Considering the Bible

Conditional Security – Matthew 5:29-30

2026-02-05

Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
Matthew 5:30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Now right off the top, I need to confess that this first verse, regarding my right eye, has a special place in my mind as being really yucky. You all may know my hatred of all things eyeball related, as mentioned in an earlier post. To think of gouging out an eyeball is exceptionally difficult to consider.

Nevertheless, the Lord is making a point about how the believer, one of His followers were to treat anything in our lives that causes us to sin.

It is good to remember that though many believers may live in a debauched and sinful society, a culture that is dripping in unrighteousness and rebellion against the principals and person of God, Jesus is not commanding us to clean up our environment in this passage. Granted, if we believers were to take this command with greater seriousness, some of our society would respond properly and in kind. But that is not the intent of the passage!

I would suggest He is speaking of our own impulses, our own inner desires and rebellion against God and His Savior. James addresses this same tendency, this desire to wander, to leave the One we love, this fallenness within our hearts when he writes in chapter one of his letter

James 1:14-15 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Jesus, in Matthew 5 provides two examples of the believers attitude, or better yet, what the believer’s attitude toward this inner desire should be. A ruthlessness, even to the most sensitive organ in the body, (the eye), and the most useful appendage in the body (the hand).

Sometimes the believer may argue it to be innocuous, or of no impact in putting up with a certain rebellion, a certain sin since the removal of this sin in our lives would touch a sensitive area in our lives. Or it may require the removal of a very useful situation, a condition that makes life easier, more “tolerable”.

Jesus is addressing hard things here. Difficult issues that the believer will face as he follows after the Lord. Some decisions to follow after Him will require the loss of sensitive relationships in our lives, such as leaving behind close friends who will only drag you back to sin. Jesus even warns us of the dangers to our faith within our own families.

Sensitive relationships, people that we have loved for many years, may need to be left behind. That portion of our heart, that easily (and willingly) succumbs to the ungodly charms of an old friend or loved one, is to be starved, cut out of our lives, and left behind.

He is brutal in this passage, describing how we are to be committed to His rule, in issues that are difficult to face, to admit weakness in and to find victory in rejecting their influence.

But there is more to this verse than an over the top requirement for discipleship. As He speaks to His followers, He brings up the topic of hell.

What? Followers and hell in the same sentence? What is that all about?

As many of you who may follow this blog, I am not convinced of any specific teaching regarding hell, but if there be one of the three mainstream teachings I find to be least obvious in the Word, it is the teaching of eternal conscious torment. Though there be a few verses that may seem to support it, does Jesus apply this potential destiny to the believer?

Whatever He is referring to, whether it be ECT or some other form of punishment/destiny, when He speaks of my “whole body being thrown into hell”, Jesus is talking to those who are attentive to His message, to His disciples,.

And how can that be?

Might it be a theoretical threat, in that Jesus is using this description of being thrown into hell to emphasize the importance of fleeing temptation, even that which resides within us?

Maybe, but since I wasn’t there to see Him wink or provide a slight grin during the talk, it might not be wise to assume this understanding to quickly.

Ok, so might it be a call to perfection, as He speaks of later in the same chapter of Matthew?

Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

More likely in my opinion, yet this very verse also is a double edged sword. You see, there are two options in my mind.

The call to be perfect is something that can be realized in the believers life, by walking in the Spirit and growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. This perfection is sometimes considered maturity and support for this thinking can be found in both Philippians and Hebrews.
The call to perfection is an actual call to moral perfection, and if taken seriously will cause the believer to understand his complete and utter helplessness and hopelessness before the perfect Son of God and the Father of Light.

Now both options drive us to the Savior, which we should expect and be thankful for

Nevertheless, however you read these two topic verses in Matthew, of the call to gouge our eye and cut off our hand, it is a jarring call, with a severe punishment for the believer if he fails.

What think ye? I would love to hear your opinion of this difficult and challenging passage.

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Life of David – 34.02

2026-02-04

David Anointed King of Israel

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

2 Samuel 5:6-10

10 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off” – thinking, “David cannot come in here.”
7 Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.
8 And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind,’ who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.”
9 And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward.
10 And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.

What a history for the city of Jerusalem. First spoken of in Genesis 14 when referring to Melchizedek, whom I believe was the Lord Himself, all the way to becoming the city of God, the geographical focal residence of God on earth.

Of course, there were times the city contained somewhat less glorious inhabitants.

As the tribes of Israel entered the land, they were instructed to take the land. All the land, with the strongholds throughout the area. Future Jerusalem was a city that had not been taken.

Judah attempted to take Jebus in the early times of the judges.

Judges 1:8 And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.

You have to hand it to the tribe of Judah for the attempt, for the city is considered to be a very easily defendable city, but it turns out the nation could not keep the city under their control.

Judges 1:21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

This is amazing since once taken, the city’s own defense would be in the victor’s favor. Yet the nation could not maintain dominance of the city.

Over 400 years had to pass before a king would take control of Jerusalem, a king who saw the importance of the city, not only as a stronghold, but also as a unifying location for a capital city. Hebron, David’s current capital was far to south now that the northern tribes were joined the kingdom, and Jerusalem became the city David had eyes for.

And David took the city.

But I don’t suppose David’s motivation for taking the city of Jerusalem was only strategic, political and covenantal related. There may have been a bit of motivation supplied by the very Jebusites themselves. Referring to David’s army as men who couldn’t fight disabled soldiers is a fairly significant slap in the face to David. That alone is enough for David to teach the Jebusites a lesson, and while the world watched David gain power, taking Jebus became a necessity!

David took the city unconventionally, for if I understand the passage, the defeat of the Jebusite’s came by stealth, ingenuity and out of the box thinking. A water stack was to be used to gain access for a small band of men to enter and attack the inhabitants. A bit reminiscent of the attack on Babylon by the Persians hundreds of years later, as they took the city of Babylon by entering through a river. But I digress.

David took the city, and David kept the city. Jerusalem, the city on a hill, became the city David would rule from, the city the Temple would be built in, and the city that would be the focus of all things spiritual in the nation of Israel.

But it would also become the city Israel would loose to Babylon 400 years after David’s victory.

In the last days of Jerusalem, Jeremiah echoed the sentiment of the Jebusites, turning the insult onto the city itself. Jerusalem was unable to defend itself, though strategically positioned, against the disabled Chaldean (Babylonian) soldier coming against it.

Jeremiah 37:10 For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”

Jerusalem, though a easily defendable city, could be taken by the cripple and disabled. What a insult to the mighty city of David, and yet, as we venture through the Old Testament prophets, we see the continual sliding of Jerusalem from David’s pinnacle to Jeremiah’s day.

Never would the city rise to the heights of glory as in the days of David and his son Solomon. Even after the Babylonian captivity, the city never found strength and power in the region.

Jerusalem became a regional capital for a portion of Israel, primarily Judah and Benjamin, with the 10 northern tribes lost to the Assyrian assault many years previously.

And the temple, though rebuilt, did not contain the Ark of the Covenant, and the nation, what was left of it, could never claim the presence of God residing among them.

Jerusalem was a hollowed out city when compared with the former day’s of glory. It never ascended to it’s former glory, until one opportunity – one Person entered it’s gates.

David’s Son, Jesus the Messiah entered the gates of Jerusalem, and proclaimed the kingdom of God to be present. Not just the kingdom of Israel, but the kingdom of God! Jesus, the Greater Son of David entered the “City of Peace”, declared His Kingship and offered Jerusalem a glory greater than David’s.

We know what happened. Although given the greatest opportunity it had ever been granted, Jerusalem chose poorly, and rejected the King. A generation later, it fell to the Romans, and great was the fall of it. A horrendous and tragic end for what was once the “City on a Hill”.

The kingdom of God though continued, growing exponentially, beyond the geograpic limitations of a small city under the control of Gentile nations.

We also have opportunities provided in our lives. Some opportunities, like David in seeing the stronghold of Jerusalem, need unconventional methods to overcome.

Some opportunities, like hearing the voice of God, simply need open ears and a willing heart to accept.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Cyrus – 11

2026-02-03

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Cyrus

IDENTIFIED

Isaiah 45:4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.

Matthew 3:17 ESV – and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Cyrus is a much fuller topic than I had first imagined in relation to seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. I have mentioned previously that my assumption would be a couple of post’s on Cyrus, and then move onto Daniel. Wow will there be multitudes of images of Jesus in Daniel. Can’t wait!

But this tour through the life of Cyrus has been alarming, for as I entered this topic, I will freely confess I had never considered his life as a reflection of the Master. Yet here we are at another likeness to the Son.

Isaiah speaks of Cyrus’s identification to the people of Israel, even centuries previous to his appearance. He named him, spelling out his name for the people long before his birth, in order to provide guidance to His people, to give them information in order to know He is God, that He is the One who protects, guides and provides to His people in their need.

Cyrus was identified. Clearly marked out by the prophet, described even to his name!

More than Cyrus, Jesus was also clearly marked out by the prophet’s of old. Prophecy after prophecy, type after type, the Master was identified throughout the ages, so that those who saw His life, would know of His Person.

Although this series is on the typologies throughout the Old Testament, pointing those who want to see the Messiah in the history of the Book, multiple prophecies also were provided for the seeking soul. For those curious, I provided a series on this very topic, calling it “Old Testament Messianic Prophecies” and it turned out to be overwhelming. Over 350 prophecies were considered, pointing to the King and Savior, the Great High Priest.

My friend – the evidence is overwhelming. We have been clearly informed of who the Messiah is. He has been identified in multiple ways and through various methods.

The Jews were provided a name. Cyrus.

We have been flooded with ways to recognize the Messiah. Will you confess and agree? Will you follow?

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – GREAT LIGHT – 253

2026-02-02

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

253

GREAT LIGHT

Matthew 4:16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

John had just been put in prison. Things were trending to be against this new movement in Jerusalem. Those in the spiritual center of the region were actively seeking to “protect” the people of Israel from heresy.

The time would come when the Messiah would enter the lion’s den in Jerusalem, but for now, upon the imprisonment of John, Jesus headed north, to an area that didn’t have any spiritual light, that was despised by the elite of Jerusalem. Yes He headed to Galilee of the Gentiles, an area that some have estimated inhabited close to three million souls, a fertile farmland region, with a thriving fishing industry. Formerly a part of Israel, with a pure Jewish population found, the region had been “overrun” with Gentiles, to the point that it was defined by their presence.

Galilee of the Gentiles.

This is the region the Lord headed for as John was imprisoned. A region that was in darkness, spiritually speaking, not only in the opinion of those elites in Jerusalem, but also in truth. No prophet had appeared in the region since the area fell to Assyria over 700 years before, and was considered by those who knew best in Jerusalem to be a spiritual write off. Jerusalem was to be the focus for the religious elite, for in it the temple resided, the place where the Light had once been in the Holy of Holies. Granted, the Shekinah glory had not been resident in the Temple for centuries, but the claim to fame was still being held onto by the elite. Those of Jerusalem guarded a tradition, a religion, a past light that had left centuries ago, but the tradition was fiercely guarded, defended against from all competitors.

Even when that Great Light was introduced to the elite, he was imprisoned by the elite.

No – those in the know would protect their truth, defend their light and fight against all who would bring heresy. Definitely a defensive stance!

Jesus, the Great Light was different.

He would go to them, for how could He not? Light is not defensive in it’s nature but outgoing, defeating darkness, proceeding forward. Yes, He saw the rejection of light by those who claimed the light, but then proceeded to take the light to those who had no claim of light, who did not assume a spiritual standing before God.

The region was Gentile! Oh my goodness, how could anyone think there was a spiritual component to the area, when it was overpopulated with Gentiles.

But Jesus, the Great Light was different!

Jesus, as He entered the region performed many miracles, taught many stories, and lived a charmed life amongst them. As the Great Light amongst a darkened people, these folk, even the Gentiles amongst them were exposed to truth, light and love as never before.

Sadly some in the region exercised their stubbornness and remained blind, even though the Great Light was in their presence. This condition is a relevant truth to consider, for if there is darkness, it may be due to a self inflicted, stubborn streak in the one in need of light. After all, when Jesus was closing out His ministry, He condemned some of the cities He had shone in,

Matthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Matthew 11:22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
Matthew 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Matthew 11:24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

The Great Light shone in darkness and some who dwelled in darkness judged the darkness to be preferred.

Was it that they were not of the pure Jewish blood, those of Abraham’s lineage that they couldn’t recieve the light? I think not, for as we read of Jesus condemnation, Jesus compared those of Chorazain, Bethsaida and Capernaum with other Gentile cities.

As the Word constantly teaches, bloodlines, nationalities and religions are not the key to seeing light. The key to seeing light is a loss of blindness. And the first step to the loss of blindness is an admission of being blind.

The Great Light is still shining for all of us, and each of us may still retain a certain blindness to His glory. I readily admit my own blindness, my own desire to be in the land of darkness.

Lord help me as I dwell in my own darkness!

It is truly amazing that He not only is the Great Light, but that He came to those in darkness, even a self inflicted darkness, willing and able to provide sight to those who want to escape the darkness.

Each of us, whether we be Jew, Gentile (or even Canadian) have the privilege and responsibility to open our eyes to the Great Light. Once you do, it is a decision that will never be regretted, and that will cause you to keep coming back to that Light, for He is the One and Only Great Light!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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1 Thessalonian Bits – 3:1

2026-02-01

A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 3:1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone,

As a young believer, many many moons ago, I searched the Scriptures to find the truth regarding the premillennial pretribulation rapture teaching. For those who may not have heard of this teaching, it refers to the sudden catching up of the saints prior to the great tribulation that was/is to come upon the earth in the last days. I scoured and found every hint of teaching that might slightly refer or suggest such a glorious teaching. I was expert, taught it passionately and lived in anticipation of being taken up.

After all, Revelation 4:1 speaks clearly of the pretrib rapture.

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

Since John was told to “come up here”, obviously acting as a model for the church more than 2000 years in the future, and was called up before any of the following horrible depictions described in Revelation was provided, logic led me to believer this was irrefutable evidence of the pretribulational rapture.

Irrefutable logic!!! Or so I thought!

Our verse this morning seems to fight against that teaching though. It must be obvious to all that when Paul spoke of being “left behind”, he was referring to the teaching of the tribulational time schedule and date declaring that many find scattered throughout the Word.

Of course I jest, for when I saw the “left behind” term in our verse, my mind lept to foolishness. This minor side comment reminded me how easy it is, at least for myself, to find a passage and build a teaching that takes me down a garden path.

Irrefutable silliness!!!!

Suffice it to say, Paul is not speaking of the end times in this verse. I tend to think John wasn’t thinking end times either, but that is for a different time.

Paul is speaking of a self sacrificial giving up of one who was near and dear to him, one who was his closest ally while he is on mission, his child in the faith, the man he was grooming for great things. Timothy would be sent, with Paul left behind in Athens, a city he found little fruit in.

As a matter of fact, it appears that according to Acts 17, Paul had commanded Timothy and Silas to come to him as soon as possible in Athens. I assume that as these two men were on their way to minister to Paul, he gave instructions for Timothy to detour to Thessalonica.

Act 17:14-15

14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

So though this verse does not speak of end time escatological timing or provide a detailed rapture schedule, it does speak of the love of God, the self sacrificial love of God being expressed in the actions of an apostle that cared more for his people than for his own needs.

To balance out this self sacrificial act, Paul does speak of his inability to bear the burden of not connecting with his church, but even if we consider this to dull the point of the self sacrificial love he had for them, and that it was simply to provide him relief from this burden of taking care of the church, the end result is the same. He gave up for his church, not only out of love for them, but also to relieve the concerns and cares he had for his church because HE LOVED THEM.

No matter how you slice this little passage up, we can glean two truths, a varying importance from it.

Our first truth? This is definitely the greatest truth to cull from this passage!

Paul loved his church self sacrificially. This is a heart worth having, a heart that reflects the very love of God, in a sacrificial, other centered love.

Our second truth? This is definitely the least important, silliest “truth” to come across, even to the point that if you ignore it, my feelings wouldn’t be hurt in the least.

Paul was willing to be “left behind” for his church, modeling the church in relation to a tribulation schedule. Yes – this is a foolish statement, but it is good to remember the great teaching throughout the Word, and to avoid distractions such as time schedules and date settings.

Let us remember the major teachings of the Word, the infinite love of God, the sacrificial love of the Son and the patient endurance of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we seek to follow the Living God. Timing and schedules are for those who want to major on the minors, and miss out on so much. Leave the highly subjective and overly detailed schedules behind and focus on the One who leads us.

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 74.03

2026-01-31

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 74:9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.
Psalm 74:10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
Psalm 74:11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

Asaph is continuing in his struggle with the decimation of the sanctuary of God. Note that in his very lamentation of the conditions the nation is in, he speaks of signs, and that there is no prophet among them that can provide a timeline.

That screams of the human experience, of a man who is desperate to know, to be given guidance, to have someone who can provide answers. There is only silence. Deafening silence.

When a believer in in such a condition, I would suggest it is the worst of times and the best of times. (with apologies to Mr Dickens!)

Worst of Times

The worst of times, since the committed believer has cast in his entire life before the Lord, committed to the way of God, and now is in the middle of a decimation, when all appearances are dire and dark, when there is no communication from on high.

Dare I say that this is not the expectation of the typical believer when he signs up for the faith. If he is taught properly, he should understand, that difficult days will come, that to enter the kingdom of God we should expect many tribulations.

Acts 14:22 …. saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

But in the midst of the tribulation, the trial or the struggle, the believer expects the presence of God to be available, to be near, to be with him.

After all, it is a promise of the very One who suffered for us, who died completely alone, under judgement and abandoned by all, so that we never need be alone.

Matthew 28:20 ….And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Yet it appears Asaph is voicing the very thoughts I have had when going through a trial. The very thoughts many through the years have voiced.

A very quick review of the psalms provides a small sampling of the cries of those before us, when the very presence of God seemed so far away, when He seemed so distant and reluctant to enter into the fight.

Psalm 35:17 How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!
Psalm 79:5 How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Psalm 89:46 How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?

This feels like an abandonment, a loss of connection, an isolation from the source of life. From the Written Word, we find many instances when the prophet, priest or king has experienced this loss. It seems this is not an uncommon experience for the committed to go through.

It certainly appears we have a conflict in the message. Faithful men of God have voiced the experience of abandonment, as Asaph has in this psalm. And yet the Master has promised to never leave us.

What can we say about this? What is going on?

Best of Times

Given the conditions Asaph was facing, to describe them as the best of times may seem ridiculous. I admit it. To be under persecution, under desolation, to only see the bleak and dark times, AND to not sense the person of God in the midst of the trial is rough. Very rough.

As with Asaph, I could admit that all my thoughts during these difficult times swirl around the struggle, around the doubts and possible further disappointing news in the coming days. No news of rescue, or even hearing of future relief. No one is able to provide a schedule when the Lord will provide relief. The coming days stretch out to a hopeless horizon.

So how is this condition of seeming abandonment the best of times? I realize I have not made a good case for this, but let me try steer the discussion to make the point.

You just need to stay with me till the end.

Remember that the psalmist spoke of no signs for the believer? I think this may hold a clue for the believer to enter into the best of times, even though he has seemingly been abandoned by God.

Asaph seemed to be expecting a sign to find relief, even as I do in the midst of a trial. But even as I refer to signs, I realize I am opening up a pandora’s box of thinking.

What is the intent of signs?

The intent of signs may be multiple, but for this poor ol’ fella, signs were primarily provided to a people group that had depended on signs throughout their history. Even the apostle will give us the general truth of the Jewish mindset towards God.

1 Corinthians 1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

Some demanded signs. We will address that topic in the next portion, but for now, we need to consider that the intent of signs was to point the watcher to a subject. Specifically, signs were to bring the witness to the God who provided the sign. Whether it be Elijah with the fire from heaven or the Son providing sight to the blind, each sign was provided to direct the witness of the sign to the God who provided the sign.

In summary sign were to direct the focus of those who witnessed the sign to God.

Not to provide eye candy, or a mode of life to maintain relationship with God. Imagine the only time your son loves you is when you flash a $50 in front of his eyes? Not an exact comparison, but somewhat similar to providing signs to maintain a relationship. Somewhat beggarly in my mind.

Are signs required?

John 4:48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

It seems during the discussion with the officials request for healing of his son, Jesus declares to the crowd that they need signs. As you may know, I am a citizen of Texas and as a citizen, have learned that to include two or more in a conversation, I use the term y’all.

As far as I understand this passage, if we were to translate Jesus statement in Texan, it might be…..

Unless y’all see signs and wonders y’all will not believe.

It seems there was an element in the crowd that Jesus was calling out to, that had began to require signs from the Lord. Though He healed the officials son, it was remotely, without anyone in the vicinity seeing this miracle, therefore negating the benefit to those demanding it.

Are signs a replacement for faith?

Signs can be wonderful experiences in the believers life, even initiating the faith of the saint. During our walk with the Lord we may experience miracles, mighty works, and amazing coincidences.

As I have testified to many, my family recently experienced a miraculous healing of my little grandson. He was found face down in the pond, not breathing, blue in the face and not responsive. The ambulance came and many thought he was gone.

It was the mercy of God in restoring this little fella, and just a few short days after his recovery, he told his momma that he know who made him.

Amazing grace and mercy! I was on top of the world, telling those I know and those I had never met. It lasted for about a week. Interruptions, distractions and responsibilities brought about a fading of the experience. It is so with all signs.

Don’t get me wrong – I am so thankful for His mercy in restoring little Theodore. He is quite the youngin’

But for the believer, it is the promise of God that stands the test of time. At any time, for any reason, in the midst of any trial, the Word of God is available to strengthen the believer, to focus the believer, to guide the believer, to encourage the believer, even when all feels desperate, dark and hopeless.

When I think of an Old Testament saint who typifies this very truth, I think of David as he was on the brink of mutiny, with his men turning on him, having lost his family and every hope gone. I have spoke on this passage earlier, but 1 Samuel 30:6 is a precious truth in the worst of times

6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

David was delivered by God from death even as future king was on the cusp of the grave at this time. He found encouragement in the valley of death in God alone. The Greater Son of David was not delivered from death. Yet He trusted His Father when all was going wrong. And He was delivered through death! What an amazing life Jesus led.

To mimic Him is such a high calling. To simply trust His Word when all of life is in desolation, even when the enemy has run roughshod through our lives, let us always return to the promise of God. Let us experience the best of times with the knowledge that God is with us even when all is falling apart, when all is collapsing, when all is dire and dark.

It is the walk of faith. May we have strength from God to walk it, finding victory even in the midst of disappointments and discouragements.

How did the ol’ prophet describe this walk of faith?

Habakkuk 3:17-19

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

He determined/decided to rejoice in the Lord!

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Names of God – GREAT KING OVER ALL THE EARTH – 252

2026-01-30

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

252

GREAT KING OVER ALL THE EARTH

Psalm 47:2 For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.

The more I read the Psalms, the more I understand that those in touch with God in the Old Testament understood the global reach of the God they worshipped. They openly boasted of the non tribal nature of God, of His dominance over not only the inferior gods of the Philistines and Amorites, but that these gods of their neighbors had nothing in common with the God of Israel.

He is the Great King over all the earth, and in including all the earth, those old prophets included lands they knew of and beyond.

These men who wrote the Psalms would not be surprised millennia later, when the Lord Jesus claimed to have all authority, that He was King over all in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

I can’t imagine that Jesus’ claim of authority, extending even into heaven, and not only over all the earth, would cause a stumbling for these prophets of old. These prophets described the God they worshipped as a Great King over all the earth, and didn’t only dwell on Israel’s immense privilege as the chosen nation that would produce the Messiah.

As the Great King over all the earth, He is to be feared, as the Psalmist describes. But it is important to understand that this fear is not the self crippling fear that causes inactivity in the Kingdom, but the very opposite.

Believers, in understanding that our God is the Great King over all the earth, have available the boldness required to take on tasks, or missions, that are unattainable in our own strength, that are of a “foolish” goal in the eyes of the world. The fear of the Lord, best understood, is to drive us from inactivity and into a confident faith that will require a dependance on our King for strength and wisdom.

This Great King may call you to a task that is beyond your capabilities, beyond your strength and beyond your wisdom. Fear the Great King, with a confidence that the Great King will provide that which is necessary for the one who fears Him.

For He is the Great King over all the earth!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

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Conditional Security – Matthew 13:24-30

2026-01-29

Matthew 13:24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,
Matthew 13:25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
Matthew 13:26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.
Matthew 13:27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’
Matthew 13:28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’
Matthew 13:29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”

We have looked at this parable in the Parable Surprises series (Parable Surprises – Tares Among the Wheat) and found it to be a challenging portion of Scripture.

It must have been a late night when I pulled this passage into the Conditional Security series, for at first glance, I found little that would direct a person (without bias) towards the conclusion of conditional security in this passage.

The passage spoke of the kingdom, specifically of the harvest time and how to bring to judgement those who were enemies within the Kingdom.

But after a slight glance at the parable, and especially the explanation given to the disciples, there may be hints as to the general teaching of conditional security found within.

First off, it is granted that the weeds grew along with the wheat, and that in the parable the weeds have always been weeds. By that I mean, they were sown as weeds, lived as weeds and were gathered as weeds. The parable, in it’s simplicity, seemed to keep these two types of field plants separate throughout the passage.

Yet the parable did speak of the early pulling of weeds and potentially of pulling wheat with the weeds, all of which was destined for the fire. But per the Master’s decision, and his care for the wheat, this was to be avoided by allowing the weeds and wheat to grow together in the field.

29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.

No – the harvest was to be immediately preceded by the pulling of the weeds, for at fruition, the weeds showed their true colors. There would be no mistaking of the wheat as weeds.

A little later, the disciples asked for clarity.

Jesus provided clarity in identifying all the parties in the parable, including the sowers and the seed, and how the harvest would act out in the end.

Verse 41 gives me some pause in relation to the way judgement at the end is to be exercised. Let’s read it once more.

41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,

Notice that in the Lord’s explanation of the parable, the weeds and wheat are not identified in relation to the source seed, (good seed, / weeds) but in the work or actions of those being gathered, (righteousness / sin and law-breakers).

Granted, nothing is specified in the Lord’s explanation that the original good seed, that is the wheat, in included in the that “causes of sin and all law-breakers”, but in the same breath, there is no specific claim that the wheat stayed wheat. Jesus changed the description of the plants from a source seed related identifier to a fruit related identifier. I find that somewhat interesting!

When I first became a follower of Jesus, I was told not to take a parable and make it walk on four legs. I think my brother was telling me that parables typically have a single point of teaching, and that we shouldn’t try to find justification for a teaching in the parables, but to let them speak for themselves in the main point.

I may be doing that very thing with this post. The teaching of conditional security is definitely not the main point of this parable, (dang – it might not be the tenth point of the parable) and if this was the only teaching in the Word that hinted at conditional security, I readily admit it would be heretical to suggest this teaching here.

Yet, throughout the Word, it seems there are subtle hints to the danger of slipping from wheat to weed.

What is your opinion of this parable, and it’s relation to the teaching of conditional security?

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Life of David – 34.01

2026-01-28

David Anointed King of Israel

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

2 Samuel 5:1-5
1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh.
2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the LORD said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’”
3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

He is King. He has been accepted by the nation after what seemed like a never ending time of persecution by the very people who now come before him. He who persecuted him has been defeated, and the previous kingdom has been vanquished, even though a puppet king was installed. Those who troubled him have seen the error of their ways, repented and made covenant with the King appointed by God.

I am speaking of David in this instance, but in this short passage, it seems foolish to ignore this picture of Jesus being crowned by God and yet persecuted by the people. Jesus, King of all and owning all authority, yet being chased and persecuted in His church, by the very people He came to serve and save. Though David’s reign is an extended reign, speaking of a test being passed, (for 40 is often associated with testing in the Bible), how much more can we imagine the eternal victory and reign of the Savior, for He passed every test, every temptation, every trial to become the perfect and all righteous King of all.

Back to the text.

The elders came to David and the first thing out of their mouth was this identification of sameness, of being of his bone and flesh.

This seems to be such an obvious point to make that almost seems redundant. Of course David and the Israelites were of the same “bone and flesh”. But let us think about this for a moment.

David was ruling in Hebron, and the tribe of Judah had received him as their king. Eleven other tribes had remained with Saul and his throne, even after his death. Let us remember that David was of the tribe of Judah, and this direct connection could be proven and utilized to justify his reign over Judah. The connection was very direct, personal and in the mind of those in the other tribes, able to be leveraged to prioritize Judah over all of the other tribes.

The northern tribes had to find a connection to being parity before the King and his “favorite” tribe. And hence the claim of same “bone and flesh”. The leaders of the eleven tribes hailed back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, claiming – rightly so – that the King of Israel is over all the tribes, that each and every tribe had an equal right to their king.

Though he be but a human, the King was to rule over all the tribes.

I can’t help but to turn back to the image displayed in this passage regarding our King, the eternal King Jesus. Though He initially came for the people of a nation to submit to Him, in their rejection, He has accepted all others also into His Kingdom.

No longer can some claim a “bone and flesh” ownership to the True King. No longer may this be used to include or exclude others from His Kingdom, for He has partook of the “same things” of all creation, not of one or any other group or tribe, nation or people group.

Hebrews 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

He became human to rescue lost humans, and though a Jew by nationality, this identification was never His end focus. He rightly sought and gained the throne over all, not just one nation out of many.

True subjects of the Kingdom, those who understand Who the King is and His incredible mission to draw those subjects to Him, will worship Him in spirit and truth, not lean on physical associations, such as “bone and flesh”. How limiting and divisive!

John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

David was about to rule over the nation, bring it to the brink of greatness, dominating his enemies and producing a fighting force that was unstoppable.

A great king was on the move! A Greater King is currently on the move! Watch for His hand in your life, and listen to His counsel, for He wants to guide us.

Let us be willing to come before Him.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Let Me Tell You a Story – Heck ya

2026-01-27

I was tripping through some you tube shorts and found an amazing video of young boy about to get a needle.

Needles. Another topic that I loath.

I have confessed my distaste of anything related to eyeballs and my general reluctance to visit the optometrist, as I spoke in an earlier post, but I also am somewhat queasy when it comes to needles.

Yes I know – I am a bit of a weak kneed type of guy, a bit of what we used to call a sissy. (Is that word allowed any more?)

But in my tripping over you tube shorts, I found this kid with an attitude! (see the embed below) Nothing of the standard style attitude of self serving, or reluctance to get the nasty deed done.

Nothing like my own experience.

No – this kid was all over getting this needle. Even though tears fell, he was not delaying the inevitable, nor he was whining about how unfair life was, or trying to find a way to get out of the pinch.

No. Through the tears his attitude was amazing, and it speaks of the power of our outlook on life. Somehow this youngin had been taught that life was for the living, that though some things may hurt, let’s keep pushing forward. Avoidance of difficult things is for those who do not want to live!

Watch this little boy tackle a problem, and tell me you don’t want to face troubles and difficult times with the same energy this youngin’ had.

Super impressive!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Names of God – GREAT KING ABOVE ALL GODS – 251

2026-01-26

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

251

GREAT KING ABOVE ALL GODS

Psalm 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

We have considered the simple adjective “Great” in an earlier post, (Names of God – GREAT IS OUR LORD – 249) with it’s varied meanings that may be applied to the subject, our God.

In our post this morning, we find the psalmist describing our God a a great King above all gods. Now when I read that, I confess, the comparison seems to be that of an apple with an orange.

Let me explain.

The psalmist is declaring God as a King, and then comparing this King against all other gods.

Yes it may seem like I am splitting hairs here, but the message is that God is not simply One who is creator and sustainer, but that He is ruler as a King, One who is a Monarch over the believer.

He is not One who is far away, having brought this creation into being, and One who simply provides for His creation, out of a self imposed responsibility, but One who is actively ruling over the people, One who has authority in the Kingdom, One to whom His subjects bow to willingly and out of deep devotion.

Notice the Psalmist speaks of our God as a King above all gods. This speaks to the competition we find in our lives as to the gods we listen to. There truly are other gods, and the Psalmist openly confesses to this tension, this competition that those in the Kingdom must wrestle with.

For the Psalmist though, it is a cut and dry position, a declaration for him that though there are other gods, there are none as high and lofty, none that exercise such a loving and righteous sovereignty over His subjects as the King we worship.

He is God, and He is Great, and He is a Great King. All of these descriptions describe our Savior, and this truth offers no real confusion when we consider how He has stepped into humanity, taken our weakness, proved His love and given righteous guidance as found in His Word.

He is King, a Great King over all other authorities!

May we worship Him in truth today.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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1 Thessalonian Bits – 2:20

2026-01-25

A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 2:20 For you are our glory and joy.

We have dealt with both the joy and the glory aspects of Paul’s heart regarding this church in a previous discussion. See last weeks posting 1 Thessalonian Bits – 2:19.

For this mornings brief verse, Paul simply wants to summarize his heart towards those he longs to see, Yes it appears as though he has vanished, yet all the more he desires to see them, and to let them know of how circumstances and forces have restrained him.

As a minor add on to the discussion of glory, as we previously mentioned the association of glory with boasting and that boasting in others may be a righteous activity, a unifying energy, and a faith building exercise that not only honors God, but builds up the church.

Of course, self boasting, that type of boasting of which I am expert at, seems to be the problem. Did you know that I am the greatest boaster of them all? Boast boast boast – Look at me!

Not going to go there!

Paul continually boasts of the Lord Jesus and not himself. And Paul is boasting of a tiny little band of folks that may be struggling with the apparent absence of their father in the faith. He is boasting of a small congregation that has turned their lives around in the face of opposition, even in the face of the evil one.

Yes Paul was separated from his loved ones, but he took great pride in his little church.

Struggling little churches are not to be looked down upon. Without velvet or silk pews, fancy hymnals and solid oak pulpits, God can still perform mighty miracles in the lives of the sanctified. Churches that may be vilified by the common man, or the high powered influencer can still produce a light for those who are seeking.

If my reader is in the midst of a struggle, be it personal or body life, remember God is the God of little things. He seeks to change the world through one life at a time, and He has been pretty dang successful so far.

Trust Him in the difficult times, when loneliness, distractions and discouragements seem to pile up. His heart towards the little church just may be the same as the apostles heart to the Thessalonians!

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 74.02

2026-01-24

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 74:4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs.
Psalm 74:5 They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees.
Psalm 74:6 And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
Psalm 74:7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground.
Psalm 74:8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

Asaph is describing the complete desolation of the sanctuary of God. Not only a desolation of the sanctuary, but the apparent overpowering of the God behind the sanctuary. This is the overarching struggle for Asaph, for his faith in the God of Israel is in a God who parts the water, who delivers nations from bondage, who provides offspring to barren women and wins battles by unconventional means.

How could this desolation be happening? Asaph knows God can do something, but there is no response. It is as if God has abandoned His people. As we spoke of in our last post, Asaph called out for God to run to their rescue. God had abandoned them, and He needed to be reminded of His covenant with His people, for how could the foes find victory if God was still present?

Those foes in the sanctuary had no regard for the importance of the structure, what it represented and what they were doing.

Or did they?

Notice the last verse in our reading this morning. In their effort to subdue those of the land of Israel, the foes knew they needed to cripple the faith of the people. The synagogues (or local meeting places) along with the temple/tabernacle needed to be destroyed for victory over the people.

In order to subdue the people, all the meeting places of the people had to be destroyed. This is and has been the adversaries strategy for eons. Subdue the people, by destroying community, by tearing apart the body of Christ.

Even as the enemy took wild stokes of their axe on the structure of the sanctuary, so today we find an onslaught of attacks on the truth of God, the faith of the believer and the desire of the enemy to keep believers separate from each other.

During my weekday commute, I have been listening to the beatitudes in Matthew. Since it is not a time of study, I have been listening to the passage out of paraphrase called the Message. The passage in chapter 5 speaks of another reason for persecution by the enemies of faith.

Matthew 5:10-12

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. Not only that – count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens – give a cheer, even! – for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Not only do our foes know that to “defeat God”, they need to defeat the people of God. They hate the truth, for as they vigorously deny it, they are witness to the undeniability of its reality. Every time we join together in true worship, whether it be in massive congregations or small home studies, the sanctuary of God is revealed to the lost, the truth of the gospel is displayed to the foe, and an illogical hatred erupts in the heart and mind of those opposed to God and His people.

The foes destroying the sanctuary of God in our verses were not haphazard in their strategy of desolation. The battle plan has never been altered for time immemorial. Sure – the specific conditions are different, the faces may be unfamiliar, but the intended results are always the destruction of a unified, cohesive body of Christ, a congregation that is focused on the holy, and that seeks to follow the Truth.

As we seek to follow the truth, opposition will come in some form or another. It is the way of the world, that the god of this world does all he can to “swing the axe” within the sanctuary.

May we be strong believers, seeking to honor God, even as we may be entering a time of contradiction, when it appears God is quiet.

May we be faithful, knowing the heart of God even if He is quiet.

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Names of God – GREAT KING – 250

2026-01-23

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

250

GREAT KING

Malachi 1:14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

There are a number of issues going on with this passage. As I read it, certain New Testament passages are erupting in my mind.

That Swindler

Who is this cheat, this swindler that Malachi is pointing his finger to?

Although I rarely am reminded of this fact, Malachi is communicating to a very specific group of Israeli people. He is speaking to the priests, those men called by God to represent the people before Him, to receive the offerings God has prescribed for the nation.

This passage begins in verse 16 with the Lord’s direct charge to the priests.

Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’

Malachi goes so far as to claim the priest “snort” at the offerings, and claim it is a weariness. Malachi then speaks of this cheat, this swindler, this priest who vows a male sheep of his flock.

That Land
Hold up now – Were priests and Levites provided land in the original covenant? I know there is no mention of land in this verse, but where did the priest keep his sheep? Something tells me the Levites were to have no inheritance, no portion of the land of Israel.

Deuteronomy 18:1-2 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the LORD’s food offerings as their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them.

Granted, by the time of Malachi, the Levites and Priest’s may have established a reason to have land in order to “manage” the sheep for offerings, but is that not similar to the Lord’s message in Mark?

Mark 7:9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
Mark 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
Mark 7:11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”‘ (that is, given to God)–

Somehow I think the priest’s conveniently set up a tradition of owning land, but of course, it was a burden they accepted in order to serve God.

That Vow

We have noted that the priest looks down on the offerings, even snorting at them, and then we find he makes a vow. A vow of providing a male of the flock.

An acceptable sacrifice before the Lord is a male of the flock, an unblemished offering before the Lord. Multiple verses in the book of Leviticus, the handbook for the priestly order, speak of offering up an unblemished male.

Is it fair to understand that when the priest vows to offer a male, he is referring to an unblemished male according to the handbook of the priests?

I think this is a safe assumption!

But let us consider the vow for a minute more for making that vow seems to be a problem in my mind. Was it not the priest’s responsibility to offer up the correct sacrifice, so what is going on with this vow? Was it necessary?

As the Lord reminded us in the Beatitudes, those who shout out their acts of righteousness have their reward.

Matthew 6:2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Matthew 6:16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

By making this vow, the priest may have been looking for his reward. But let’s think about that for a moment. What reward did a priest deserve? He was simply performing his religious duties. Do I want a pat on the back if I go to church? Do I look for a hooray if I give a missionary 50 bucks? Am I to expect accolades if I show mercy to one less fortunate?

Luke 17:9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Something is so wrong in this picture!

In Summary

We have a cheating priest, owning contraband land, and offering up left over, unwanted sheep to the Great King. How utterly amazing that the religious leaders of the chosen people had sunk so low.

Malachi was the last prophet to appear before John the Baptist introduces the Great King to Israel. Much of Malachi’s prophetic message decries the state of the priesthood of Israel. Over and over again Malachi represents the Great King as deserving of so much more respect, honor and devotion than He is receiving.

Is it not the same today? It is too easy to relate Malachi’s message to the ruling religious class of our modern church!

Prior to the crucifixion, Jesus spoke to one of the ruling religious class, and summarized Malachi’s message to the ruling religious class of his day.

Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

For the laymen in the Body, let us also fear that we are also of the same ilk, providing to the Great King far less than He deserves!

For He is the Great King, the Ruler over all.

May we recognize our own sin before the Lord, our own disregard of the Great King, and humbly ask Him for forgiveness and power to love Him with all our hearts, soul and mind.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – Psalm 26:9-12

2026-01-22

Psalm 26:9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
Psalm 26:10 in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.

Psalm 26 is a psalm of David, a man who followed after God through struggles, disappointments, persecutions and trials. Even as a young teenager, he knew the Lord and spent many hours communing with the God of Israel while with his sheep.

Considered a nobody by his father, for he was never considered when Samuel requested to see Jesse’s sons, he nevertheless honored his father and trusted the Lord throughout his life. Even during times of persecution, of which produced a psalm as we read this morning, he looked to the Lord and begged for understanding, for the Lord to vindicate him (vs 1), for the Lord to examine him (vs 2), and declared his innocence in comparison to those who sought his life (vs 4-7).

David makes the case for his integrity, and has an open heart for the Lord’s work in his life. The first 7 verses of this psalm are a fantastic example of the Christian life before the Lord. David was so New Testamental!

So it is somewhat shocking that David pleads God not to take away his soul with sinners in verse 9. On top of that plea, he continues with begging that the Lord not gather his life with bloodthirsty men.

What is going on here?

Might it be that he is simply requesting that he not die in the presence of sinners? Maybe.

In the ESV, which is the version I typically use, the term “sweep away” speaks of receiving, removing, collecting and gathering. It isn’t quite clear to me if David is begging to be saved from being gathered with sinners in their judgement/destiny or to be separated from them in the act of death. Or possibly to be separated from them in their sinful actions.

Too many questions, but the verse is admittedly surprising.

Immediately after this plea to God for His protection, David returns to his previous confidence.

Psalm 26:11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me.
Psalm 26:12 My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.

Maybe I shouldn’t have looked at this verse as I seem to be producing more questions than answers. Thankfully, I know there are readers that follow my blog, and I would reach out to them for suggestions on the passage above.

Until then, I will continue to consider the passage. And I may come back to it if the Lord gives me any clarity. Nevertheless, may the Lord bless you as you travel the pilgrim way today.

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Let Me Tell You a Story – Eyeballs

2026-01-21

I finally went to the optometrist this Saturday. My glasses had become scratched, and my last checkup was close to two years ago.

It was time.

Now for most folks, a trip to the optometrist is no biggee. A puff of air on the eye, and a few drops in the ocular space, some flashing lights and staring through some fuzzy glass for ten minutes. For most, simply an inconvenience, a necessity to acquire a new set of eye crutches!

But for me, something went wrong in my mind a long time ago. Anything to do with eyeballs simply grosses me out. I get all gurgly inside, and simple leave a group if I think a conversation about eyes will get too graphic. And to think of contacts? No – not even a consideration!

So when I ended up in the optometrist’s chair, I was somewhat preemptively apologetic. Almost immediately, as the doctor came in, I warned her I was not going to be a very good patient, that I was really particular about eyeballs, and that I don’t mean to be difficult, but that is the patient she had.

She looked at me and asked me if I was an engineer.

Pardon me? What makes you ask me that?

She mentioned that many of her patients that are “particular” about their eyes are engineers, and that got me thinking. A subtle characteristic that I didn’t even realize was placing me in that group of humans known as engineers!

As I walk this life, I pray that more and more subtle characteristics of the Lord Jesus may be found in my life. Actions and attitudes that have “rubbed off on me” by being near the Master, things that I don’t even think of.

May it be so!

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Cyrus – 10

2026-01-20

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Cyrus

FREE SALVATION

Isaiah 45:13 I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the LORD of hosts.

1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

We are in Isaiah once again, with the Lord Jesus clearly being seen through the eyes of a redeemed, freely purchased sinner.

Ok – I am getting ahead of myself, but when I see the setting free of exiles, and that freedom from exile is not for price of reward, that simply screams grace grace grace!

Can’t you sense the completely surprising freedom that is spoken of here? Imagine those who had lived under the Babylonian captivity all their lives, for by the time Cyrus came around, the Jews had lived in Babylon near to 70 years. Bondage in a strange land, amongst those of a strange tongue had been their lives, and though there had been prophecies of the captivity only lasting 70 years, the outworking of this freedom may not have been clearly communicated to those under the yoke of their captors.

Yes – the Jews had heard of the prophecies relating to the 70 years of captivity, from Jeremiah, and of that Daniel fellow. Details may have been a bit sketchy, and not much was understood about the one through whom this freedom would come. Maybe a powerful Jewish prophet like Moses would bring the people out of their Egypt. Or better yet, maybe a mighty Jewish king, like David could rally the downtrodden to escape from a world power such as Babylon.

No – not only was the freedom to come completely without cost, but was to be from a completely unexpected instrument in God’s hand.

A heathen king names Cyrus would provide a freedom from exile for the Jewish people, a freedom that would cost them nothing but a willing heart to follow after.

The cost for this freedom was expressed with two words, amplifying the freeness (is that a word?) of the freedom.

מְחִיר mᵉchîyr

This term is commonly referring to as a price or hire. For Cyrus, this was not a consideration in releasing the Jewish community.

As a contrast, when the Word refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, he made rulers, dividing the land for filthy lucre*.

Daniel 11:39 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.

שַׁחַד shachad

This term may refer to a bribe or a present, even in the bribing of kings

1 Kings 15:19 “Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.”

No bribing, or convincing with filthy lucre* was required for this freedom from exile to occur.

Cyrus was not provided any kickback, leverage, or influence – other than the character appreciation this act added to his stature – in the release of the Jews from his newly acquired kingdom. As a matter of fact, he added his influence to those who remained behind to fund those who ventured out!

Surely, with very little imagination, we can recognize a glimmer of the grace of the Lord Jesus in this heathen king, for Jesus surely rescued us from our captivity, giving us the water of life without price.

Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

May we remember the costly salvation we have been offered without price, and be a thankful people!

*BTW – for those younger than I – and I suspect most of my readers are, filthy lucre is an old phrase the KJV used for money, and it is just so appropriate at time to use the old term. As a curiosity, how many of my readers connected with the term prior to reading this footnote? Let me know.

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Names of God – GREAT IS OUR LORD – 249

2026-01-19

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

249

GREAT IS OUR LORD

Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

As we consider the names of God, we see the same modifier describing different aspects or characteristics of our God. Such is the case for our current streak of Names.

Since we began in Post 245 – Great and Awesome Name, we have considered the modifier “Great” included in our descriptions. This should not surprise us, for our God is Great, but what does that mean?

Let’s consider some shades of meaning in relation to the term “Great”.

SIZE
The first possible meaning might include the concept of size. You know – the fire was great, as in it was a large fire!

SIZE (in comparison)
We sometimes call animals of the same genus “great” to differentiate them from others of like nature. An example might include the “Great Blue Heron”, or the “Great Grey Owl”. Great in this case relates to a comparison amongst the same type of animal

SIZE (numerically)
How about the way great is used in relation to quantity? There was a great number of students waiting to go into class.

QUALITY
Quality may be described when using great, as in – the cheese was great, better than I had ever tasted!

SUPERIORITY
Great may be used in relation to character, to the noble and good life lived by a man or woman. She was a great servant of those in need.

SKILLFUL
I have a friend that is adept, very skillful at learning languages. She is a great linguist!

CHIEF OR PRINCIPAL
Great is sometimes used when describing the principal or main building on a site. I recently visited a ranch in Texas and had meetings in the “great” house.

ENTHUSIASTIC
To be considered great in relation to enthusiasm would describe one who loves a certain topic or activity, and then be described as great. Something like – Frank was a great lover of hotdogs. (He wasn’t passive towards those dogs!)

There may be more shades of meaning I have missed, but to call our God Great may include some or all of these shades of meanings.

Which shade of meaning might you consider your favorite? Is there any shade of meaning that you might consider not applicable to God?

Let me know in the comments.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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1 Thessalonian Bits – 2:19

2026-01-18

A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?

Paul can’t get back to his friends. He has experienced an opposition that is frustrating him, hindering him from returning. It isn’t just the roadblocks that were being put up by the adversary that was the frustration, serious though they be, but the fact that the young church may be thinking he was a “one and done” type of fella, a flash in the pan, a man that comes into a town, disrupts the status quo and then runs away.

We must remember the times Paul lived in. No cell phone, no internet connections, not even a modern type of snail mail. Communication between parties was rare in the ancient world. So while Paul is being directed by God, and Satan is putting up roadblocks, Paul has time to think about the Thessalonians. Think about how they received him and his team, took the side of truth when the powers of deception came to shut them down. He thought of their possible sense of abandonment. And of how special these folks were in the faith.

He needed them to know that though he was not able to make it back, his heart was overjoyed in hearing of them, of remembering their faith and steadfastness. He speaks of them in the most glowing terms, and as such, wants them to know of his love for them.

Hope

We have spoke of hope in previous studies, and of the different uses of the term depending on the context of the discussion. It has been over 5 years ago, when I stumbled over the Greek term for hope and included it in a 16 part series on faith (Faith – Introduction). I provide the link for my new readers.

One somewhat unorthodox way of understanding a word or thought is to consider the antonym, or a word that presents an opposite thought or concept.

For hope, opposing thoughts or emotions would include despair, fear, disbelief and uncertainty. Paul was not entertaining these thoughts toward the Thessalonians. He had great expectancy, and this is the nature of a great leader, a great minister, a great father.

A great father figure presents an expectation to his children, and with encouragement, discipline and guidance, sees his children enter into those very expectations. Paul’s hope was not merely a warm fuzzy, but included an expectation of good things ahead for the church.

Joy

It is not surprising that joy and hope are closely linked together in the believers life. To continue our exercise in antonym offerings, opposing thoughts of joy would include despair, misery, anguish and gloom.

Note that both hope and joy are the very opposite of despair. Ours is not the life of despair. The Christian life is not looking to the troubles and trials of day to day problems, finding and focusing on the hills we need to climb, but realizing we have such a great salvation that roadblocks, frustrations and hinderances, though causing us concerns, are not the focus of our lives.

The focus of our lives is to be about others, and specifically to focus primarily on One other person. He has provided us the joy of the Lord, for in His sacrificial offering, He showed us the drawing power of joy as He endured the cross.

Hebrews 12:2a looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross..

Joy is a powerful motivator, not only in the present but also for the future!

Crown of Boasting

Now this term, at first glance, seems to be out of sync with Paul’s list. Is not boasting linked to pride and pride is one of the seven sinful activities that God hates?

Proverbs 6:16-17 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

That may be an early conclusion but consider the focus of the boasting. In the proverb, Solomon is describing the worthless person, the one who devises wicked plans and sows discord amongst the brothers.

Not so with Paul and the Thessalonians. Two differences for Paul’s use of the term boasting should be considered.

Righteous

Paul’s boasting is related to a people who were not evil. The Thessalonians had become imitators of the Lord (1:6), examples of the faith (1:7), and had turned from idols to the Living God (1:9). A completely different context.

Others

Secondly, Paul was boasting of someone else and not his own accomplishments. There is nothing I like less than to hear someone continually speak of his or her accomplishments. I am of the opinion that any works we perform or seek to accomplish should speak on their own merits. For one to remind others of our accomplishments is offputting.

Although the Lord was specifically speaking of giving in Matthew 6:3, I see a principal that relates to this topic and is applicable throughout our daily lives.

Matthew 6:3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

A similar teaching was provided regarding prayer.

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

While I am at it, this teaching is also found in relation to fasting.

Matthew 6:18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Keep your deeds between you and God. Boasting or showing off of my achievements provides an instant reward, an instant reward that is fleeting, empty and temporal!

Matthew 6:2 …. that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Matthew 6:5 …that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Matthew 6:16 …they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Paul speaks of the opportunity for believers to boast of other believers, and openly speaks of not commending himself to them

2 Corinthians 5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart.

All of that to say, when Paul speaks of boasting, he is speaking of others, of their faith and the work of God in their lives. To boast of myself is wrong. To boast of others is proper and an expression of love and unity within the church.

It would be wise for us to remember this difference!

Although Paul was not able to come to them as he wanted to, he wanted them to know of his deep love for them, and of a day when One would be coming for them, when the Messiah would have no roadblocks, no frustrations, no impediments in visiting this church. He would arrive in glory and that glory would include the little band of faithful in Thessalonia!

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 74.01

2026-01-17

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 74:1 A Maskil of Asaph. O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
Psalm 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
Psalm 74:3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

Before we dig into this psalm, it may be good to recognize that the background to this psalm is somewhat debatable. Does Asaph refer to the times of the tabernacle being overtaken at Shiloh, as the Philistines took the ark and defeated the Israelites? Asaph does speak of Shiloh in a future Psalm, of God’s abandonment of the tabernacle at Shiloh.

Or might this description of the sanctuary being destroyed be referring to the Babylonian invasion, with the author being of the sons of Asaph.

These questions will not be resolved in this post of course, but the fact that this psalm may refer to one of multiple falls of the sanctuary speaks of the impact of our own selfish behavior in relation to the people of God.

As we ignore (or refuse) to be the church, our enemy will come and seek to destroy, whether it be by outside or inside forces. Worse yet, and for Asaph the focus of this Psalm, is that God Himself pulls away from the sanctuary, allowing the sanctuary to be defiled, destroyed and abandoned, giving our enemy an apparent victory.

The topic of God abandoning His sanctuary, abandoning His people is the struggle Asaph speaks of in this psalm. As with Psalm 73, where Asaph struggled with the ease of the wicked, this psalm also provides us a glimpse into the faith struggle of this great man of God.

Our introductory verses speak of Asaph’s shock, of how God had cast off His people forever. Let us not dull the sharpness of this question. To be cast off is to be spurned, to be forcefully rejected.

David warned his son of this danger!

1 Chronicles 28:9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

This question of being cast off flies in the face of the constant claims of God’s promises for the people of God. Asaph will attempt to remind God of who He is and how He has made claims and promises to the people He has led.

The Sheep of His pasture

This phrase speaks of God’s ownership of His people. Some may relate this phrase to God’s ownership of Israel due to His creative acts, that the nation is His due to the original creation, and they were the chosen people for His purposes.

The concept of creation and purchasing is intertwined in Asaph’s plea to God.

The congregation He purchased

קָנָה qânâh – To purchase, sometimes to create. Moses used this term in relating to the nation being redeemed from Egypt.

Exodus 15:13a “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed.

Eve declared she had “gotten” a man with the help of God using the same term.

Genesis 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”

God has created this nation of Israel out of nothing, for what nation has ever begun from a promise to a single barren man? His creation of the nation of Israel truly mimics His creation at the beginning. Out of nothing, God creates all things!

Asaph understands this, and reminds our God of His ownership and purchase of the people He is acting against.

The people He redeemed

גָּאַל gâʼal

Those He redeemed are the people of His inheritance. The redemption spoken of here looks back to the time when they were under bondage, when they had no strength, no freedom, and no hope. After the sanctuary had been destroyed, these redeemed were again experiencing the same condition of bondage and the loss of hope.

Asaph is reminding his God of the redemption He provided and is now effectively lost to His people. How could this happen?

Based on these descriptions of how God has related to the nation, Asaph implores Him to pay attention, to act, to run to their rescue, to come and help. God has obviously been absent, even working actively against the sheep of His pasture. Asaph is asking for His return, His turning back to His people.

The works of God are mysterious, and as the people of God, we understand so little at times. Even as we see through a glass darkly, and at times when the Lord may be teaching very hard lessons, we have the knowledge those of the Old Testament only imagined. Our God, no matter the situations we find ourselves in, know of the Messiah, of His acts of sacrifice, of His showing the love of God to weak, broken and helpless sinners.

We know of His person, for He walked with us, and died for us. He is with us, and we can take comfort in the midst of trials we don’t fully understand. For Asaph, he will continue to struggle with the conditions he is living in, just as we might.

Thankfully, we have the blessing of knowing the One who proved the love of God for us.

May His name be praised!

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Names of God – GREAT HIGH PRIEST – 248

2026-01-16

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

248

GREAT HIGH PRIEST

Hebrews 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Years ago, my son decided to read through the Old Testament, and as he was going through the Pentateuch, he made a comment I will never forget.

“Those priests were butchers!”

From a young man who had spent most of his life preparing food, as he had read the duties of the Priest, he interpreted it as equal to the task of a butcher. I had read the same passages many times and never came away with that impression.

My concept of the priest was flavored more from the ones who interacted with the Messiah in the New Testament. Businessmen, politicians and religious imposters. A dangerous mix for the people of God to be under!

Was the priest intended to be a butcher? Is that the message we should take away from our reading of the Old Testament? Or maybe, the priest was to be a manager of people, one who controlled and manipulated people and goods.

To be a priest entailed many tasks that I do not intend to venture into with this short post, but two items need to be considered as we think of our God as the Great High Priest.

The High Priest in the Old Testament was a prefigure of the Messiah in many ways. For the purpose of brevity and to relate to this post, consider the High Priest before a holy God and before a sinful people.

Before a Holy God

As the priest entered the presence of God, he “carried” the people on his heart. His approach before a holy God was for the people, as he carried a broken, sinful people on his heart, pleading before the Righteous and Holy God for a people who were not worthy, who had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

His “ministry” was of a broken heart for the people he represented.

Exodus 28:30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly.

Before Sinful People

His behavior before his people was likewise towards them. It was the prophet that did much of the rebuking, correcting and chastisement in the nation as they rebelled against God, though correction of the people was not out of the priest’s job description. When required, he chastised the people.

But for the faithful Israelite, who came before the priest with an offering, with a lamb, a goat or a pigeon, the priest was of the receiving nature. He was approachable, without rebuke to the one who sacrificed in the right spirit. Proper sacrifice was received gladly, with open arms.

For our time together this morning, consider both of these attributes in the Lord Jesus as our High Priest. Were not sinful broken people on the heart of the Messiah as He faced the judgement of sin in His body on the cross? Though He suffered such horrendous injustice in His service for His people, He has not turned to His people in anger due to this injustice. He is not holding some grudge, or demanding some retribution from His people. He is approachable, with open arms, receiving His people as they come with their own sacrifices of praise and love to Him.

The apostle encourages the people of God to draw near to our High Priest, a High Priest that is able to sympathize with our weakness, having experienced the power of temptation.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus is our true Great High Priest, and all other images in my mind of a butcher and a businessman vanish as I see His arms open up!

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – 2 Corinthians 12:21

2026-01-15

2 Corinthians 12:21
I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.

Paul is reaching out to his church in Corinth. As you may remember, Corinth was a church that Paul founded and had spent much time there, discipling the faithful, and exhorting them to continue in the faith. Paul spent 18 months with this church, much longer than most of his plants.

Acts 18:11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

While there, he wasn’t acting in the evangelist mode as much as the Bible teacher, and the Corinthians had the blessing of being under Paul’s teaching for an extended period of time!

If he personally knew a people claiming Christ, it was in Corinth, but as he eventually moved on under the leading of God, he heard rumors, stories of the Corinthians acting like little children, bickering and fighting with one another. Acting unChristian.

The reports of this church’s activities included some sin that even the heathen don’t put up with. And yet he designated them as saints, believers.

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Paul goes so far as to speak of the Corinthians surety in the faith.

1 Corinthians 1:6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you–

But in our verse this morning, we find Paul speaking of mourning. A requirement of mourning over many of those he has declared to be saints.

Mourning is typically associated with death, with grief over the loss of a loved one. While there is hope, mourning is not the word I think of. For Paul to bring this word into the discussion may breach our topic of conditional security, for he has established these as saints, and is now fearing the mourning required at the death of a loved one.

May this mourning be associated with physical death? We know some in the church were judged because of their sin and were taken home early, as we read in 1 Corinthians 11.

1 Corinthians 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

But when Paul speaks of physical death amongst the believers, it is in the context of judgment, without any reference to mourning, sorrow or grief. It is a matter of judgement.

For our verse here, I suggest Paul may be breaching a far greater death, not simply of a saint being judged and taken home early, though still a believer.

Might Paul be introducing the mourning required in the loss of a believer from the faith? Just a few verses later Paul is asking these folks to check themselves out. They need to examine themselves, test themselves, to see if they pass or fail.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?–unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Now some may be thinking Paul is writing this to a mixed audience, those who are of the faith and those who are simply watching from outside. Some may think that Paul has two audiences in mind, and this testing is for the self-deluded outsider, the professor and not the possessor of the Christian life. This may make sense, except for the fact I don’t recall him addressing any outsiders throughout this letter.

He continues to address believers, bringing to mind the responsibilities and lifestyle requirements of the believer, sometimes rebuking the believer, and speaking to those who have made claims of new life.

How do you understand his reference to mourning in relation to the saints he was about to visit?

Leave me a comment – I am curious of my readers opinions!

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Life of David – 33.03

2026-01-14

Ish-bosheth Murdered

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

5 Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest.
6 And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
7 When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night,
8 and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”
9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity,
10 when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.
11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?”
12 And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.

Due to the history of the Beerothites, and the likelihood of these men being mere mercenaries, this action of assassination should not surprise us. These men saw an opportunity, but did not consider David’s history with those killing for his sake and took action. A fatal mistake!

I mentioned the history of the Beerothites in an earlier post, of how this tribe had deceived Joshua and entered into a treaty with the nation of Israel under false pretenses. Now, three centuries later, this tribe provides two mercenaries to perform a treasonous act against their king.

For treason, these two men did not disappoint. Walking into the palace, and stabbing the king in broad daylight is gutsy. To leave the palace with the head of the king is beyond audacious – that is simply foolhardy. Yet they were able to do this act of treason, seemingly without any concern of getting caught. Was it that they were part of the royal guard, or was is that since Abner had been taken out of the picture, they entire security around the king was lax. I will leave that with my reader.

These two game changers, having committed a capital offence head off to the upcoming king, a man they seemingly know little of. Surely they didn’t hear the story of that fellow who presented to David the news of Saul’s death. If that man had killed Saul, as David understood, it could be reasoned it was in war, and bad things happen in war. But that reasoning did not wash with David, for that fellow was put to death for raising his hand against the Lord’s anointed!

These fellows had no excuse. No war, the king was at a weak time, and the army that should protect is the killing machine?

Verse 11 is the key verse, where David lays into these fools.

How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?”

Suffice to say – they died. And David sought to honor Ish-bosheth with entombing him in Abner’s tomb.

Saul had no tomb? What is David doing in laying to rest Ish-bosheth in Abner’s tomb. It is not that Hebron was King Saul’s capital city – that was Gibeah.

If my reader has any possible reasoning for David to provide this specific honor to Ish-bosheth, please let me know in the comments.

Otherwise, this treacherous act of two mercenaries has set the stage for David to rule all of Israel. We will begin to shift in the story of David from watching a man on the run, one who was treated like an enemy by the powers that reigned, to one who ascended to the throne, reigning as God had promised.

Throughout the early years of David, we have seen many instances where David’s life reflected the persecuted life of his Greater Son.

So many similarities to Jesus as He walked among us.

Now as we enter a time where David is enthroned, we will find a man besot with sin, struggling with his own demons, and yet being led by the Father, receiving promises from God and establishing Israel on a path of tremendous world influence, spreading the glory of God throughout the region.

Jesus is also on the throne, ruling over the Kingdom of heaven. His ascension centuries back has become the King of all nations.

Revelation 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!

Jesus’ rule continues throughout eternity, and His righteous reign will lead each of us to greater victories as we follow the One who is our Master.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Cyrus – 09

2026-01-13

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Cyrus

LOVED BY THE LORD

Isaiah 48:14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.

John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

We are in Isaiah again, with a picture of the Messiah coming through loud and clear.

Isaiah is calling the people together for a message that has not been declared. Now a bit of background may be beneficial. Isaiah is decrying the peoples dependance on dumb idols, their idolatry is rampant, and many of the prophecies regarding Cyrus are provided for a generation of God’s nation many years in the future. No idols can do that! When Isaiah speaks of “Who among them”, he is referring to the dumb idols! No idols could predict a future deliverer of Israel centuries ahead of the time.

Not only will the prophecy regarding the release of the Jews from captivity be astounding, but the instrument of release for the Jews will defeat the Chaldeans and perform God’s purpose on the Babylonians.

And the Lord loves him. This instrument of devastation on the Babylonians is loved by the Lord. This instrument of release from the Babylonians, for the people of God is loved by God.

This instrument of devastation and deliverance is a heathen king, a man who God raises up over a century after this prophecy, and we know of this kings name as Cyrus.

In this series on Cyrus we have seen him as the deliverer, the freedom giver, the man who obeys God’s will and much more. But here in Isaiah, we see Isaiah revealing the heart of God towards a heathen king.

Some may think this declaration of love by the Lord is to be reserved only for the anti-type of Cyrus, that is the Lord Jesus, and there may be merit to that, since the Father loves the Son! Yet even if Isaiah provides a sort of limited love of God for Cyrus, it is an amazing declaration for the people of God to hear.

God’s servant, a stranger outside of their camp, outside of their nation is loved by God! Another description of Jesus from the Old Testament, this time describing the relationship of the Son with the Father, through a stranger to the people of God.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Worst of Times

Best of Times

What is the intent of signs?

Are signs required?

Are signs a replacement for faith?

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מְחִיר mᵉchîyr

שַׁחַד shachad

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Hope

Joy

Crown of Boasting

Righteous

Others

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The Sheep of His pasture

The congregation He purchased

The people He redeemed

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