Theology That Bites Back
Introduction: We have in this psalm a prayer offered up in the midst of desperate affliction. The afflicted are those who feel most in need of answered prayer. They are also those who feel like getting an answer is a true long shot. But affliction makes them eloquent anyhow, and it is the kind of …
Introduction: True worship comes from true hearts, and true hearts are filled to overflowing with gladness. This gladness can be solemn, as it is at a wedding (solempne), or this gladness can be jubilant, as it is after a victorious battle. But the thing it must never be is sullen or surly or sulky. Who …
Introduction: As we worship Jehovah for His infinite wisdom, right at the peak of our praises must be the recognition that His mercy to us is altogether holy. How He managed to do that is beyond all finite calculation. But fortunately, it is not beyond our ability to adore and praise. How can mercy be …
Introduction: When we sing the psalms back to God, one of the things we are learning how to do is how to address Him as He would like to be addressed. Instead of cooking up our own idea of pious noises and a liturgical shuffling around, our own ex tempore musical, we can read the …
Introduction: Many of the problems confronting modern Christians is that they diligently try to do the right thing . . . but in the wrong categories. They try guitar fingering on a mandolin; they try chess rules on a backgammon board; they apply the rules of French grammar to English. And for us to draw …
Introduction: God is worthy of all praise and honor. We know this through special revelation—as we see here in Psalm 96—and we also learn the same thing from the created order itself. God is speaking both places because God is silent nowhere. The creation is an essential part of the choir. The oceans are singing …
Introduction: Throughout the New Testament, we are given cautions and warnings. We are told repeatedly that we are to take our covenant lessons from what happened to our older brothers, the Jews. The things written down in Scripture were written for our edification, as examples to us, which means that we need to learn to …
Introduction: All of the attributes of God are unchanging and constant, by definition. But they are not always equally conspicuous to us. The Lord’s right arm is always infinitely what it is, but there are times when He bares His right arm. He is always strong, but there are times when He is revealed as …
Introduction: The enemies of God are primarily the enemies of God, and only derivatively ours. The principal contrast is between the futility of their rebellion, as over against the constant life of the everlasting one. They perish, and He remains forever. And then, as a result of that, a secondary contrast is set up—between the …
One of the things that has characterized our congregational life for several decades now is psalm-singing. We do not hold to what has been called “exclusive psalmody”—where nothing but psalms are sung—but it would be fair to say that we hold to dominant psalmody. We want the Word of Christ to dwell in us richly, …