Psalm 139:10, ‘…even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.’ Verses 7-10 of Psalm 139 form something of a meditation on the inescapable presence of YHWH. David poetically maps out the heights (‘If I ascend to heaven’), the depths (‘If I make my bed in Sheol’), and the width […]
Psalm 144:1, ‘Blessed be YHWH, my Rock, who trains my hands for war…’ Psalm 144 is written from the point of view of the Davidic king in the face of adversity. Its entire structure may be mapped onto—and, indeed, is ultimately grounded in—the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ, who is Himself the true David and
Psalm 29:10, ‘YHWH sits enthroned over the flood; YHWH is enthroned as King forever.’ Psalm 29 poetically describes the onset of a violent storm that shakes the earth and splinters the trees and leaves humanity humbled in awe; at every point, the Psalmist is clear that it is YHWH Himself who stands behind and orders
Isaiah 41:17-20, ‘When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none…I YHWH will not forsake them….I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar…I will set in the desert the cypress…that they may see and know…that the hand
John 4:15-16, The Woman: ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty…’ // Jesus: ‘Go, call your husband…’’ At first, Jesus’ response to the woman in v.16 seems a bit jarring. Why does he change the subject so abruptly, answering her request for living water by telling her to call her
Jonah 1:18, ‘So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.’ Mark (4:35-41) seems to model his account of Jesus’ stilling the storm of Galilee upon the account here in Jonah 1. One aspect of these paralleled accounts stood out to me this morning and I
Isaiah 57:15, ‘For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’’
Psalm 46:2, ‘…though the earth gives way…’ In Psalm 46, we see that YHWH God Himself is the unshakable refuge for those who have fled to and hidden themselves in Him. To emphasize this point, the Psalmist employs catastrophic language about the earth itself being shattered, the mountains being hurled into the sea, or the
Luke 12:50, ‘I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!’ The ‘baptism’ in view here is the crucifixion. Much could be said about this passage, but all I wanted to consider in today’s post (and picture) is that Jesus knew what was set before Him
Luke 9:31, [Moses and Elijah] ‘were speaking about His exodus (ἔξοδος) which He was about to achieve in Jerusalem.’ Notice that it is AS Jesus speaks with Moses and Elijah that His death (which in 9:22 is presented as something that happens TO Him) is spoken of as the Exodus that He will ACHIEVE. There
Luke 8:26, ‘Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes…’ This is the first of two visual exegeses that will be considering Jesus’ interactions with the demoniac in the region of Gerasenes. In this first post and picture, I just wanted to highlight the descent of Jesus as Living Hope into the darkness and
1 Corinthians 10:2-4, ‘…all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.’ When one turns to Christ such that the veil is removed
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Habakkuk 2:14, ‘…the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of YHWH as the waters cover the sea’. Habakkuk does not say that the earth ‘may’ be, or ‘could’ be filled with the knowledge of the glory of YHWH, he—and so the Spirit of God through him—says that it *shall be.* Whatever
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
John 6:68, ‘Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ When the torrents of confusion and uncertainty and doubt hammer against the disciples’ faith, what is it that binds them to Christ? It is not an elaborate system of apologetic arguments, it is not a collection of manuscript evidence, it
Ps. 52:8-9, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever…I will wait for your name, for it is good…” David as a tree in God’s house is an image for his trusting in the Lord. As in Ps. 1:3—and
Jeremiah 17:12, “A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” In the context, the glorious throne of YHWH set on high from the beginning is set over against the fitful and uncertain securities of the flesh (17:5-6, 11). The Divine King Himself, enthroned in glory from
Genesis 6:18-19, “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark…and of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you.” The connection between the Ark and Christ is a longstanding one. Peter has already
Isaiah 35:6, “…and the tongue of the mute shall sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.” The NT understands Isaiah 35:5-6a as referring to the ministry of Jesus (Matt.11:45, etc), but here in Isaiah 35, the miraculous healings that we know are achieved in Christ are
Matthew 14:28-29, “‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ And He said, ‘Come.’ And after getting out of the boat, Peter walked on the water and came to Jesus.” What Peter asks, what Jesus commands, and what Peter—therefore—does, is *not* primarily to walk on water, but *to
