“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 […]
Faith runs to the Savior. Fear runs from the foe. Why not do both at the same time? The beautiful 27th Psalm has many memorable lines, but on first reading we see the psalm divides in two, so dramatically that some commentators suggest this might be two psalms cobbled together. But there’s no need for […]
CHRIST the TRUE MELCHIZEDEK: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4). This verse is quoted no less than seven times in the book of Hebrews. It is a biblical bombshell! God had separated “church and state” by selecting His kings from Judah and the priests from Levi. When He […]
“Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17). At the end of the first day of the Civil War’s battle of Fredericksburg, hundreds of Union men lay wounded near the road ascending Marye’s Heights. For most of the next day, the area was swept by artillery from both lines; no one […]
Alexander Marshall, the great pioneer of the gospel in the northeastern U.S., told of an old man he knew from East Anglia, England who used to say: “It took me forty-two years to learn three things: 1) That I could do nothing to save myself; 2) that God did not ask me to do anything; […]
CHRIST the SUSTAINER: “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (hold together) (Col 1:17). By appointment of President Woodrow Wilson, Henry van Dyke became Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913. The following year, World War I threw Europe into disarray. In the thick of it, van Dyke, though […]