In understanding Psalm 34:18, we came to understand that it is within the crisis that God is present. What this means is that God often allows His faithful to suffer and to face various trials. This is exactly what verse 19 tells us: [19] Many are the afflictions of...
James 1:27 comes in the context of wrapping up chapter one. While the existing chapter divisions should not dictate how we divide up Scripture, in this case (and many cases) they are probably appropriate. Chapter 2 begins to talk of favoring different groups of people...
It never ceases to astonish me how similar suffering is from person to person, even if they are suffering for different reasons. The thing I hear most often with suffering believers is “I pray, but does God even hear me?” Our verses from Psalm 34 today put that issue...
The divide between the conservative evangelical and the liberal social gospel-ite is undeniably deep; and one of the major fault lines is the how the two groups deal with the needy. In the leftist social gospel camp the issues of the needy are over emphasized and the...
Psalm 34 has a definite structure. The first third of the Psalm is David recounting God's faithfulness. He rehearses it again and again: God answered him, God heard him, God encamps around him, and on and on it goes. There's a give and take, David exalts God and God...
Judge Brett Kavanaugh became Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Monday, 10/8/2018 after a long and contentious nomination process. The contention behind the nomination is what makes it remotely interesting to a Christian blogger. Like it or not, the church was...
The magnificence of this last third of Psalm 34 cannot be overstated. This section is not a theological treatise, but it is not bereft of theology. It isn't proverbial nor does it necessarily impart wisdom, yet a believer who does not drink it in surely acts as a...
Before we begin the final third of Psalm 34, it seems right and good to take a step back and soak in the passage before we dissect it. The first third, verses 1-7, is about simple truths. The second third, verses 8-14, is about instructions for godliness. Now, in the...
Christ's bride has had many dark days throughout its history. We've survived persecution in every century. We overcame theological falsehoods asserted as facts. We've been downgraded, liberalized, made mystical, and became seeker sensitive. Charlatans, popes, and...
I crept into the room for the 4th time that evening. She was asleep in a bed we bought earlier in the summer, hoping to put it to good use. It was now 2 in the morning, and I just couldn't help but look in on her one last time before bed to make sure she was warm,...
This week we find ourselves at the tail end of the second third of Psalm 34 where David gives us short and simple instructions on how to fear the Lord. Verse 11 is, as is typical for this section, straightforward: [11] Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach...
So far in this series, we've covered the first third of this psalm which is dominated by couplets. Verses 1-7 were simple truths, and in this middle third, verses 8-14, we find simple instructions. Having laid the foundation and displayed the correct attitude...
Recently, my dear friend and fellow blogger Allen Nelson and I had a pleasant discussion on our new podcast "The TAU Roundtable" on the subject of Children's Church. Children's Church, in case you are not familiar, is a weekly event some churches practice wherein...
Throughout this series I have been demonstrating that the first third of this Psalm is about simple truths David is clinging to in his time of trouble. We've also been learning that David is using the literary device of couplets to write this section, speaking first...
Verses 4-5 I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed. {Psa 34:4-5 NASB} Verses 4-7 start to develop the themes of brokenness that dominate most of the rest of...