Shadow of Death
If 1 Corinthians 13 would be called the wedding chapter; by this I mean that is the most common chapter of the Bible to be read at weddings. Then Psalm 23 might be known as the funeral chapter. We can understand why. Even Jacob at the end of his life, as he was on his death bed spoke to Joseph, “God has been my Shepherd all my life long to this day” (Gen 48:15). You could put the first and
He Leadeth Me
I love the Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. I love this novel for many reasons, however one that gives a Pilgrim in this world great comfort. Right at the start of the novel, Christian feels a great sense of his sin and guilt. He knows this burden upon his back and what this would mean for him. He was the word of God and it has convicted him of Sin. Then in steps the evangelist who hears of the pain
The Great Restoration
We love a good story with restoration at the center. HGTV shows are filled with shows about renovations or restoration. We love to hear stories of broken families being mended together again. We love to see things live to see another day. People love the proposal of restoration and the finished product. However, most of the time we do not love the process of restoration. Although I warned everybody when I started a project in construction you could almost guarantee
Green Pastures and Still Waters
The saying is that a picture paints a thousand words. However, I believe a few words can paint a picture. Today we look at merely seven words in Hebrew and fourteen words in Hebrew that paint a glorious picture. I would say this poetic line in Psalm 23 is one of the most famous parts of the Psalm. We love vs 1, for the image of the shepherd, but we love the scene painted in verse 2. You can almost
I Shall Not Want
Veruca Salt is the famous little girl in the novel by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She is the spoilt child, she rarely hears the word no, and if she does then she kicks and screams until she gets what she finally wants. From her parents’ perspective, she is a darling princess who deserves anything and there is no price too high to pay for her. Now in a fictitious story, especially one written for children, and more
The Lord is My Shepherd
I. God as Shepherd The opening word in this Psalm is “YAHWEH.” The name God gives to Moses as he speaks to him from the burning bush (Ex 3:14-16). This does not speak about a god we do not know about but the God of the Bible. The God we worship, the one who made the heavens and earth and all that is within them. The Bible teaches us about God’s greatness. This greatness should drive us to praise and adoration
More than a Poem
Psalm 23 is most likely the most popular Psalm. It is hard to get true statistics on this, but I would think it would even be one of the most popular verses in the bible. Although I do not know the popularity of the Psalm, this Psalm is beautifully rich, theologically deep, and comforting to the sheep of the Lord. Matthew Henry explains, “Many of David's psalms are full of complaints, but this is full of comforts, and the expressions
The Resurrection
Jesus had told his disciples three times what was going to happen. And every time he finished by saying, “Three days later he will rise” (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:34). Now everything he had said had come to pass. However, this last comment was different than the others. He has pointed out that this was God’s definite plan since the beginning (Acts 2:22–23). To be able to point out seven different things that will happen to the Son of Man; delivered,
Buried
I have often mentioned that we often look at Christ's death on the cross as the only thing that Christ came to earth to achieve for us. It is an essential part of his earthly ministry but not the only part of his ministry on earth. The burial of Jesus is an integral piece of the gospel message (1 Cor 15:3-4, Acts 13:26-31). The burial is mentioned in all of the Gospel accounts (Matt 27:57–61; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56; John
Killed
Jesus had hung on the cross since 9:00 AM that morning. Those watching had mocked the Lord of Glory. They had asked for a sign, but it was at midday that they saw a sign. Everything started to go dark. Joshua was there the day the sun stood still, but this day was the opposite. Darkness came over the whole land. This is the darkest day in the history of mankind. There had been dark days before and dark days
