Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 104b

The Poetic Creation Week Genesis 1 begins: ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’, and then launches into a description of the Creation Week. Among other things this reminds us that our God is orderly. And as we get into the content of Psalm 104, we find the same order presented poetically….

Read More

Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 104a

God’s Greatness Revealed Psalms 103 and 104 were likely both written by David at the same time, having similar structure and content. Note how they are both book-ended by the one refrain: ‘Bless the LORD, O my soul’. The difference is that 103 focuses on the greatness of God, as seen in our Redemption, while…

Read More

Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 103

Count your Blessings As we draw towards the close of this wilderness journey, the psalmist looks back, and begins to catalogue the blessings he has enjoyed – a worthwhile exercise for anyone. Our Iniquities forgiven. Our Diseases healed. Our Life redeemed from eternal destruction. Our Head crowned with lovingkindness & tender mercies. Our Mouth satisfied…

Read More

Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 102

Momentary affliction – Eternal glory In this psalm, the hardship and affliction of the wilderness journey rises to the surface once more, as it so often does. This is not due to a lack of faith on our part. No, it’s just the reality of pilgriming in the wilderness. A reality that we all face….

Read More

Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 101

Living like a King By this title, I don’t mean ‘living it up’ with a self-indulgent lifestyle. I mean living like a king in the medieval sense, which was to live like THE King. C.S. Lewis understood this and knew that the best education to this end was to observe kingly living in others. So…

Read More

Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 100

Celebrating Victory That I’m writing this on VE Day is fitting. 75 years ago today, Britain came together for a day of celebration to mark victory in the European theatre of World War Two. Yet, these were the celebrations of a moment, for as Winston Churchill reminded the nation: ‘We may allow ourselves a brief…

Read More

Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 99b

Worship at his Holy Hill Having been introduced in the first half of this psalm to Christ as King, and having seen the expected regality and rule, we now turn to something a little unexpected, for the second half of this psalm presents Christ as Priest. I say ‘a little unexpected’, for while we as…

Read More

Amazing Acts – #2

Prayer – An Amazing Provision “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication…! ” Acts 1:14 Here we have it … for fear, the disciples had locked themselves away from the world, while they waited for ‘the Comforter’ to come (John 15:26).  And we can understand how they were feeling as we’re locked away…

Read More

Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 99a

a 2 min read Worship at His Footstool This is the third of three psalms in Book 4 of the psalter (Psalm 90-106) that begin ‘The LORD reigneth”, and each leads us onward. In Psalm 93, we considered the LORD as the heavenly King presently, and even whilst the kings of this earth rage against…

Read More

Psalms for Troubled Times – Psalm 98

The Triumphal Entry Isn’t it wonderful that in these psalms of the wilderness journey there is so much joy and song? As Christians, we are not surprised, for we have discovered that in the Lord we have so much to sing about; which is not dependent on the happenings of the moment, or the manufactured…

Read More