When your body argues that there’s no good reason to continue, call on your spirit. It agrees with God. 1419. Is it possible to be a lush garden, full of fragrance and fruit—in a desert? Psalm 63 says, “Yes!” Penned while David “was in the wilderness of Judah” (title), he describes the secret of a flourishing soul. […]
CHRIST a PLANT of RENOWN (Ezek 34:29). Christianity is eternity in time. With the appearance of Christ a new sprig was planted into the withered ground of the world of man. And all who have been grafted into it have become partakers of eternal life. Thus Christians have found the fountain of eternal youth. The […]
“Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!” (Ps 80:3). Sanctification: the process by which weak, failing children of God are progressively conformed to be like the perfect Son of God. Henry Drummond writes: “Shall a mechanical experiment succeed infallibly and the one vital experiment of humanity remain a […]
The message we preach is “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) for now grace reigns in life and through righteousness (Rom 5:17, 21). It is “the gospel of His Son” (Rom 1:9) for God gave His only Son that He might bring many sons to glory (Heb 2:10). It is also “the […]
What makes us “steadfast, immovable” (1 Cor 15:58)? Look back to the cross and ahead to the glory. Psalm 62 is in two main parts (vv 1-4 and 5-10), with a short conclusion (vv 11-12). Part 1 begins with a statement regarding trust in a thoroughly trustworthy God (vv 1-2), followed by a portrait of those causing […]
CHRIST OUR SUFFICIENCY: “Christ is all and in all” (Col 3:11). After his conversion in 1834, Isaac Marsden, a drygoods salesman, “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4), in the streets, markets, pubs, wherever he could find a hearing. Often criticized for his bombastic style, he nonetheless saw thousands saved. Here is some of his […]
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Eph 6:18). Notice the four alls. Pray at all times with all prayer with all perseverance for all saints. Peter Deyneka Sr., founder of the Slavic Gospel Association, moved from Russia […]
A.T. Pierson told of Alexander MacLaren using the illustration of a compass “with one foot firmly set in the true center, and the other describing a circle which, while that center was preserved, could not possibly err in width or range of circumference. Our first necessity is to get the truth center and fix there […]
Safe on the Rock, dwelling in His tabernacle, under His wings—mixed metaphors never sounded so good! It seems appropriate that this sweet little psalm should be accompanied by “a stringed instrument,” as the title of Psalm 61 suggests. Although the Selah in the middle marks a transition, it isn’t a sharp one. The first four verses begin with “Hear my […]