The hearers of Peter’s first letter were tired and discouraged while living in their pluralistic society. They were routinely persecuted for their faith in God. Publicly ridiculed. Relationally marginalized. Some imprisoned. Others tortured. And as they longed for their eternal inheritance, they needed everyday words of life that their culture could not provide. They did […]

With the Lord there is loyal love. Psalm 130 is composed of four sections of two verses each. The first two verses record the Psalmist’s cry to the Lord out of the depths of despair. The next two verses express confidence that with the Lord there is forgiveness of sins (this indicates that “the depths” […]

Greatly have they afflicted me… Of this Psalm Derek Kidner writes: “Whereas most nations tend to look back on what they have achieved, Israel reflects here on what she has survived. It could be a disheartening exercise, for Zion still has its ill-wishers. But the singers take courage from the past, facing God with gratitude […]

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! Psalms 120-134 are known as the Psalms of Ascent or the Pilgrim Psalms. A pilgrim is one who travels toward a specific destination; one who is on a journey toward a home he has not yet reached. So the Psalms of Ascent are […]

Galatians 5:22-23 are familiar to many of us as the “Fruit of the Spirit” passage. We rightly seek to exhibit the attributes listed there: love, joy, peace, patience, etc. In doing so, we can easily fall into the trap of “works righteousness.” We can think that we need to work hard to show forth the […]

Close to 100 years ago the great New Testament scholar J. Gresham Machen wrote the following for a sermon he was to preach: Some nineteen hundred years ago, in an obscure corner of the Roman Empire, there lived one who, to a casual observer might have seemed to be a remarkable man. Up to the […]

We have seen his glory… John 1:14 At the heart of Mark’s gospel is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But there is another key event which is closely related in which the eternal glory of the Son of God was unveiled before the eyes of three of the disciples. This event is typically […]

The modern West has little room for the miraculous. Plenty of people consider themselves to be spiritual and may even make room for the supernatural. But when it comes to the specificities of the miracles recorded in the Bible the responses range from scoffing from unbelievers and blushing from some believers. However since God exists […]

Martin Luther was no stranger to hyperbole when he wanted to make a point. One example of this is what he said about Jesus’ baptism. Luther said that “it is at the Jordan that the New Testament really begins. It is at the Jordan River, where John was baptizing, even more than at Bethlehem, where […]

The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. After the announcement of God’s moral law the text transitions back to a narration of the events immediately following (vv. 18-21). The people’s first response is one of dread. This may be attributed to two realities. First, the supernatural […]