“When a rich and fertile argument has been discovered, the preacher should not leave it, until he has made the common mind feel the whole sum of its force” (Shedd, Homiletic and Pastoral Theology, p. 190).
The Wrong Kind of Rightly Dividing
“‘Some ministers,’ says an old homiletist, ‘do with their texts, as the Levite with his concubine, — cut, and carve it into so many several pieces'” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 188).
Eighth Decade of Psalms: Psalm 75
Introduction: This is a psalm of preemptive thanksgiving. The psalmist is looking to God for a deliverance that he fully expects. There are petitions mixed in with the psalm, but for the most part this is simply anticipatory gladness for deliverance. The deliverance sought is from wicked rulers, which makes the faith all the more …
Just Like That
“We too often listen to sermons which remind us of that Galatian church which began in the spirit, but ended in the flesh” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 182).
With His Whole Weight
“The text is or should be, the keynote to the whole sermon. The more bold, the more undoubted and undisputed, its tone, the better . . . Nothing remains then, but for the preacher to go out upon it, with his whole weight; to unfold and apply its evident undoubted meaning, with all the moral …
Eighth Decade of Psalms: Psalm 74
Introduction: We have emphasized before that the psalter is not just a collection of songs, but it is also a model for prayer. We do not ever want to get our prayers to the point where they are “holier” than the prayers offered up in the Bible. And we should not forget to mention that …
Eighth Decade of Psalms: Psalm 73
Introduction: Asaph was an important singer in Israel, and this is the second psalm composed by him. In addition, it is the first of eleven in a row by him. We do not have any details of his biography, as we do with David, but we (possibly) learn a great deal about his personal piety …
Eighth Decade of Psalms: Psalm 72
Introduction: There are two psalms attributed to Solomon. This is one of them and Ps. 127 is the other. Some have been baffled by the reference here to David in v. 20, but this likely refers to the conclusion of the second book of psalms, and not to this individual psalm. Solomon’s psalm was included …
Eighth Decade of Psalms: Psalm 71
Introduction: Spurgeon rightly says that this psalm is the testimony of a “struggling, but unstaggering, faith.” The Hebrew form of this psalm has no title, but the Septuagint attributes it to David, an assumption we will follow. Whether by David or not, it certainly fits in with his life and experience. God was with him …
Exegesis, In Other Words
The preacher’s “business is not to involve into the text, something that is extrinsic, but to evolve out of it, something that is intrinsic” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, pp. 168-169).