1. I find it interesting that the longest psalms (those with more than 30 verses) are nearly all praise psalms. It is as if the poet (in Psalm 68, David) simply cannot stop praising God. This is not always true (Psalm 69, with 36 verses, is a desperate prayer), but it is true more often than not. Psalm 68 uses about 31 verses praising God, then closes (32-35) by asking others–all others–to join in the praise. 2. The opening phrase, “Let God arise,” is believed by some to be used of the carrying (specifically, the lifting) of the Ark of the Covenant. It can also be translated, “God shall arise…

My sister, Amber Tatum, is due to have her family’s 3rd child at any point. If nothing happens before, she will have a C-section on Tuesday morning. So, we wait…… But, while we wait, here are some great links from this past week: 1. On the Christian Courier website, a pamphlet has been updated and edited that was originally written by Clyde Thompson, “The Meanest Man in Texas.” If you’ve never heard or read his story, it is truly remarkable. I have the book about him and intend to read it soon. “I Was Sentenced to Death in the Electric Chair–A True Story” is lengthy, but well worth your time.…

Lindlee Moon is my niece. She lives in Huntsville, where her dad preaches for the Memorial Parkway church of Christ. Her favorite song right now is Carrie Underwood’s huge hit “Jesus Take the Wheel.” Here’s the music video:

1. While brief and simple, this psalm packs a great “punch.” It fills the 7 verses with powerful words exhorting everyone to praise God. 2. Verses 1-2 ask God to be merciful. We often pray for things we want, do we ever pray for God’s mercy (since we should “want” that)? After that brief prayer, the poet says that, because mercy will be shown, God will be known everywhere. We need to follow that example! We have been shown mercy; let’s proclaim Him to all. 3. Verses 3-5 continue a common theme in the psalms; that of all peoples (or nations) praising God. If we will proclaim the mercies of…

My sister, Amber Tatum, is a homemaker and mother of 2 (very, very soon to be 3) in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. When asked about her favorite song, Amber sent me a list of about, oh I don’t know, 25. They were divided into several genres. After some discussion, we narrowed it down to the “Billy Joel” genre and then she selected one song. So, among about a zillion others, here is her favorite song. It comes from Billy Joel’s 1993 album River of Dreams (and the title track is also one of Amber’s favorites). Amber, sorry, but the “live video” cannot be put into other websites. This was the best I…

John 17 contains words from the very heart of Jesus. This chapter contains the longest prayer recorded in the New Testament. It has been called, “The High Priestly Prayer” and “The True Lord’s Prayer.” While the language of the prayer is remarkable, the setting is just as amazing. Jesus prayed this deeply emotional prayer just hours before He was crucified. It has been said many times that this prayer was uttered “in the very shadow of the cross.” The prayer contains three parts. In verses 1-5, Jesus prays for Himself. Verses 6-19 contain a prayer for Jesus’ immediate disciples (i.e., those there with Him at that time). Finally, in verses…

One of my sports buddies, Matt Reaves, and I have gotten together again to get you ready for a great season. In March, we brought you the ultimate NCAA Tournament Preview. Now we turn our attention to the gridiron, to bring you our NCAA Division I Top 25. Over the next three Wednesdays, we’ll unveil the Top 25 in descending order. Today, in part I, you can learn all you need to know about teams 25-16. But, before we get to that, please rise as Jens Lindemann leads the UCLA marching band in our national anthem: For each team in our preview, there will be seven parts: (1) a capsule…

1. Psalm 66 is interesting in its “breakdown.” The entire psalm focuses on our worship of God, but it looks at worship from two different perspectives. Verses 1-12 deal with the entire nation (and even all people) worshipping. Then, verses 13-20 talk about how an individual worships. 2. Several psalms mention shouting to God (81, 95, 98, 100) and all of these begin with this thought. The idea is to shout–or chant–a cry of loyalty to God, as in First Samuel 10:24. 3. Verse 2 is a great verse to use when talking about singing. “Sing the glory of His name.” When we sing, we do a lot of things…

My brother-in-law, Jeremiah Tatum, preaches for the Pulaski Street church of Christ in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. He has GREAT taste in music! His favorite song comes from Solomon, via the Byrds. Here are Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Michael Clarke, Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark performing a #1 hit from 1965. Solomon wrote a huge hit, didn’t he? Actually, Pete Seeger wrote the folk-rock version, and was the original person to record it, on The Bitter and the Sweet in 1962. The Byrds version became the classic, though, and (on a personal note) it ranked #99 on my list of the Top 200 songs of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Tomorrow, Amber’s favorite.

1. While there have been some psalms of praise previous to this, Psalm 65 begins a “string” of several consecutive praise psalms. These psalms are probably the most well-known, as many think the Psalms are filled with almost nothing except praise psalms. As we have seen, though, the Psalms contain the entire range of human emotion. Psalm 65 contains no complaints and asks no curses upon enemies. It is filled from start to finish with words of praise. 2. David begins verse 3 with words expressing his sinfulness, but still praises God, because the Father forgives. When it comes down to it, there is no better reason to praise God…