1. This psalm portrays personal growth. It divides perfectly in half. In verses 1-10, the psalmist (for a reason unknown to the reader) is depressed and even angry at God. However, verses 11-20 show us that he refocuses on God and his words change to a praise hymn. What a dramatic turnaround God can cause in our life! 2. Though the first section deals with a depressed state, the psalmist still knows that God hears him (verse 1). Whenever we are “down,” God wants to know, but we also need to understand that He still hears and cares. 3. Verse 2 indicates that Asaph spent entire nights in prayer to…

When I started this little project, I tried to think of what each person would tell me was his or her favorite song. With dad, I went so far as to write down what I thought he would give me for his favorite song. And I was right. As a fun fact, Tim Johnston wrote this classic rock standard. When he wrote it, though, he didn’t know that there was an actual place outside San Antonio called…

This week, we unveil our top 5 and our picks for the title game. 5. University of Michigan WolverinesThe Chad Henne and Mike Hart Show return this season for a team that had an argument to be playing in the National Championship Game last season. Together they hope to bring a National Title back to Ann Arbor for the first time since 1997. Strengths: As mentioned above, it is the offense. Henne and Hart bring a ton of experience to get through the Big 10 wars and a combined 36 TD’s back from last season for the Wolverines. Weaknesses: Is Lloyd Carr the guy or not. If Michigan is to…

1. This is one of several psalms to which we do not know for certain the historical context. However, many has suggested that it was written following the destruction of the Assyrian army. No matter the historical setting, it is without doubt a psalm of great celebration. 2. Asaph begins by stating that God is known in the world. From what follows, we can know that the intent is to show that God is known by what He has done. When God acts, people come to know Him and His power more fully. 3. Verse 3 is one of the verses that leads commentators to show this psalm as a…

It’s about time Neal Pollard published a book! Many of you are familiar with brother Pollard from his Daily Bread, a (almost) daily email with brief devotional thoughts. In his 2007 release Rise Up & Build: Tools for Church Growth, Pollard presents us with powerful pointers to help our congregations grow–the Lord’s way. While there are dozens of books out there on church growth, so many tackle the subject with many false ideas. Pollard draws the best from those sources and gives us 13 chapters to help our congregations move forward while not forsaking Biblical teaching. As you might expect, the 13 chapters are alliterated. They are: 1. Expository Exploration…

Leah’s mom is a homemaker and Bible class teacher. She gave me two favorite songs and told me to pick one. The one I chose is by John Denver. Besides “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” this song probably stands as his signature. I would have chosen her other favorite, “Wind Beneath My Wings,” but I knew that if I had anything on this blog from Beaches, Amber and mom would cry just from thinking about the movie. By the way, one person in one of those “this is what I thought the song said” surveys said that he thought Annie’s Song started out with, “You filled out my census.”

We are half-way through this uplifting series of devotional thoughts. I am greatly enjoying spending a few minutes with each psalm, and I hope you are as well. Since this series “stretches out” so far, I am putting links to all the Psalms after every set of 25. Here is the list for Psalms 1-75. Psalms 1-50 (A list like this one for the first 1/3 of the book) Psalm 51 Psalm 52 Psalm 53 Psalm 54 Psalm 55 Psalm 56 Psalm 57 Psalm 58 Psalm 59 Psalm 60 Psalm 61 Psalm 62 Psalm 63 Psalm 64 Psalm 65 Psalm 66 Psalm 67 Psalm 68 Psalm 69 Psalm 70 Psalm…

1. What a contrast with Psalm 74. In Psalm 75, the writer admits that wrongs are done in society, but spends basically the entire 10 verses saying that God is ultimately in charge at all times. 2. In verse 1, praise given to God because of His presence is the theme. God continues to be near His people no matter what. Because of that, people speak of God and praise His Name. 3. Verses 3-5 are written from the perspective of what God would say in these circumstances. Verse 3 speaks of God stabilizing a difficult situation. 4 and 5 speak of God giving a stern warning to those who…

1. Psalm 74 is one of the most emotional laments found in the Bible. The land of Israel, including the temple, had been ravaged, and the situation is so bad that the psalmist–expressing the thoughts of the people–feels as though God has abandoned His people. 2. Verse 1 begins the lament in dramatic fashion, asking why God has rejected His people “forever.” It seems as though this psalm is written a while after the temple is destroyed and the people are penitent, but still being punished. Could it be that they know the common “circle” that is found in books such as Judges and wonder why, now that they have…

1. In this psalm, the writer, Asaph, seems to be trying to figure out an ages-old question: “Why do evil people suffer?” He spends the first 14 verses struggling with that question, then turns his attention to the fact that God is ultimately just. 2. Verses 2 and 3 begin to spell out the problem the psalmist is struggling with. He admits to having such trouble with this question that he almost stumbles. As an aside, it is interesting to read the book of Job (especially the speeches of Job’s “friends”), then this psalm. 3. Asaph thinks that evil people have so easy that they don’t even have painful deaths!…