping the ending has changed somehow.
Continue readingThe passage we are looking at today comes right on the heels of last week’s passage where we observed Israel’s victory over their Ammonite enemies who had been threatening to render a portion of Israel ineffective in war as well as to enslave them to a life of forced labor.
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