Monthly Archives: November 2011

What does it mean to praise the Lord?

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I used to have a lot of trouble dealing with praise in the psalms. So much of it seemed to consist of telling others to praise God, and perhaps the louder the better, but just what is praise? Going around shouting “Praise the Lord” just doesn’t cut it. The first three verses of Psalm 66 demonstrate both my problem and what I eventually learned about praise.

The first verse says, “Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth.” In other words, the throng of people gathered at the temple for worship are not content to offer their own praise. They invite all people anywhere on earth to join them.… Read the rest

Life lessons from a list of names

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When we come across genealogies and other lists of names in the Bible, it can be difficult to remember that all Scripture is inspired and useful! Romans 16 is one such passage, where Paul greeted a list of friends by name. We know a few of them, but how is this list edifying?

Remember that the last major section of Romans starts in 12:1 with the exhortation to present our bodies as living sacrifices. Every word of Romans from there until the end either helps define or illustrate what the life of a living sacrifice looks like. In the last chapter, Paul names a bunch of them.… Read the rest

A prophetic word for a new heart in hard times

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hard times

Today, we’re in an economic meltdown. People are suffering in these hard times. It appears now that when people act in their own self-interest—save, pay down debt, do the kinds of things that we all should have been doing in the first place—it makes the general economic climate even worse. Unfortunately, the scope of the trouble is so large and complex that looking for someone to blame is a lot easier than deciding what to do about it. So goes the coming election cycle.

Where is God in all this? Can we cry out to him for help, or is this mess somehow his judgment?… Read the rest

A hymn to the attitude of Christ Jesus

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The following passage, Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV) may be a portion of a hymn sung in the Philippian church. Of course, it matters less whether anyone ever sang it than whether anyone lives up to it. It tells us Christ Jesus’ attitude–not as the risen Lord of glory, but the humble rabbi who walked the earth teaching the unreached. He expects his followers to have the same attitude.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

… Read the rest

The foolishness of a disappointed heart

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The fool says in his heart there is no God (Psalm 14:1). Some folks over the past 200 years have become durn fool enough to say it out loud. People have been questioning God far longer than they have questioned his existence. The questions mainly come from disappointment, and the disappointment comes mainly from a false sense of our own innocence. When things don’t go well, people turn to God for help, too often as a last resort. At such times, they focus on their own needs, their own helplessness, but not on the reality of sin.

I’m adapting this post from a Sunday school lesson on Isaiah 44:21-26, but all the prophets had basically the same message.… Read the rest