Expect Transitions
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. (v. 1) Your “comfort zone” is the psychological environment that helps you feel like you are in control. When I am in my comfort zone, I feel more confident and experience less anxiety. Living in my comfort zone […]
What a Difference!
Read: Psalm 88:1-12 O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! (vv 1-2) We must not read the New Testament back into the Old Testament. In Scripture there is progressive revelation. Except for a flash of insight […]
Citizenship That Matters Most
Read: Psalm 87:1-7 On the holy mount stands the city he founded; the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. (vv. 1-2) Zion is here a name for Jerusalem. This psalm reminds me of the final chapters of Revelation where the church is described as the new Jerusalem. […]
Listen to My Cry for Mercy
Read: Psalm 86:3-17 You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. (vv. 5-6 NIV) Jesus says there are two ways of trying to approach God. One, like the Pharisee, who tells God about his goodness, thinking God will […]
Do It Again
Read: Psalm 85:1-13 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. (vv. 6-7) In the past God had renewed the life of Israel (v. 1). Now the psalmist says, “Restore us again, O God of our salvation” (v. […]
Worship With Emotion and Heart
Read: Psalm 84:1-12 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! (vv. 3-4) People go to church for various reasons. […]
Listen
Read: Psalm 81 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. (v. 10) In verse 8, we read, “If you would but listen to me!” In verse 11, “My people did not listen to my voice.” In verse […]
Restore Us
Read: Psalm 80:4-19 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved! (v. 7) The psalmist is longing for the restoration of God’s people to a strong spiritual condition. His desire grows in intensity. In verse 3 he says, “Restore us, O God.” In verse 7, “Restore us, O […]
The Next Generation
Read: Psalm 78:1-12 . . . that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God (vv. 6-7) I am a Christian today not because of some powerful evangelist, although I have heard some good ones. Not […]