But you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me! Help me, O Lord my God! Save me according to your steadfast love! Let them know that this is your hand; YOU, O Lord, have done it! In Psalm 109:21, 26-27, we see that David is pleading for … More Asking God for God’s sake
In our Bible reading plan, we come now to the story of Uzzah. [2 Samuel 5-7] The ark of the covenant was being transported in a cart. This was not the way it was supposed to be carried. The priests were supposed to carry it on their shoulders. When one of the oxen stumbled, the … More Don’t presume you are more holy than mud
Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old … More Seeing Jesus. Unveiled
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 1 Sam 7:12 (ESV) Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest … More Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come
In 1 Samuel 5, we see an example of God’s sense of humor. The people of Israel were using the Ark of the Covenant like a good-luck charm, taking it to battle with them. Their enemies, the Philistines, ended up slaughtering them and capturing the Ark. The Philistines placed it in their temple before … More God’s sense of humor?
1 Samuel 3-5 describes a very dark period in the history of Israel. In 1 Samuel 4:10-11 we read, “ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. And the ark of God was … More Draw near in the dark days
Love in the body of Christ is a message proclaimed loud and clear in 1 Corinthians, and especially in chapter 15, which we come to in our read-through-the-Bible plan today: Verse 14: “Let all that you do be done in love.” Verse 22: “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed.” … love must … More Loving like God. Sometimes having hard things to day.
As we finish our reading of Judges today (Chapters 20-21), we see a phrase repeated…. “right in their own eyes” ….. I am struck with the depravity of the people, as they just did whatever they considered to be “right in their own eyes.” Moral, political, social, and spiritual chaos reigned. There was no recognized … More “If it feels good, do it?”
We have reached Judges 19, a terrifying and awful account of how bad things had gotten in Israel. D.A.Carson, in “For the Love of God, Vol 1” says “the law of the jungle has triumphed in the fledgling nation of Israel.” Indeed, Judges 19: 1 says, “In those days, when there was no king in … More Dark days in Israel
Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Everyone was doing as they pleased and not according to God. Micah steals from his mother (so much for family loyalty!) then confesses (maybe because he is afraid….his mother curses the thief, not knowing it was … More Doing whatever was right in their own eyes
