Passage, Paragraph, and Prayer

Have you ever noticed how those who care the most also tend to get worn out the easiest? In Psalm 119:139, the psalmist says this is true of himself. So what does he want us to take away from this?

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

Noah didn’t just pronounce a curse on Canaan so that the curse would be more limited than, for instance, a curse pronounced on his son Ham, but also because he saw, by divine inspiration, how Ham’s moral perversity would live on among the Canaanites.

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

If you check five different translations of Psalm 119:138, you’ll likely find five different things being said (even if they’re related). In this episode, we wrestle with what the psalmist is saying about God, his word, and righteousness and faithfulness.

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

Especially in early to mid-1800s, when slavery was being hotly debated in our country, many pro-slavery preachers would speak of “the curse of Ham” to defend slavery. But was there actually any curse of Ham?

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

Since God is righteous, he also judges righteously. So how does he judge us not guilty, when we are in fact guilty?

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

In Genesis 9:24–27, Noah pronounces a curse on his grandson Canaan and a blessing on his sons Shem and Japheth after waking up from his drunken sleep. These words have been widely misunderstood and misapplied. In this devotion, we consider how we should always listen to God’s word, regardless of the mouthpiece he chooses to use.

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

When was the last time you had a good cry? When tends to bring it on? In this final verse of the seventeenth stanza of Psalm 119, the psalmist gives us one of the best reasons to cry.

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

Shem and Japheth’s reaction to their father’s drunkenness was very different than Ham’s. In seeing the very different reactions of three men who all shared the same father and mother, we are reminded of how children inherit both the best and the worst of their parents.

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

The concept of God making his face shine toward us or on us is repeated in Scripture. But what does it mean?

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

It quickly becomes clear after the Flood that God did not preserve Noah and his family on the ark because of their own merits, but out of his grace.

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