Oct 28, 2015 | Christian Living, Psalms, The Bible
Have you ever noticed how hard it is for us to be in the presence of God? This world completely dominates our senses; that’s part of why we need specific places of worship. The very sign of fallenness takes place when people allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the...
Oct 26, 2015 | Christian Living, Psalms, The Bible
My mother was a great cook, but of course when I was a child I didn’t always appreciate the food she served. I remember one meal in particular when I was about 8 years old. My mother brought the food out to the table, and among the other dishes was a plate of zucchini...
Oct 21, 2015 | Christian Living, Psalms, The Bible
I associate Psalm 23 with an uncle who passed away when I was a child. He was a World War II veteran and he was, as we used to say, shell-shocked. He had a terrible nervous disorder. Doctors were unable to control his blood pressure and he died unexpectedly one night....
Oct 19, 2015 | Christian Living, Psalms, The Bible
The notion of the Lord as our Shepherd and we His people as His sheep is a common idea in Scripture. Most of these shepherd images may be grouped into one of two contexts. God Brought His Flock Out of Egypt First, the Lord is the shepherd who brought Israel His flock...
Oct 7, 2015 | Christian Living, Psalms, The Bible
Psalm 24 is called a Psalm of Ascent. It leads us upward to the hill of the Lord, to the high place where the temple is built upon a rock. Pay attention to the ways in which you, the reader, are led upward toward the throne of God as you read this Psalm. After the...
Oct 5, 2015 | Christian Living, Psalms, The Bible
Psalm 24 is, in its structure, fairly simple. It has three main parts and they’re very clear in what they say. The opening verses declare that the God of Israel is the creator God. Like Genesis 1, Psalm 24 begins with a strong assertion that God is the creator who...
Sep 23, 2015 | Culture, The Bible
Our family has enjoyed watching Fiddler on the Roof together over the years—you’re probably familiar with the Broadway play or the movie. The story begins, of course, with the image of a figure fiddling atop a roof. The narrator, a man named Tevye, appears. Seeing the...
Sep 14, 2015 | Christian Living, Psalms, The Bible
Every parent knows that when things are out of kilter, the children will ask, “Why does this happen? It’s not fair.” The Psalmist in Psalm 73 confronts a circumstance exactly like that. He’s been confronted with a problem. How will he answer it for himself? How will...
Sep 9, 2015 | Christian Living, The Bible
Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie endured horrible brutalities and imprisonment in a concentration camp during World War II. They were arrested when the Nazis discovered the Ten Boom family hiding Jews in secret rooms in their home in Holland. You may have read...
