We must continue to remember the progression of the Beatitudes. We do not come now to a person who is pure in his own authority and power, rather, we come to someone who realized the impurity of his heart, cried out for forgiveness, and through Christ was heard. But even when we have come to …
The Warrior God/Psalm 18
This psalm is also found with some variations in 2 Samuel 22, and appears to have been written near the end of David’s life. In this form, it is likely a composite, and refers to different occasions of deliverance over the course of David’s life, but most notably to those times when God delivered David …
Walking Oaths
In the Lord’s Prayer, Christ teaches us to hallow God’s name. This duty is a great one, but in our era it is not recognized as such. Some of the other commandments are generally recognized as important. As we shall see, this is not the case with this commandment, and repentance is in order. Countless …
The Meaning of Mercy
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 . …