How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners Psalm 1:1 How Blessed – Isn’t it nice to know that God has a sense of artistic symmetry? He is the author extraordinaire. Throughout Scripture, He demonstrates His literary skills with tiny subtleties…
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners Psalm 1:1 Wicked – OK, so who are the wicked? Are they the corrupt officials, the serial rapists, the terrorists and the corporate swindlers? Are they the ones who don’t go to church,…
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners Psalm 1:1 Does Not Walk – Halak is the verb of motion. I go, I come, I walk. Metaphorically, halak is about the pathways of my life. It’s about my choices and my…
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners Psalm 1:1 Counsel – It’s hard to know where to begin with this verse. We want to know what David means by “blessed”. It must be important if he chose it as the…
Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. Psalm 16:1 Take Refuge – Yesterday Nahum told us that God knows those worshippers who willingly turn their lives over into His hands in the day of trouble. Now we can see what David thought about this kind of refuge. There is an implication in…
The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him. Nahum 1:7 Take Refuge – Does God know you? Before you are quick to reply, consider the words of the prophet Nahum. Our theologically attuned church culture says, “Why, of course. God knows everything. Certainly…
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 Commandments – Now we know how we keep the commandments – by guarding, attending and obeying. Now we know when we keep the commandments – today. And finally, we are ready to ask what…
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 Keep – What do you think about when you hear the command, “Keep the commandments”? If the first thing that comes to mind is drudgery and effort, perhaps you need to go back to…
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 Burdensome – Proverbs 21:8 contains a Hebrew word that appears only once in the Bible. It is the word for the “guilty” person. Of course, since there is no other occurrence of this word,…
seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness 2 Peter 1:3 Granted –There are two verbs translated “give” in the New Testament. One is didomi. We see it in Matthew 20:4 and Luke 20:22. Depending on the context, it usually means to give in return for something. The…
