1. The beautiful words of this psalm give us the joy being felt by one who is traveling to Jerusalem for a feast. As he nears the city and the temple, he is overcome with joy and expresses his praise to God. 2. While God is everywhere, for this Jewish traveller, the sight of the temple brought forth his first words of praise (verse 1). While we do not travel to the temple to worship, the anticipation of being with God in a special way in worship should cause us to grow with excitement. 3. In verse 2 the writer is having trouble containing his excitement. He has “longed” and…

Driving through Decatur, Alabama, yesterday, I noticed a billboard with these words: Love God?Hate Church? The rest of the billboard was just a logo, motto (“a new way to do church”) and a website. Admittedly, my curiosity was raised, so I went to the website. The website is epicchurch.tv, and I went to it figuring it would be a site that promoted a congregation with a strange name. I was right. The name of the congregation? The same as the website: epicchurch.tv. Another motto of the congregation is found on their site: “No perfect people allowed.” This group seems to pride themselves on the fact that they are not perfect,…

1. This psalm contains some unique characteristics. The one that stands out the most is that so many different nations are mentioned. This is very much an historical psalm, but commentators are not sure which event(s) caused this poem to be written. Many point to Second Chronicles 20 as the setting, but some go so far as to say this is a general psalm and that the recording of nations is just symbolic. Whatever the circumstances, the words contain a great national lament of God’s people. 2. The psalm opens (verse 1) with a call for God to “not remain silent.” While there will be words of lament, the psalmist…

Several of my friends get together each year for a Fantasy Football draft. We met last weekend, and had a great time. It’s a special thing for Christians to get together for fellowship and fun. Now, though, it’s time to crush my friends in our league! I’ve never won our league, and I probably never will, but I just try not to finish last (which I never have). Just so you know who to root for, here’s my lineup for the week: QB: Tony RomoRB: Shaun AlexanderRB: Willis McGaheeWR: Marvin Harrison (80+ yards, TD last night)WR: Steve SmithWR: Anquan BoldinK: Nate KaedingD: Philadephia After the Thursday night game, my opponent…

1. The words of this psalm are like very few others in the entire book. The poet pictures God standing before world leaders and condemning then for being unjust. While other psalms may mention such things, very few are totally based upon this subject matter. 2. For anyone who is a leader of people, verse 1 is a sobering reminder that God is the leader of all, including those in positions of great power. 3. Verse 2 opens the charges God is making to the leaders. They are going so far as to be partial to the wicked. Verses 3 and 4 continue this line of thought by charging the…

You know him better as a tenor, but, earlier in life Luciano Pavarotti did sell insurance. While I enjoy pop/rock music far more than opera, a couple of Pavarotti CDs have been in my collection for quite some time. Why? Because he has, without question, the best tenor voice I have ever heard. Those of us who are cursed with high voices don’t usually fit in, but Pavarotti showed how to turn that high voice into being a superstar. People who have never been in an opera house, and who simply do not like opera music knew who Pavarotti was, and had to admit he was the rarest of talents.…

1. Psalm 81 was used as a celebration of one of the appointed feasts. Most scholars think it was written for the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths). It is a call, written from God’s perspective (verses 6-16), asking the people to worship and obey. 2. The first section of the psalm (verses 1-5) is a reminder of the feast the people are involved in. Verses 1-3 ask the people to sing and play their instruments in honor of God through this feast. 3. Verse 4 and the beginning of verse 5 simply remind the people that God gave the command for this feast to be observed. While the people were…

God blessed me with the greatest wife I could have ever prayed for. Leah is a great Christian lady, and is my love. She is so good for Mary Carol and Turner, and they both adore her (as do I). Her favorite song is one of the oldest in this series. It was voted as the #9 greatest love song on VH1 a couple of years ago. Jazz superstar Etta James sings this classic, which, in my mind, has the best opening two words in the history of recorded music. This version of the song is set over scenes from the movie Funny Face.

1. The poet of this great psalm is begging God to act for His people and to restore His blessings which only come through the covenant. It is quite possible that this psalm was written from the city of Jerusalem after the 10 northern tribes had been taken into captivity. If that is the case, the psalmist is pleading in behalf of two groups of people: one that has already been taken away, and another that is in great danger of the same. 2. The psalmist brings up the covenant idea in a subtle way in verse 1. He addresses God as “You Who are enthroned above the cherubim.” God’s…