CHRIST our SYMPATHIZER: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb 4:15). Blessed double negative! Yes, He can, and does, sympathize with His struggling people. Never is this seen more clearly than in the words, “Jesus wept.” L.W.G. Alexander writes: More wonderful words than these are nowhere found […]
“Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies” (Ps 119:22). Reproach means to be disgraced; contempt, to be disrespected. In a world that emphasizes perception rather than reality, and reputation more than character, it should be the desire of the believer to ruthlessly avoid anything that would bring dishonor on the […]
John Stott writes: “Note the recognizable sequence in the Gospels. When Jesus saw someone in need He had compassion, and when He had compassion He invariably acted. His compassion was aroused by the sight of need, and always issued in the alleviation of need. What His eye saw, His heart felt; and what His heart […]
The Pacific Garden Mission, founded in 1877 on the notorious Whiskey Row in Chicago’s South Loop, is the oldest continuously-serving rescue mission in America. It was the first place I preached after my honeymoon more than 50 years ago. Following the service, I chatted with the attendees. One man, a former medical doctor, had lost […]
Ever since man was expelled from the Garden, he’s been trying to pretend he’s in the “in” crowd. There’s nothing better than being at home with God, the meaning of the two words selected by David in Psalm 15:1—“Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?” There is within humankind a strong desire to […]
“Then Jacob said, ‘O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,…I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant…” (Gen 32:9-10). C.H. Spurgeon writes: “I have a dear brother in Christ, Mr. Curme, who is the mirror of […]
H.P. Barker was visiting the doors when he asked a man, “Are you able to say, ‘My sins, which are many, are forgiven?’” ‘Oh no, I don’t think anyone can speak positively on that.” “What place do you attend on Sundays?” He pointed to the parish church. “Why, sir, every Sunday you repeat in that […]
They say the atheist’s holiday is April 1. But did you know the atheists also have a psalm? Two things were clear to David. The first was that anyone who concluded in his heart that there was no God was a fool. The second was that such people who denied God His rightful place in […]
CHRIST our SHEPHERD: “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own” (Jn 10:14). David, who well knew the characteristics of a good shepherd, describes in Psalm 23 the most convincing proof of such: contented sheep! As John Hooper (c. 1495-1555)—executed at the stake for his faith during […]