“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 The Hebrew for “Redeemer” is also thought of as “arbiter” and “witness”. In light of the…
“The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees.” Psalm 119:64 God’s Word of love is like the sun, filling and brightening everything it touches. In light of God’s mercy, the world might still hear an echo of God’s description of Eden (“God saw all that he had made, and it was…
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 “Start children off” is a Hebrew phrase that has the sense of “dedicate.” “The way they should go” could refer to the moral route or to the career path of the child….
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice…” Psalm 95:6-7 The word “bow” is synonymous with worship toward God or respect and…
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household…” Ephesians 2:19 Paul was arrested and imprisoned in AD 58 to protect him from a Jewish mob in the temple. Paul spent a year and a half in prison in Caesarea and two years under…
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4-5 The Greek word we interpret as “member” can also be interpreted as limb or…
“Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” Psalm 119:165 In Psalm 119, the psalmist took great delight in God’s Word because his soul had been made alive by God’s grace, and it was now his responsibility to praise the living Lord. Like a lost sheep, who never find…
“I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned his ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1-2 These verses simply state the reason for the psalm … the Lord answered the Psalmist’s cry for help. The rest of…
“When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” Psalm 94:18-19 “My foot is slipping” meant imminent death, indicating the serious nature of the threats to the psalmist. “Your unfailing love” or steadfast love is a loyalty to one’s community,…
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32 Paul answers the rhetorical question in the previous verse with a question. Since God has done the greatest thing, giving His own Son, will He not…