Gates are often the first thing you see when you approach a castle or a well-guarded facility. Psalm 118, specifically verses 19-24 tells us that only the righteous will enter the Lord's gate. This gate will be rejected, but will ultimately be rejoiced in (pointing us to Jesus as the true gate). As Advent closes, we'll explore five reasons we can rejoice in the King this Christmas season.

How can we know if someone is trustworthy? Better yet, how can we know if God is trustworthy? This is what Psalm 89 wrestles and worships with for over fifty verses. Ultimately, Jesus' kingship proves we can trust the Lord.

We were designed to desire. Desires are not bad, but our problem lies in desiring the wrong things. If we are not desiring God, we will desire something else. In Psalm 45, the sons of Korah draw attention to the beauty, majesty, and power of the king while admonishing the bride to make herself ready to meet him. In understanding the Psalms as anticipating the arrival of the true King in Jesus, we too must ready our hearts to desire the King in all his beauty. 

The Psalms are the hymnbook of God’s people. They sang of their longing, questions, laments, and hope as they looked to God for their comfort and deliverance. It was also the hymnbook for Jesus, representing not only his earthly experience but that he was the fulfillment of every anticipation and promise they spoke about. Therefore, the Psalms prepare our hearts in anticipation of the coming King.

As Psalms 1-2 open the psalter with the word "happy," can anyone truly be happy? These psalms remind us that even amid hard circumstances it is possible to be happy. Blessing, or happiness, comes from confessing and conforming to the King.

Jesus drew large crowds to himself, but the parable of the sower in Mark 4:1-20 asks an important question: who are the true followers of Jesus? If Christ's followers are committed to his words, then it leads us to listen and respond in faith.

Our culture loves the idea of family. From major holidays to brand slogans, people want to experience family yet they shun the traditional, God-ordained structures of family. In this remarkable text, Jesus uplifts loyalty to God’s will over his own natural family, thus forming a new spiritual family for those who follow him. Rather than doing away with the family, Jesus upholds it as a model for God's household while instructing the crowds that following him means putting him first above all their priorities.

Many years ago, C.S. Lewis argued that Jesus could only be one of four things: legend, lunatic, liar, or Lord. If he is a legend, we can't know him personally. If he is a lunatic, we can't look to him for wisdom. If he is a liar, we can't find truth in him. But if he is Lord (which he is), we can trust him for salvation.

Names have meaning. Think of our own names or how celebrities change theirs. In Mark 3:7-19, the crowd begins to press against Jesus, the demons recognize him as the Son of God, and we see the names of the apostles and their commission. And like the apostles, when we embrace the identity of Jesus, we are given our own calling and commission.

The Sabbath is an important theme throughout the Bible. God declared a day of rest after he created the world (Gen. 2:2-3), Israel rested from collecting manna in the wilderness (Ex. 16:23), the Sabbath was instituted both in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:8-11) and the laws of Israel to point to a greater rest (Ex 23:10-12; Lev. 25), a rest only found in God. While rest has been significantly misunderstood in our culture, as we see in Mark 2:23-3:6, true rest comes when Jesus is Lord over our lives.

It's no secret that every election cycle brings a contentious and tumultuous time. Yet, Christians are called to live and think differently about politics and government than the rest of the world.