“Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear;…Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.” —George Croly David declares himself to be one of those people Jesus described who had built their lives on the “Rock” (Ps 28:1; Mt 7:24-27). What a wonderful vantage place, especially when life’s storms hit us. But in this psalm David faces […]
CHRIST OUR MAN: “A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isa 32:2). H.J. Miles, in his poem, “What a Man!” says, When the blast’s o’erwhelming force […]
“Blessed of the Lord is his land, with the precious things of heaven, with the dew, and the deep lying beneath, with the precious fruits of the sun, with the precious produce of the months, with the best things of the ancient mountains, with the precious things of the everlasting hills,…and the favor of Him […]
We need to be up and doing: girding up the loins of our minds (1 Pet 1:13), stirring up our gifts (2 Tim 1:6), and offering up prayers and sacrifices (1 Pet 2:5). We should be stirring up one another (2 Pet 1:13), and building up one another (Jude 20), until we’re caught up to […]
The title gives us King David’s sentiments when he heard Jonathan and Saul had been slain by the Philistines on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. Saul sealed his own fate by his impetuous headlong plunge away from the Lord. Jonathan, on the other hand, had shown the nobility of a prince with God. But loyalty […]
“To seek God is the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.” —Augustine The first three verses of Psalm 27 portray a battlefield. David imagines himself surrounded by an enemy encampment (v 3). The combatants he faces are ruthless, wanting to chew him up (v 2). But the Commander-in-chief is in residence, and […]
CHRIST ALL SUFFICIENT: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor 12:9). “One evening,” said C.H. Spurgeon, “I was riding home after a heavy day’s work, weary and sore depressed, when suddenly, as a lightning flash, came: ‘My grace is sufficient for Thee.’ And I said, ‘I should think it is, Lord,’ and burst out […]
“Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously” (Ps 119:29). J.C. Ryle opines, “Think about how much falsehood and deceit there is in the world! How much exaggeration! How many untruths are added to a simple story! How many things are left out, if it does not serve the speaker’s […]
People who habitually turn away the Savior’s invitation need to understand how precarious their situation is. John explains, “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His […]