A wise man once said that you have no triumph before you’ve face the pain. In this Psalm we lean into the reality of this pain-filled life along with the Psalmist and consider the horror of affliction in order to more fully embrace the joy of deliverance.

Mark 14:32 - 42, 50 - 52

Do you ever get weak, or fall off? Do you ever feel the shame of drawing away from God during the hard times of life? The disciples of Jesus experienced this same thing, and Jesus shows us His own weakness and His response in His weakness. There is a lot for us to chew on. Here. And swallowing this bitter pill will serve us well when it comes to rejoicing at the coming victory.

I FORGOT TO WRITE A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THIS EPISODE/CHAPTER FROM THE PSALMS. SO, IN THE COMMENTS, PLEASE WRITE THE SUMMARY THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO READ FOR THIS EP.

Matthew 21:1 - 11

We will each respond to the question, “Who is this?” When we are faced with Jesus. And, even after we’ve answered this question unequivocally, we can still turn on a dime and refute our first claim with the same passion and certainty. So, we encourage you to join us in evaluating your life to determine if and where you have idols in your heart making it impossible for you to clearly see, and truly know God and Christ His Son.

The smell of a hot fresh baked loaf of bread is one of the best smells I know. In this Psalm another type of bread is described - the bread of anxious work, and it’s not very go0d. God is a good father whose desire is for His children to rest in His provision and protection, and to intentionally stay in that best of safe spaces. 

Fear God and keep His commands. It’s pretty much that simple, and also that hard. And Solomon leans in on us to make sure that we keep the main thin, the main thing here in Eccl. 12 to wrap things up. 

Data doesn’t lie, but data is used very effectively to lie, and to deciieve. In this passage the Psalm list sets out to remind the congregation of the benefit of keeping our eyes open and the dagners of self-deception.      

What we teach is important. But so too is how we teach what we teach. Solomon illustrates this just before closing his lesson on living, and helps us to see how graciously God meets us where we are to bring us to a better place by preparing His lessons for us such that they entice and satisfy our longings.

The Psalmist pulls back the curtains here so that we can see behind the scenes on what happens when God’s protection is removed from the land and His people. There is a stark warning and reminder for all of God’s people here for those with the humility to receive it. 

Here in Ecclesiastes 12:1 - 8, the preacher moves to his conclusion - his closing argument before dropping the mic. He takes pain to paint a picture of terror and hopelessness and futility. We believe that he does this to invite us to continue wrestling with the question, “What is the true purpose of life?”. Because, in truly wrestling deeply we will come to see the insufficiency of our own power and knowledge, and may reach out and find the hand of God ready to catch us.