Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This is the second section of the psalm. In it, the psalmist is describing the journey of those travelling to Zion, and the mention of the early rains in verse 6 points to the time of year when the Feast of Tabernacles was observed, so it could have been composed for the use of those making that journey. While the section describes a literal journey to Jerusalem, it also depicts the spiritual journey to the heavenly Zion. We are all familiar with how John Bunyan in his Pilgrim’s Progress used the idea of a journey to describe the Christian life. The energy of the travellers The energy is described in verse 5: ‘Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.’ Translators have supplied ‘to Zion’, so it is possible yo translate as ‘in whose heart are ways’. I suppose they could be regarded as the ways of God or the ways to God. But the reference of a destination in verse 7 probably indicates that Zion is in mind in verse 5. There are tw...

James has already said a great deal about the misuse of the tongue and he now mentions another aspect of such misuse, which was when some of his readers expressed their intentions for the future without considering whether or not God would approve of their plans. I suppose one feature of their lives during this period of trouble that they were going through was the uncertainty that marked it. Maybe they were trying to find ways of obtaining security and stability and had decided to take matters into their own hands. One obvious option for them would be to go to other cities in which there were Jewish communities and try and re-establish themselves there. So James as their pastor gives them spiritual counsel concerning their outlook. The limitations of humans James points out several weaknesses that should cause us to be very careful regarding our speech. The first is our ignorance of the future. James is not suggesting that we should not plan ahead. Instead he is rebuki...

This psalm was written for the sons of Korah. They were one of the temple divisions and had special responsibility for participating in the praise of God. Korah was one of the descendants of Levi who led a rebellion against the leadership of Moses recorded in Numbers 16. The Lord severely judged those rebels when the ground opened and swallowed them. Yet all his family were not destroyed on that occasion and here are their descendants, many centuries later, participating in the worship of God at the temple. So in their participation we see evidence of the grace of God. It is also a reminder that the best singers are those who have a real personal grasp of the grace and mercy of God. The question that comes to us here is, ‘Are we spiritually identified with the sons of Korah?’ A particular role that the sons of Korah engaged in, as well as singing, was that of doorkeepers (1 Chron. 26:1), and the author of the psalm mentions this activity in verse 10. The author of the psalm was reca...