We come now to a psalm of imprecation. These psalms do not represent the entire psalter, but they are a significant part of it. Of particular note would Psalms 7, 69, and 109. What are we to do with them? Well, among other things, sing them. Our aversion to the psalms of imprecation has more …
Look Lively There
“I refer to the element of ‘liveliness’. This underlines the fact that seriousness does not mean solemnity, does not mean sadness, does not mean morbidity. These are all very important distinctions. The preacher must be lively; and you can be lively and serious at the same time” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 87).
The Past, Present and Potent
“Early in his tenure, Saddam Hussein announced his intentions to restore Iraq’s Babylonian heritage. He launched a meticulous, multi-billion-dollar excavation and reconstruction of the ancient city located sixty miles south of Baghdad, rebuilding a number of its most significant sites. They included Nechadnezzar’s opulent grand palace, the vast Esagila temple precinct, the beautiful Via Sacra …
Blinded Me With Science
“The parallels between Justine [by de Sade] and Frankenstein become obvious at this point. Sexual desire using science as a cover turns human beings into objects by promoting the notion that morals are either ‘unscientific’ or are a mere epiphenomenon of the mechanism as yet not understood ” (E. Michael Jones, Monsters from the Id, …
Bad Men With Shovels
“Does Moses prevail too much in the hearts of the people? Something must be found against him. If we can find nothing against him, yet we will find something against his wife . . . But now we are resolved to pick out whatever we can get information of, though it is about things done …
A Fun Review
Here is a really fun review of Leepike Ridge by Elizabeth Bird. She is the children’s librarian for the Donnell Central Children’s Room for the New York Public Library System. She has served on Newbery, and written for Horn Book, and so she knows a good book when she reads one. It was a pleasure …
Difficult Relationships
INTRODUCTION: For a number of years, we have been emphasizing community, life together, fellowship, communion, what the New Testament calls koinonia. The response to this emphasis has been significant—showing that there is a real spiritual hunger for this kind of thing. But there is a hitch—other people are involved. A number of months ago, Doug …
Not One Bone
Psalm 34 is an acrostic—what the Latin Fathers called psalmi abcedarii. There are nine of these psalms total, and it is a pity that we can’t figure out a way to bring this across in translation. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall …
Can’t Give Away What You Don’t Have
“When I say zeal I mean that a preacher must always convey the impression that he himself has been gripped by what he is saying. If he has not been gripped nobody else will be” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, p. 87).
This Goes Way Back
“Israelis tenaciously hold on to the occupied territories of the West Bank because of promises made millenniums ago to the patriarch Abraham; Iraqis invade the lands of fellow Moslems in order to settle grudges that date back to the time of Nebuchadnezzar; Iranians stir up revolutionary passions that have lain dormant since the demise of …