King David has reached the height of his reign when moral disaster struck, a moral lapse which would plague the rest of his life. Be with us tonight as we continue our study in II Samuel.

The Epistle of Romans is Paul's magnum opus. Martin Luther called it, "The chief book of the New Testament....It deserves to be known by heart, word for word, by every Christian." Paul wrote the epistle on his third visit to the city of Corinth.

With increasing acrimony Job's "miserable comforters" drive home the point that God punishes the wicked. They see God as a dispenser of vengeance, totally lacking in love and grace. They echo the developing cults of angry gods who demand personal sacrifice, even child sacrifice, to assuage the penalty for sin. They concentrate on the present situation with no idea of a future and eternal judgment. Job, in his suffering, begins to see the future. In his darkness, his faith shines. His statement, "For I know my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth..." (18:25) resounds through the ages as future believers have found hope in their Redeemer.

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they be of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (I John 4:1). Job's three "counselors" have been anything but comforters. Their narrative that God always blesses the righteous and punishes evil doers has led to their judging Job as a hypocrite hiding some personal sin. They have not prayed for him or with him. Eliphaz is convinced he has spiritual authority because of the "vision" he described in his first speech (4:12-16). His spiritual experience had convinced him he knew the mind of God.

Whereas King David's kindness was joyfully accepted by Mephibosheth, it was rejected by the people of Ammon. Their rejection proved disastrous. Be with us tonight as we continue out study in II Samuel, chapter 10.

A very good reason to praise our Lord is because He considers praise "beautiful" (v. 1). This psalm is a call to worship. The people are led in a song of praise and affirmation of faith (vs. 20-22).

Job has endured the discouragement of a spiritist philosopher and a know-it-all traditionalist. Now he faced the most brutal of them all, a bigoted dogmatist. These men show no empathy to Job's plight. They have not listened to his questions (9:2,4,14;10:20). Zophar showed the least amount of patience and got the strongest reaction from Job.

Like bunker buster bombs, Job's friends drive the issue of Job's sufferings deeper and deeper. Eliphaz, in his hyper spiritualism, saw Job's sufferings as Job's punishment for unconfessed sin. His words contained elements of truth but were filled with ignorance of God's ways. Now, Bildad drives the dagger deeper. Not only does he call Job a blow-hard (8:2), but he said Job's children died because of unconfessed sin. He showed no sympathy for Job's sorrow.

The story of David and Mephibosheth is one of the most beautiful examples of God's grace in the entire Old Testament. Be with us this evening as we continue our study in the book of II Samuel.

Adam was created on the sixth day of creation. Consequently, his first full day of existence was God's day of rest. What a day that must have been for Adam to observe the beautiful world God had made! Unfortunately, sin soon entered the picture, and the world has been restless ever since. "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt" (Isaiah 57:20). Paul paints a sad picture of man in his rebellion against God. He tells Timothy, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power" (II Timothy 4:1-5). In his pursuit of happiness, man becomes a slave of sin filled with all kinds of psychological problems. Jesus asks, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul" (Matthew 16:26)? Counselors tell us that there are five major problems that plague a person's soul: emptiness, loneliness, guilt, fear of death, and insecurity. Jesus offers rest for the restless.