The Book of Proverbs is a great book of wisdom for everyday living. Most of the Book is written by David’s son Solomon who succeeded him as king. When Solomon acceded to the throne of Israel, the LORD appeared to him and spoke these words: “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1Kings […]
Living the Kingdom on Earth
Posts from April 2013 (Page 2)
Reading through the Psalms gives us a clear and wonderful portrait of the LORD, the God of the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a breath of fresh air. There is a great gulf that exists between Yahweh, the God of Abraham, and the various deities of Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology. These latter deities are often […]
A major portion of our reading today covers the Psalms of ascent which start at Psalm 120 and go to Psalm 134. These 15 Psalms are believed to have been sung by Jewish pilgrims as they traveled to Jerusalem for the three major Festivals of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Each of these Festivals were times […]
In today’s blog I would like to focus on Psalms 95 and 96. They are both a call to worship the LORD, but they have 2 different audiences in mind. In Psalm 95, the people addressed are the Israelites, God’s covenant people. They are urged to sing aloud to the LORD (Yahweh), to the Rock […]
One of the Psalms that has been greatly appreciated in the history of the Church is Psalm 72. It is a wonderful description of a truly great king. It is a portrait which differs from how most kings have carried out their kingship including Solomon who seems to have wrote it. Solomon had a great […]
Several of the Psalms we first encounter in our reading today exalt the excellencies of Jerusalem and the Temple in the midst of her. We can understand the reason for this. The LORD had centralized the worship of His people there. The surrounding peoples believed in many ‘gods’ and worshiped their idols in many different […]
In reading through the Bible in 90 days, I find it most difficult to read 12 pages of Psalms each day. The Psalms are self-contained laments, praises or prayers to the LORD. I am used to reading 3 or 4 Psalms at one time. Psalms are wonderful passages to use in our devotional time with […]
In our reading today we begin our journey through the hymn book of God’s people – the Book of Psalms. Hymns to pagan gods have been preserved in the literature, but they are much different than the Psalms. Hymns to the gods and demi-gods in Greece are written in very flattering tones which are meant […]
In yesterday’s reading, we saw how Job’s 3 friends came to console him and ended up condemning him. They were guilty of a simplistic view of how life works. They see Job’s great suffering, therefore he must be guilty of great sin which he is too proud to confess. We know from Job 1&2 that […]
Some Bible scholars think that the Book of Job is the oldest part of the Biblical record. In fact, it may be the oldest book in the world. It is certainly one of the most profound treatments in exploring the mystery of suffering, especially in the life of the godly. The Book is an extended […]