Advent is a time of scheduled repentance so that when the Messiah comes, His people are actually ready to receive Him. It was John the Baptist’s role to prepare God’s people to welcome the Lord Jesus.

Matthew 1:1-6

A close read of the two accounts of the creation of man offered in Genesis 1 and 2 are often read as a chronological contradiction. But a closer read of the two will actually reveal that the text is calling our attention to the image of seed, setting the stage for the unfolding of a far more profound biblical narrative.

Sermon: Paul’s Urgent Exhortation for Public Prayer: 1 Timothy 2:1-8

As we remember the Reformation this Sunday, we recall that one of the remarkable features of that era was confidence in God’s Word over the vain traditions of man. That confidence arose from the study of the Scriptures themselves, including the passage we are covering this week. Embracing God’s Word this way results in the kind of godly tradition that is worth imitating and an inheritance affecting generations to follow.

Fully drinking the cup of sorrow, David cries out for salvation that includes personal deliverance but also entails the desolation of his enemies. This full-orbed understanding of salvation turns the hearts of those imprisoned in sorrow to praise that pleases God. This praise is so pleasing, in fact, that by it God summons heaven and earth to praise Him and also provides salvation for future generations. In this way, Psalm 69 (like Psalm 22) speaks directly of Christ’s salvific work on the cross, and models what it means to entrust our souls to our faithful creator when we suffer according to His will (1 Peter 4:19).

The first half of Psalm 69 has to do with overwhelming trouble: David deals with countless sorrows and taunts by appealing to the only One who can overwhelm those troubles Himself. And ultimately, this psalm teaches us directly about Jesus, who is the perfect suffering servant as well as our redemption and ransom (v. 18).

As we saw in the first half of this psalm last week, the ascent of God in our passage has to do with the carrying of the ark to Jerusalem. This week we see the consequences of that ascent. Those consequences are not only limited to the blessing God bestowed upon Jerusalem, David, and His people (see 2 Samuel 6-8) but also speak of the blessing of Jesus, our ascended King (Philippians 2, for instance).

God’s Ascent in Israel: Psalm 68