It seems the richest psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are written in times of trauma and triumph. Let’s scan the landscape. We’ve seen that Psalms 113–118 are the foothills rising up toward Psalm 119. Called the Egyptian Hallel, they were sung on Israel’s red letter days. Now on the other side of what we called […]
Read More… from October 16, 2026 — The Songs Of Degrees Or Ascents
CHRIST OUR NEW OCCUPANT: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (Jn 14:23). C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), in his classic, Mere Christianity, writes: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. […]
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa 55:7). Here is a practical petition for the lost around us. Why do they not turn? Maybe they haven’t been […]
Frederick N. Charrington, heir to the largest distillery in England, while traveling in France, met an acquaintance, William Rainsford, and invited him home. He writes: “When we arrived, to my astonishment Rainsford suddenly said, ‘I feel very guilty. We have traveled all the way over the Continent, and enjoyed ourselves very much, but I have […]
Some people can’t see how FAITH and FATE are connected. But the one determines the other. What you believe determines your destiny forever. Faith isn’t about FABLES, it’s about FACTS, and those facts are based on evidence. If you believe that evidence, you become evidence—of the life-changing power of the Good News. […]
“Before the dawning…[I] cry for help;…through the night…I…meditate on Your word” (Ps 119:147-148). “Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage” (Ps 119:54). After the Reformation, Metrical Psalters were produced by many poets in many languages. The attitude of some believers was, “Why sing songs that men wrote when you can sing the […]
CHRIST the KING ETERNAL: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,…out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Mic 5:2). We were creatures of time, corruptible and doomed to utter collapse. But into our dusty world the Savior came. And, according to […]
“Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him…Even so, Amen” (Rev 1:7). I recall attending a camp in my childhood where they had a weather rock hanging from a chain. The explanation was this: if the rock is dry, weather fair; if it’s wet, precipitation; if the rock is moving, it’s […]
To some the mental image of God is a blur of disappointment. “Here,” they say resentfully, “is One whom I trusted, but He let me down.” The rest of their lives is shadowed by this letdown…God is a Disappointment. Some, of course, rather enjoy this never-failing well of grievance. The years by no means diminish […]