As we have noted before, the psalms provide us with direction and encouragement in every conceivable human situation. Just as in the next psalm (21), we have thanksgiving in the aftermath of victory in battle, so in this psalm we have a cry of faith prior to the battle. And of course, battle and danger …
Mountainous Grace
Your might and majesty, O Lord are mountainous grace. We bless Your beauty, the beauty of holiness. The glory of Your goodness is the glory of the only begotten, The Son of our salvation, our Savior who purchased us. We come now, confessing, we cannot be restrained. The sanctuary stones cry out—can living stones be …
Pots and Vats
Once there were two boys playing the back yard. They were both good friends, and they got along well for the most part. But one of them had a quick temper, and occasionally he would lose it, and I have to say he had hurt his good friend more than once. But the curious thing …
Bitterness and Baptism
You are not here at the Table by yourself. Seated here with you are all the saints of God, throughout the world, and throughout history. We are called upon to discern the body, and not just the body here in this room. But this does not exclude those who are here in this room. And …
The Mantle of Momentum
I have said in this space before that I do not have a great deal of faith in polls. I don’t think we have the ability to interview 250 Americans, render general by induction, and determine what candidate 250 million Americans actually favor. But another observation needs to be linked to this. It doesn’t matter …
A Covenant Lord
Father of all covenant kindness, we thank You for what You have bestowed upon us. You have given us a covenant Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, and we rest today, on this day of rest, in His obedience. We praise You that You have made it so that we can come before You in simple …
More on Robbins
In a recent Trinity Review, John Robbins tackles the work of Richard Gaffin, and spends quite a bit of energy fulminating about the departures of said theologian from the traditional Reformed ordo salutis. In the course of his discussion, Robbins says, “Believers do not die with Christ ‘existentially’ or ‘experimentally,’ but legally. They do not …
We Preach Not Ourselves/Psalm 26
INTRODUCTION Without the confession of sin found in the previous psalm, this psalm taken by itself could be seen as arrogant or self-righteous. We always need the whole counsel of God. But in our day, we are far more likely to ignore the sentiments found here than we are to neglect the sentiments that urge …
The Sins of My Youth/Psalm 25
INTRODUCTION The twenty-fifth psalm is a sustained plea for help, although it contains some things that we might have trouble reconciling. This again is one of the reasons why we need to be trained to pray as the psalmist prays. This is the second penitential psalm, and it is the first that is composed as …
Dogpile Dan
Despite the fact that I remain above the fray, and the fact that I don’t know who I am going to vote for, the current set-up has its inspiring moments. The current inspiration is the nation-wide journalistic dogpile with Dan Rather on the bottom of it.