True Happiness
This is a psalm addressed to God and to the "nations." Where do we come in? What are we able to hear that is addressed to us? And what's to…
The Responsibility of Blessings
The psalm speaks of the "Fear of the Lord," (rendered "honor" by some translations). "Fear" does not mean "to be afraid" but rather a posture toward God similar to the…
What Does it Mean to be Blessed?
The Sermon on the Mount, a collection of Jesus's teachings, opens with the Beatitudes. Jesus has called people to follow him. But what is the substance of that following? What…
A Lamp in the Darkness
With the Psalmist, we sing with such bold confidence in the light and salvation of God precisely at those moments when we are filled with fear. We sing our way…
Can Everyone Sing of Deliverance?
The psalmist says that God "leaned down to me; he listened to my cry for help" (v. 1). Psalms of thanksgiving tend to have a stereotypical form: the crisis is…
Love: God with Us!
Matthew explicitly says that Mary was a virgin, thus signifying that this is no ordinary human birth. In this birth, God is at work bringing about God’s purposes for the…
Joy: Go and Tell John
John the Baptist is in jail and he is asking questions. The questions seem to arise, not out of belief, but from doubt. If Jesus is God's Messiah, God's answer…
Peace: Submitting Ourselves to Scripture
We have here in Romans 15 one of the rare instances where Paul interrupts his testimony to speak of the testimony that is scripture. Perhaps that's the reason that this…
Giving Thanks: A Sweet Aroma to the Lord #1: What We Pass Along
By having this psalm in the fall, when school is back in full swing plus the round of educational activities in the congregation, as well as occurring right after the…