Posts by Josh Moody

1 Kings 9-10, Psalm 119:41-48, Luke 2:1-20, Ephesians 3:14-21 Psalm 119:41-48: Indubitably, the thing we most need is: love. And in particular, the love of God. His love, when all other loves fail, does not fail. And so this section of the psalm begins with this earnest cry: “Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord”(119:41). Would…

1 Kings 8, Psalm 119:33-40, Luke 1:67-80, Ephesians 3:1-13  Psalm 119:33-40: This section of this psalm once again gives the lie to the idea that the desire to keep the law (or God’s Word) in the way it is expressed here or in the Bible is in anyway legalistic. No, instead, the psalmist is ardently praying that God would…

1 Kings 6-7, Psalm 119:25-32, Luke 1:57-66, Ephesians 2:11-22  Psalm 119:25-32: What do you do when you don’t feel like studying the Bible? All of us at some point or other find that our feelings do not match our commitments. Worse still, what do you do when you find that you don’t feel like seeking God at all?…

1 Kings 4-5, Psalm 119:17-24, Luke 1:39-56, Ephesians 2:1-10 Psalm 119:17-24: One of the primary mistakes that we tend to make when we think of studying God’s Word is to under-emphasize its supernatural quality. That is, we treat the Bible too much as a puzzle to interpret by our own strength, instead of doing the truly hard work…

1 Kings 2-3, Psalm 119:9-16, Luke 1:26-38, Ephesians 1:15-23 Psalm 119:9-16: The question with which this part of Psalm 119 opens is a question that has troubled young men from time immemorial. It is ever pertinent and important, and sometimes for some people seemingly unattainable. “How can a young man keep his way pure?” (119:9). While the psalmist…

1 Kings 1, Psalm 119:1-8, Luke 1:1-25, Ephesians 1:1-14 Psalm 119:1-8: We begin a journey through one of the most famous Psalms—as well as the longest chapter—in the Bible. It is well-known for its advocacy for God’s law. This strikes a strange note to many people today because they view law as equivalent to legalism, but the two…

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…