"Believe in God, that raised Christ up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." 1Peter 1v21
There is a burden you carry, a responsibility you bear … It is at this point that God says: “I will come down”
By George Rassovsky Context is extremely important for any literary work. However, when it comes to the Word of God, it is vital! A verse, or a part of one, taken out of context, can have enormous and eternal consequences. Despite this being the case, the fact is that the Bible is perhaps the most…
‘He who, being often reproved, hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy’ Proverbs 29:1 It’s one thing to be a simpleton or a fool. It’s quite another to be pigheaded and proud of it. The Bible constantly characterises the fool as one who has not prepared for the future (Matt 7:26,…
a 2 minute read ‘A prudent man foresees evil, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.’ Proverbs 27:12 Some weeks after the birth of our youngest child, we went out for a walk in the Malvern Hills. The forecast was for changeable weather, and not wanting to be caught in a…
Unity & Prosperity in God’s Presence ‘I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.’ (v1) Ascending to the third step we find the psalmist looking forward with hope (this will generally be characteristic of every third step through these Songs of Degrees). His hope is that…
The LORD – our Help and our Keeper Having described his distress on the first step (in 120), Hezekiah ascends to the second step, looking for help. Where will he find it? The advice of the world around him would be to ‘look to the hills’. In other words, to the high places and idols…
Truth and Peace – Rare Commodities As the psalmist stands on the bottom step he laments his position. As one who loves truth and seeks peace, he feels that he is alone, surrounded by those who have ‘lying lips’ (v2) and ‘are for war‘ (v7). This causes the psalmist much ‘distress’ and he says ‘woe…
Before we get into the psalms themselves, I want to examine these 15 psalms as a whole, for it is clear these psalms were compiled with thought and care. While there is linear progression from the ‘distress’ of Psalm 120 to the ultimate ‘blessing’ of the sanctuary in Psalm 134, there is also the repetition…
An Amazing Occurrence Part 3 – the promise of repentance Act 2:5-13 “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.And they were all amazed and…
Following the Hallel psalms (113-118) and the great exposition on the practical blessings of the Word of God (119), we now come to a group of 15 psalms, all entitled ‘Song of Degrees’, or in some translations ‘Song of Ascents’. We have no clear understanding as to the specific historical context that gave rise to…
Live Life by Praising God I trust you’ve found our journey through this epic psalm to be profitable. It certainly is very practical, and there’s plenty for us to work on, whether in relation to personal character, social behaviour, or spiritual attitude and action. I think it will be helpful to look back and summarise…
We conclude this final group of seven today continuing our look at the response of the blessed man to God. Yesterday we considered how the godly man will seek to live a life of sacrificial worship: ‘for to me to live in Christ, and to die is gain’ (Phil 1:21). Today we are going to…
Forward in Hope 