Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Having deduced that he would not have any want or lack in his spiritual experiences because he had the Lord as his Shepherd, David proceeded to give examples of where he would not be without the various benefits that the Lord could provide. In verses 2 and 3, he gives mainly positive examples and then he follows them with some negative examples in the next set of verses. He mentions three positive examples: lying down and walking beside still waters, restoration of soul, and going in the paths of righteousness. There are three general details that we can mention about David’s three positive examples. The first detail is that the Shepherd, and not any of the sheep, is in charge: he is the one who is actively taking the initiative in each of the three illustrations, whether causing the sheep to lie down in green pastures, or leading it by still waters, or by taking it along the paths of righteousness. The second detail is that the three examples seem to be a sequence. First, the sheep is...

The background of the psalm is that one of the sons of Korah was unable to be Jerusalem and fulfil his role as one of the doorkeepers at the temple there. He was a Levite, and his heart was in his work there as well as in what took place there in connection with the worship of God by his fellow Israelites. So what did he do? In his isolation, we can see that in verses 1-4 he thought about the worship taking place in the temple; in verses 5-7 he thought about those travelling to the temple (which would be taking place daily) in order to worship their God; in verses 8-10 he prayed for God’s blessing on the work of the priest (God’s anointed) as he led the worship in the temple; and in verses 11 and 12 he comforted himself by thinking how the faithful God helps his people. This regular travelling to Jerusalem for those feasts by worshippers is often used in the Bible as a picture of believers travelling to the heavenly Zion, and that is how I want to think about verses 5-7 today. As with ...

We are all familiar with this psalm because we have sung it on numerous occasions and in a wide diversity of circumstances such as at baptisms, birthdays, weddings and funerals, even at the deathbeds of believers. Yet we know that David probably would not have had any of those circumstances in mind when he wrote it. He would not have known that we would be singing it, and that we would be singing it with a greater understanding than he had as an Old Testament believer. So when was it written? David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, could have composed the psalm specifically for use in divine worship in Israel or he may have written it originally for his own benefit or for the benefit of acquaintances. We have no real idea of when in his life he wrote it or if an event or sequence of events led to him composing it. Maybe he wrote it when he was a shepherd boy or did he write it as an older man looking back on life and all its experiences? None can say. One thing that we do know is that Dav...

We know how and why Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem. But how and why did Jesus the Son of God come there? Joseph and Mary travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the birth because of a government order regarding registration in one’s home location, but the child in her womb had been conceived by his own choice made somewhere else and long before. Paul describes that journey in this set of verses. This set of verses is often assumed to be an ancient hymn or poem, and this assumption is seen in the printed layout of modern Bible versions. Yet that assumption has been critiqued by many Bible commentators and preachers because there is no real basis for saying that is the case. It is possible that it is a memory statement or faithful saying that Paul used to help Christians remember important doctrines, and it is equally possible that he composed the verses when he sent this letter. In any case, it would be good for us to know verses 6-11 by heart and meditate on them, perhaps especiall...

As we saw in a previous study, Jesus had restored the sight of Bartimaeus the blind beggar just before he entered new Jericho, the city built by Herod the Great beside the ancient city with that name. No doubt, the travellers accompanying Jesus were amazed at what they had seen him do for Bartimaeus. Of course, a real matter of interest for us in reading about the incident would be whether there was an anticipation in the crowd concerning what Jesus would do next. One thing that can be said of Jesus is that his next action was not predictable, and that remains true today. For example, when he calmed the sea, who would have thought that his next action would be to heal a demoniac? Luke gives a hint that something will happen when he says that Jesus was passing through the city. Otherwise he would have merely said that Jesus had left the city after helping Bartimaeus. Who was Zacchaeus? There is a statement in the Old Testament where God says he will bring one person from a city and tw...

The disciples must have been puzzled often by what Jesus said and did. Earlier in the chapter, he had an interaction with an unnamed rich person who had initially indicated he wanted to be a disciple of Jesus. Yet it was not difficult for Jesus to show to the man that he had a wrong understanding about Jesus and wrong motives for serving him. Nevertheless, the disciples wondered what kind of person Jesus wanted to follow him. Readers of the gospel might also have the same question. In any case, Luke proceeds to describe two genuine followers of Jesus, one a blind man and the other a tax collector, neither of whom would normally be the kind of individual that would impress the disciples.   Luke does not tell us the name of the blind man, but Mark in his Gospel tell us that his name was Bartimaeus (in fact this may be his surname). Matthew, who was an eyewitness, tells us that there were two lepers, although only one of them is mentioned by Mark and Luke. At some stage on this moment...

It might be true to say that God seems silent today as far as his kingdom is concerned, at least within the circles and places that we are familiar with. Prior to Nahum’s prophetic announcement, the people of Israel and Judah may have thought he was silent in their time because he did not seem to be doing anything about Nineveh and its intentions. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, an empire that seemed invincible to other countries, and which was intent on destroying God’s people as it conquered all nations that stood in its way.     Of course, there are different ways of viewing Nineveh and its empire. We can see them as the tool that God used in providence to chasten the nations for their sinful behaviour, or we can see them as a tool God used to discipline his people for their unfaithfulness to him. That kind of divine response is frequent. Another way of looking at Nineveh is that about a century earlier, it had experienced a unique revival through the preaching of Jonah...