We now see a progression of thought in the Beatitudes. We began with the man who was poor in spirit, who was in mourning over his own sin. The Bible teaches that when a man is humbled, then God will lift him up. We see that here. God has shown mercy, and the recipients are …
Sabbath Authority
As God has shown His kindness to us, one of the most important cultural developments in Moscow over the last several years is the growing observance of the Sabbath feast. The practice, as it has been developing in many homes, marks the Lord’s Day as beginning Saturday night at 6pm with the Sabbath dinner, or …
Greasy Enemies/Psalm 17
As we have noted a number of times, the psalmist had adversaries, men who were antagonistic toward him. God wants us to have much experience in bringing our adversaries before Him, and in His Word, He teaches us how to do this. We need to learn how to pray about our enemies. “Hear the right, …
Images in Worship
The human heart is naturally prone to idolatry, and this is especially the case with the religious heart. Never forget that the religious heart is not the same thing as the gracious heart. What is the second commandment? “You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in …
Hunger and Thirst
We must begin by noting that the Beatitude we are considering here does not say, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after blessedness . . . “ We all want to be happy, blessed, and we are tempted to make that state of blessing our goal. But the spiritual irony is that such blessings …
Lift Up Your Heads/Psalm 24
INTRODUCTION The psalter contains all of human experience. In Psalm 22 we saw faith in agony and conflict. In Psalm 23, we saw pastoral peace and trust. Here we see the majesty of triumph. THE TEXT The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he …
Pleasures Forevermore/Psalm 16
This psalm is a plea for deliverance, but at the same time it is suffused with great confidence and hope. As a prayer offered on behalf of the Lord Jesus, we should not be surprised at the weight of glory contained here. “Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust . …
The Only God
We have to remember that the first four of the Ten Commandments are summarized by the greatest commandment to love God, while the last six are summarized by the commandment to love our neighbor. We should also keep in mind that the law of God is not a series of different panes of glass — …
Inherit the Earth
These are familiar words. As familiar words, they have much in common with other well-traveled passages. One common feature is the fact that the promise is not well-understood. The word to us is very clear — “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.“ A blessing is pronounced upon a certain kind of …
The Shepherd Lord/Psalm 23
INTRODUCTION This passage is one of the most famous scriptural passages, and rightly so. The only real problem with it is that people are so familiar with it that it is easy to assume too readily that you have grasped the full import of what is being said. But this psalm has wonderful depths. THE …