Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Peter is addressing a Jewish audience here and he was probably aware of questions that would automatically arise in their minds regarding the Messiah and his kingdom. In particular, Peter deals with the matter of the prophet foretold by Moses and with the concern of the focus of Old Testament prophecy. His listeners were fully aware that the Old Testament, their Bible, predicted the coming of such a prophet as well as containing the predictions of other Old Testament prophets who were not like Moses. The key point regarding this predicted prophet was that he would be like Moses. Therefore we need to consider the ways in which Jesus was a prophet like Moses, and the easiest way to do this is to detail some unique features of Moses’ prophetic ministry. Moses the prophet The first aspect to note is that Moses prophesied to a community for whom he had been instrumental in providing redemption from slavery. God sent Moses with a message of deliverance to a nation of slaves unable to ...

Verse 1 of this psalm is spoken by an individual and the other three verses are spoken by a group. This points to the psalm being used in a response setting, with a leader singing the first verse and the congregation responding with verses 2–4. The psalm is basically two prayers – the prayer of the individual and the prayer of the group. Verses 3 and 4 are clear that the psalm was composed during a time when God’s people were enduring strong derision. This was not a pleasant experience and the people of God were not expected to cope with it in a stoical manner. Instead they were to take their distress to God. A stoical attitude is often an expression of confidence in one’s own ability to cope with a difficult situation and is not a commendable response as far as spiritual matters are concerned. The situation described in this psalm fits the circumstances faced by Nehemiah when he began to strengthen the city of Jerusalem as detailed in Nehemiah 4. His response to the taunts of...

The contents of Psalm 122 indicate that it was written by David after Jerusalem had become the capital city of the nation of Israel, for he mentions government buildings (v.7). It was the place from which justice was expected from the divinely-appointed rulers of the house of David (v.5). The city was also the place where the tribes gathered to keep the annual feasts (v. 4) that commemorated and celebrated the Lord’s goodness to them. This psalm was sung by God’s people long before it became number 122 in the Book of Psalms. When the people of Israel sang this psalm it reminded them of the climax of God’s purposes for his people. Centuries before David, the Lord had delivered their ancestors from Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land. In that land there were many enemies and they had to be removed from their strongholds – we can read about some of these battles in the books of Joshua and Judges. For a long time, Jerusalem under the Jebusites held out against the armies of Is...

Twenty-four years have passed since the Lord called Abram to set off to the promised land, which is a reminder that God can take a long time to answer his promises. Between twelve and thirteen years have passed since Hagar returned to the camp of Abram after meeting with the God who had been looking after her during her flight and then intervened in her life in a dramatic way. Although the biblical record is silent regarding any further revelations given to Abram during those years, there may have been such, and if there were any, we are not told about them. It is an invalid deduction to assume that God was silent throughout that period if we cannot give any proof for saying so. The best response to those years is not to focus on them. Instead, it is better to regard the recorded incidents as the ones which God wants us to reflect on. So the author wants us to consider the next incident which he describes, the occasion when the Lord gave to his servant Abram a covenant sign by which h...

Abram had been tested in several ways since he arrived in the promised land. First, he had been tested by famine, and he had failed that test because he chose to find help in Egypt rather than remain in Canaan and depend on God. Second, he had been tested by family ties when the land became too small to cater for his herds and those of his nephew Lot, and Abram passed that test by allowing Lot to go where he wanted. Third, he had been tested by the prospect of reward by the pagan king of Sodom after the invading kings had been defeated, but passed that test by refusing the king’s offer. Each of these tests had come shortly after times of spiritual triumph. In Genesis 15, Abram had gone through a mountain-top experience when God enlarged for his servant the content of his covenant. So he, and we, should anticipate another test soon. And it came, through his wife Sarai, when she suggested to him a plan for fulfilling God’s promise. There are different ways of reading the account of ...

Psalm 121 is the second of the fifteen songs of ascent or degrees (120–134) that were put together to help the pilgrims as they travelled to Jerusalem to keep the annual feasts. Although the psalms were written at different times and in various places, the collection was made after the Babylonian exile. By that time most Jews were scattered all over the world and needed help in preparation for attending these feasts in Jerusalem. The first three psalms depict the actual journey: Psalm 120 presents the pilgrim’s location of exile by using the names of Meshech and Kedar, two countries that were far away from Jerusalem; Psalm 121 describes the journey from the place of exile to Jerusalem; Psalm 122 details the welcome they received as they entered Jerusalem. The remaining psalms in the collection focus on various features found in the religious life of God’s people as they kept these annual feasts. The parallel between the Jewish experience of keeping their feasts and our keeping...

Its place as first in the collection of ascent psalms indicates that this psalm was chosen to depict the pilgrim’s state as he anticipated journeying to Jerusalem for the annual feasts. The situation where he lives day by day is described metaphorically and the psalm details how he reacts to his environment. It is, therefore, a suitable psalm for helping us whenever we anticipate participating in a time of festival. In a real way, each Lord’s Day is such a time as we gather in public worship. The writer of Hebrews depicts these gatherings as like festivals, with the saints and angels gathered together in the presence of God in order to worship him. Physically we are not in such a gathering on the Lord’s Day, but spiritually we are. So can we use this psalm to prepare for participation in the worship of God? I am sure that we can, and here is why. Beginning the journey We can start by asking when this journey began and where it began from. The first answer to this question is str...