Why do the wicked prosper while the faithful suffer? Psalm 73 begins with envy and ends with worship. This message explores what to do when God doesn’t meet our expectations, and how worship reshapes disappointment into trust. When every plan fails, we discover that God Himself is enough.

What is blessing for? Psalm 67 shows us that God blesses his people not as a reward, but as a gift meant to flow outward in praise and service to the nations. This message explores the dangers of blessing without gratitude, the call to global mission, and the grace that makes blessing possible. In Christ, God’s mercy flows as far as the curse is found.

This week, Dordt University’s Chief of Staff, Aaron Bart, continues this semester’s chapel series, “The Way of Wisdom” with a message on Psalm 51. 

What do we do when our souls feel cast down and God feels distant? In Psalm 42, the psalmist describes both thirsting for God and drowning in sorrow, feeling underfed and overwhelmed at once. This message explores what Christians have called “spiritual depression,” and how we can learn to talk about the struggle, talk to God and ourselves, and hear God talk back. However deep our struggle, Christ’s love is deeper still 

Deliverance leads to devotion. God does not love us because we are good, but because He is. And yet, experiencing God’s goodness leads us to participate in it. In Psalm 34, David sings from a cave after pretending to be insane, not from a place of strength but from a place of survival. Still, he declares, “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” and we can join him in tasting and trusting, in seeing and sharing. 

In a world that is not altogether safe, God is near: he goes before us to lead, walks beside us through the valley, and chases behind us with goodness and mercy. In Jesus, the Good Shepherd who laid down his life and rose, we learn to trade control for trust and rest in a love that does no fail. Psalm 23 is not sentimental; it’s sturdy.

When God feels absent and the wait feels endless, Psalm 13 trains us to move from protest to petition to praise. We name our “how long,” ask for the light in the dark, and choose trust before we see the answer. Through Jesus, who entered the long silence of Saturday and rose on Sunday, our waiting is filled with hope.

As we start a new series, “Songs from the Struggle,” we see how worship reorients us when we feel overwhelmed. When the “many” voices and fears pile up, Psalm 3 shows how God is the glory who outweighs them all. In Jesus - the greater Son of David who lay down in death and rose - this prayer becomes a promise, helping us to rise and rest. 

Where can wisdom be found? Proverbs 30 answers: in humble, loving attention to the created world and creative humans, to eagles and ships, ants and lizards, and ultimately to Jesus Christ. Attention becomes worship; study becomes prayer; and small, daily noticing leads to the One who made it all. 

This week Dr. Kyle Dieleman reminds us that wisdom is more than following rules—it’s about living in a way that loves God and loves our neighbors. True wisdom is found in Jesus, whose life and Spirit guide us to embody love, justice, and mercy in community.