“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God” (Isa 41:10). Mark Guy Pearse tells a story he heard from two young men while visiting South Africa. They had three days’ holiday and decided to ride up-country. Entering a forest, they were startled by a terrible roar. “A lion,” […]
“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John…they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Queen Victoria had asked her chaplain if “‘one could be absolutely sure in this life of eternal safety?” He said he “knew of no way one could be absolutely sure.” John Townsend wrote the […]
“But now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have” (2 Cor 8:11). Vision and well-meaning intentions can be a good start—if they align with God’s desires—but we will not see them become reality […]
It is a common argument, when discussing Isaiah 53 with a Jew, that the Servant of the Lord represents his suffering people, but Old Testament scholar Arnold Fruchtenbaum writes: “To interpret Isaiah 53 as speaking of Messiah is not non-Jewish. In fact, if we are to speak of the traditional Jewish interpretation, it would be […]
Holy confidence is grounded in the promises of God and unleashes the power of God for us. So far in Psalm 18, we’ve seen a portrait of David’s Delight (vv 1-3) in the God who cares about him, then David’s Distress (vv 4-6) and the enemies attacking him, followed by David’s Defender (vv 7-15), confronting […]
CHRIST the FACE of GOD: “It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). Whose face was it that Jacob saw when he declared, “I […]
“My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word” (Ps 119:25). The word translated “my soul” (naphshi) is metonymy for “my life.” And “revive me” could well be translated “enliven me.” It seems that “the dust” refers to our bodies, and the psalmist speaks of the way we “hang on for dear […]
“Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do” (Mt 23:3). Young people don’t so much follow our preaching; they follow our practices—if we talk well but live poorly, we’ll raise a generation who will think little of […]
When we trust God enough to ask for help, we soon discover that His help increases our trust. Psalm 18 has the longest title: “To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from […]