Originally posted on April 7th 2020 The second thought I want to draw from the life of Abraham is from Genesis 15,1: “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. ” NIV God has elected Abram from all the families of the earth to know him, to walk before him, to be in a covenant relationship with him (Gen. 15,7-20), and to…
As humanity seems to be at sea; the wind and the storm raging, it is needful for us to get our eyes off the storm. My Help Comes from the Lord A Song of Ascents. 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.6 The sun shall…
In troubled times, reading quietly through Psalm 23 provides the perfect antidote. The Lord is my Shepherd A psalm of David The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.He leads me beside still waters.[a]3 He restores my soul.He leads me in paths of righteousness[b] for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c] I will fear no evil,for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.6 Surely[d] goodness…
Preliminaries: They are liturgies designed to lead us into a personal encounter with God. Authorship: Traditionally many psalms are ascribed to David. Though this tradition may be accurate – we know that David loved music and wrote psalms (1 Sam. 16,14-23 and 18,10) – modern scholars see the superscriptions to the psalms (where an author may be mentioned), as being added later by those who collected and edited the psalms for use in the temple worship. A psalm like psalm 23,…
Analysis 1. A PSALM FOR LIFE A shepherd and his sheep – a peaceful, pastoral scene indeed! But looking more closely: “He makes me lie down in green pastures” (v.2), implies that there are other barren places with no food. “Han leads me beside still waters” (.2), implies other unsettled waters, perhaps stormy seas! That he restores my soul, and leads me in paths of righteousness (v.4), speaks in the same way of a life which is not always easy. Even…