The eighth psalm is another psalm of David. The import of the psalm is glorious, and the Gittith probably refers somehow to the joyful aspect and nature of the psalm. "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. . . ." … [Read more...]
Pleasant Words
INTRODUCTION Messages on the tongue can easily cause every Christian to respond with some sort of uh oh. We all know how readily we sin with the tongue, and if a preacher is aiming for conviction it is fairly easy to hit that target through preaching on "sins of the tongue." … [Read more...]
Suspensions From the Supper
INTRODUCTION The purpose of this message is to explain and defend a certain practice required by our church constitution, and to do so in the only manner acceptable to us, which is through an appeal to the Scriptures. In recent months, we have had a small flurry of suspensions … [Read more...]
No Level Playing Field/Psalm 7
The psalm is by David. The occasion of it was a slander by a particular man named Cush, a man from the same tribe that David’s adversary Saul was from. The psalm is a shiggaion, a "wandering," which probably refers to a very intense, dithyrambic poem (cf. Hab. 3:1). In his zeal … [Read more...]
Psalms and Culture War
Our worship here is the center of all our endeavors in the surrounding community. We look to God here, now, for His own sake. But at the same time, the right worship of God should inform, drive, and inspire all our efforts at local culture building. Our problem has been that … [Read more...]
Transactions of Grace/Psalm 6
We come now to one of many penitential psalms -- psalms expressing grief and sorrow over sin, with a cry for God to extend His mercy and grace. "O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger . . ." (Ps. 6:1-10). Again, this is a psalm of David. We are not given the occasion for the … [Read more...]
The Hatred of God/Psalm 5
In this psalm, we find the psalmist crying out to God for deliverance, but also for more than deliverance. The desire is for God to vindicate His name and character as He destroys those who oppose His righteousness. "Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken … [Read more...]
War Psalms
You have heard many times that our culture is disintegrating around us. You have seen for yourself that this is so. You have heard that all evangelical attempts at political lobbying are like putting a band-aid on cancer. What shall we then do? You know generally that the … [Read more...]
Ascension and Pentecost
I just posted two sermon outlines to the left. I will be out of my office for several days, and so I had to draft my Pentecost sermon outline early. This does not indicate a problem with your calendar. … [Read more...]
Who Is the Holy Spirit?/Pentecost 2004
INTRODUCTION This is our observance of Pentecost, the time when we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. There are many things that can be said of this, but we sometimes overlook the obvious. Today we should consider the holiness of the Holy … [Read more...]