Passage, Paragraph, and Prayer

It seems pretty bold to ask the holy and almighty God to take up your case, as if he were some nonprofit legal organization seeking justice for the innocent. But in Psalm 119:154, the psalmist encourages us to do so. In this devotion we consider how we can.

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No. 1, Movement 4

Even when we speak the same language as someone else today, we can’t always understand them. But from the beginning of the world up to about a century after the Flood, humans all spoke the same way and shared the same vocabulary.

Music Credit: J. S. Bach, “Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten,” aria from “Jesu, der du meine Seele,” BWV 78 (Leipzig, 1724).

The psalmist begins the twentieth stanza of Psalm 119 asking God to see his affliction. We have a good basis on which to ask the Lord of the universe to pay attention to us.

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No. 1, Movement 4

This devotion could also be called “The Descendants of Shem, Part 3.” Our last Genesis devotion was about Eber and Peleg. In this devotion we look at the descendants of Eber’s other son, Joktan, one of whom became renowned for gold.

Music Credit: J. S. Bach, “Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten,” aria from “Jesu, der du meine Seele,” BWV 78 (Leipzig, 1724).

From where do the Scriptures get their authority? How do we defend them, or become more convinced of their eternal and reliable character?

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No. 1, Movement 4

After tracing the sons of Japheth and Ham, Moses now pursues the line of the Messiah, which will continue to be his focus in the rest of Genesis. In this devotion, we consider how Eber and Peleg received their names, and how their lives coincided with the events of the Tower of Babel.

Music Credit: J. S. Bach, “Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten,” aria from “Jesu, der du meine Seele,” BWV 78 (Leipzig, 1724).

Those who pursue evil plans are constantly drawing near to Christians. But there is Someone else who is always near, who is infinitely more powerful than all of them combined and whose word and promises never fail.

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No. 1, Movement 4

Moses is going to focus on Arphaxad and his sons, including Eber, because they will be in the lineage of the Messiah. But first he briefly covers the other sons of Shem, giving a little extra attention to Aram, due to the Aramaic influence on God’s people.

Music Credit: J. S. Bach, “Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten,” aria from “Jesu, der du meine Seele,” BWV 78 (Leipzig, 1724).

This side of heaven, Christians are not immune from evil things or evil people and evil spirits. Those who pursue evil plans are constantly drawing near. What does this mean for us?

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No. 1, Movement 4

The Canaanites were descended from Noah’s son Ham, and inhabited the Promised Land before the Israelites. Where did they settle, and what were they like?

Music Credit: J. S. Bach, “Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten,” aria from “Jesu, der du meine Seele,” BWV 78 (Leipzig, 1724).