Psalm 119:130, ‘The unfolding of your word gives light, it imparts understanding to the simple.’ Psalm 119:135, ‘Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.’ The unfolding of YHWH’s word gives light; the opening up of His words imparts a radiance perceptible to mind and heart, a light that imparts understanding […]
Psalm 119:130, 135 Read More »
2 Cor 4:17-18, ‘this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen.’ Paul does not say that our afflictions in this life will *give way* to glory, but that our
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 Read More »
Heb.13:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. How crucial is the grace of faith that looks into the past and sees who God has declared Himself to be in the Passion of His Son, and that turns toward the impenetrable veil of the future and believes He will always be as He
John 16:21-22, ‘When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer removers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also, you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your
Lam. 3:21-23, ‘this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of YHWH never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ The steadfast love of YHWH *never ceases*. At least one implication of that statement is that in the midst of
Lamentations 3:21-23 Read More »
Ps 83:16-18, ‘Fill their faces with shame, THAT they may seek your name, O YHWH. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, THAT they may know that you alone, whose name is YHWH, are the Most High over all the earth.’ Two points — First, there is a
Exodus 3:2, ‘And the angel of YHWH appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.’ The Hebrew word used for ‘bush’ here (סְנֶה) derives from a root that means ‘to prick’, and so it is thought to indicate some sort of thorn bush. It would seem, then, that
Isaiah 40:11, “He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” The One who mercifully shepherds His people is also the One who humbles the world by His might (v.10), and the hands
Jeremiah 33:10-11, “Thus says YHWH: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’…there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride…” Joy will sing in the *very place* where sorrow now holds
Genesis 5:29, “Out of the ground YHWH has cursed, this one shall bring us relief…” These are the words spoken over Noah at his birth, and Noah in some sense fulfills them in that he goes on to grow vineyards, tangibly bringing a source of relief up from the cursed earth (Gen. 9:20). However,
Mark 5:21-43 Notice the way that Jesus penetrates into the heart of hopelessness in the story of Jarius’ daughter. At first, Jarius comes to Jesus and asks for help because his daughter is dying, and Jesus agrees to go, v.24. When they draw near to the house, they find out Jarius’ daughter has died
Mk 4:18-19, “…the ones sown among thorns…hear the word, but the anxieties of the world…choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” 1 Pt 5:7, “…cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you…” Jn 19:2, “…the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head…” In Mk 4,
Mark 4:18-19 + 1 Peter 5:7 + John 19:2 Read More »
Psalm 22:23-24, ‘…stand in awe of Him…FOR He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and He has not hidden His face from him, but has heard when he cried to Him.’ Verse 24 (starting with “For He…”) gives the reason that YHWH is to be praised, glorified, and stood in awe
Hebrews 10:34, “…you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” If we honestly consider what the Spirit is saying to us in these words, it truly is revolutionary. How do disciples of the slain and risen Lord respond when—because they
Is 55:10-11, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout…so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty…” Rain that falls on the fields is never wasted…it
Matthew 15:30, “…they put them at His feet, and He healed them.” Matthew’s language in this section is almost a verbatim reproduction of Isaiah 35:5-6a where YHWH’s coming to His people brings about miraculous healing. And yet, in both Isaiah and here in Matthew, the sort of healing that is recounted—and especially the way
Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God…because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our sins…” On this Good Friday, as the world scrambles for answers, divides against itself, bows down to it’s own word as law, and numbs its mortal wounds with palliative distractions, may the Lord grant
Matthew 8:17, “…He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. On the cross, Jesus bears the fullness of sin and its effects in the place of any and all who will hope in Him. This means not only that He bears His people’s sin and the hell it is due, but also that He
In Matthew 27:29, we see the Roman soldiers scoff at the claim that Jesus is the King of the Jews by placing a crown of thorns on his head and putting a reed in his hand as a mock scepter. However, their attempts to malign Christ are, for those with eyes to see, transfigured
Ecclesiastes 7:4, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” First off, for those who care about such things, this seems very likely to be a source for Tolkien’s statement that Olorin learned wisdom in the halls of Nienna. Secondly,
