Archive for May 2022

2 Samuel 23-24, Psalm 118, Mark 16, Galatians 6 Psalm 118: The main theme of this psalm is the love of God, but that love is revealed in a specific place. Our tendency is to view God’s love as something generic, not particular, as something non-defined, not as something revealed at a particular point in time. Here, this…

2 Samuel 22, Psalm 117, Mark 15:42-47, Galatians 5:13-26 Psalm 117: The Psalms give many reasons (that is “affections” = the combination of both reason and feeling that moves the will towards action) to praise God. It is important for us to have such motivation. When we come to church, we can otherwise find that we are stalled…

2 Samuel 20-21, Psalm 116, Mark 15:33-41, Galatians 5:1-12 Psalm 116: We are told often that we are to love God. But why? To ask such a question seems sacrilegious. After all, are we not meant to love God out of duty? Or, are we not meant to love God because he is eminently lovable? But then why…

2 Samuel 18-19, Psalm 115, Mark 15:16-32, Galatians 3:15-21 Psalm 115: The psalm starts with an insistence that all of us would do well to recall and regularly recite: “Not to us” but to God’s name be the glory (115:1). Service to God is not to be self-service. Ironically, sometimes it is possible to seem as if we…

2 Samuel 16-17, Psalm 114, Mark 15:1-15, Galatians 4:1-20 Psalm 114: When we talk of “God’s presence,” we often think these days of something mild, pleasant, gentle. Certainly, the thought that “he leadeth me,” as the hymn puts it, has “heavenly comfort” to it. But according to this psalm, there is another side to the thought that God…

2 Samuel 14-15, Psalm 113, Mark 14:66-72, Galatians 3:15-29 Psalm 113: This psalm is obviously a psalm of praise. But it is one thing to say “praise the Lord”; it is another thing to be compelled with authenticity to praise the Lord. This psalm bridges the gap between instruction to praise and fuel for our praises. Consider these…

2 Samuel 13, Psalm 112, Mark 14:53-65, Galatians 3:1-14 Psalm 112: There are lots of theories around about how to be “successful.” Perhaps one of the most famous is called “how to win friends and influence people.” Another is called “the seven habits of highly effective people.” This is a mere taste of the numerous books, online resources,…

2 Samuel 11-12, Psalm 111, Mark 14:43-52, Galatians 2 Psalm 111: Praising God is something that we know that we should do. After all, he is God so surely there must be a lot to praise. But we are not always as inclined to praise God as we would wish. Perhaps we do not feel “in the…

2 Samuel 8-10, Psalm 110, Mark 14:32-42, Galatians 1 Psalm 110: What a mysterious psalm this must have seemed to Old Testament readers, for its prophecies and descriptions only really make sense in the light of the person of Jesus. Remember this, Christian, you cannot understand the Old Testament without the key that unlocks its doors: the Christ.…

2 Samuel 5-7, Psalm 109, Mark 14:12-31, 2 Corinthians 13 Psalm 109: What do you do when people lie about you, deceive you, turn your words into weapons against you, and generally attack and betray you? What is a Christian to do in such situations? Our Lord Jesus teaches us that we are to “love our enemies and…