Meditate on it

"Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people." Psalm 113:5-8 Psalm 114 "I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living." Ps 116:9 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Ps 116:15 "The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die." Ps 116:15 through ps 118 "Open my eyes, so that I will see wonders from your Torah." CJB "Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. " NLT -Psalm 119:18 "I will run the way of your mitzvot, for you have broadened my understanding." CJB "I will pursue your commands, for you expand my understanding." NLT -Psalm 119: 32 "You are good and do only good; teach me you

"A Prayer of Moses the man of God.  Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.  Before the mountains were brought forth,  or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,  even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."  -Ps 90:1-2 "Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;" To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Ps 92:13-15 "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul." Psalm 94:19 "Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity."  Psalm 98:8-9 "Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the s

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom."  Psalm 51:5-6 Shaped in sin---in utero sin. Pulpit Commentary insights: "It is doubtless true, as Professor Cheyne says, that "the Old Testament contains no theory of the origin of sin"—no formulated doctrine on the subject. But the fact of congenital depravity is stated, not only here, but also in Job_14:4; Psa_58:3; it is also implied in Isa_43:27 and Hos_6:7." "And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest." Psalm 55:6 Resonates with me this morning.  Flying away.  Rest. "...if riches increase, set not your heart upon them." Ps 62:10 "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." Ps 62:11 "The Detective detects the mystery in the dark of the cellar hear

"I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble ; thou hast known my soul in adversities." Psalm 31:7 There is comfort in knowing that God sees our trouble and stress. "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." Psalm 31:19-20 To think that God stores up goodness for us... "Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. " Psalm 32:6 There is a time during which God can be found which means there is also a time when it may be too late. "The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.&

I bailed on Allistair Begg--just needed to get back to the Word, period.  There is value in listening to preachers, but I don't want to move too far from the primary text. So, to end 2019, I've decided to read 7 psalms a day and started this two or three days ago. It's been a blur--our Boston Terrier is terminally ill, and I'm not sleeping well. All that to say, I realized this morning that I need the physical structure of the blog to hold my thoughts and keep them on track.  Today I'm picking up with psalm 18. "... with the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. " Psalm 18: 26 KJ "... with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. " Psalm 18: 26 ESV " The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever. " Psalm 19:9 Psalms 20 and 21 war psalms.  "Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of

Phillips points out that there are many places in the scriptures that mention the foundations of the world. "All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter  what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”   Matthew 13:34-35 "Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father,  inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."  Matt 25:34 "....so that the blood of all the prophets,  shed from the foundation of the world,  may be charged against this generation." Luke 11:50 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although  his works were finished from the foundation of the world .  Heb 4:3 "For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the f

About John Phillips (1927-2010) He was born in Wales, served in the British army during WWII in Palestine. After the war, he moved to Canada to start a small church. He later worked at Moody Bible Institute and moved to North Carolina in retirement. He taught at the Moody Evening School and on the Moody Broadcasting network.  There's a gob of his sermons online here. Table of Contents The book is divided into seven parts that all start with "p" 1.Prehistorical 2. Pictorial 3. Poetical 4. Prophetical 5. Portrayal 6. Practical 7. Perennial Warren Wiersbe & Forward Forward--by Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) I didn't realize Wiersbe had passed in May of 2019, so it proved timely to read Justin Taylor's survey of Wiersbe's ministry at The Gospel Coalition website: "Wiersbe served at Moody from 1971 to 1978, during which time he wrote for Moody Monthly, penning the “Insight for the Pastor” column, where he offered not only practical the

I'm sad to leave the book of Genesis and Jack Abeelen's warm voice each morning.  I haven't enjoyed Genesis in that way in a long, long time--if ever.  The process of taking notes on his sermons and the frequent transcription of his words slowed me down and helped me ruminate over these people. I'm thankful for Pastor Jack, his habit of recapping before moving on, and his gift of insight. Back when Pastor Jack was working through Abraham, he mentioned a book, The View from Mount Calvary , by John Phillips. The premise and subtitle of this effort is to offer "24 portraits of the cross throughout scripture." Pastor Jack was particularly struck by the power of Phillip's chapter on Abraham saying it was the best he's read.  This was enough to prompt me to hunt down the book--not as easy to find as some published in UK. Now that I have it in hand, I'm less excited about the intellectual effort and discipline it will require.  But, this is the third