1 Kings 2 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence On his deathbed, David charges his son Solomon to wholeheartedly seek the Lord as the new king over Israel and to tie up some lose ends that would strengthen his kingdom overall. You’ll notice in vv.3-4 that in commending God’s Word to his son, David speaks of it in many different ways as: the charge of the Lord, his ways, his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his…

Intro to Kings Pastor Mark Hudson Kings There are three major division in the Hebrew Bible: Law Prophets The Writings. The Law includes Genesis, Exodus. Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Prophets Joshua Judges I & II Samuel I & II Kings   (all called the former prophets) Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Hosea - Malachi   (all called the latter prophets) The Writings                         Psalms Proverbs Job Song of Solomon Ruth Lamentations Ecclesiastes Esther Daniel Ezra Nehemiah Chronicles Dillard…

Psalm 42 By Pastor David Groendyk Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 actually go together to form one single song and/or prayer. If you look carefully, the psalmist actually never makes a request to God in Psalm 42! All the requests come in Psalm 43. Psalm 42 is merely the occasion and situation that the psalmist finds himself in. And that occasion is certainly a dark one. This chapter divides nicely into two sections, and the…

Psalm 41 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” This seems to be the primary argument that David uses in this prayer when asking the Lord to forgive him his sin and to heal him of his sickness. Again, we don’t know all the specifics of what is going on in the royal palace at this time, but clearly David has…

Psalm 40 Pastor Mark Hudson Here are two outlines for Psalm 40.  The first by Kidner. 1-10             Waiting Rewarded 11-17           Waiting Renewed Now notice John Stott’s outline. 1-10             An account of past deliverance 11-17           A prayer for present help The waiting we find in verse one needs something like ‘patiently’ (ESV or NIV)  or ‘waited, waited’ (NEB), ‘intently’ (NASB).  This is not a passively waiting but this waiting is intentionally, expecting help.  This person is…

Psalm 39 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence As the Spirit says to the church in Hebrews 12:6 “the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives, so David proves in this psalm to be a child of God under God’s chastening hand. In the first few verses, in the midst of his pain and suffering, David vows to remain silent under God’s correction, especially in the presence of unbelievers, so as…

Psalm 37 Pastor David Groendyk In preparation for this devotional, I glanced at four different outlines of this psalm by four different authors, and not a single author agreed on how this psalm should be divided! Fortunately, the one main theme of this psalm is loud and clear. Once again, we are dealing with the problem of the prosperity of the wicked and the deprivation of the righteous. Evildoers have abundance; believers have nothing, and…

Psalm 36 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence In this psalm David contrasts the sinfulness of wicked men with the steadfast love of the Lord then calls upon the Lord in his love to protect his people by overruling the plots of evildoers. In the first four verses he describes the inner thoughts and the secret plots of the wicked. Unable to hear the voice of the Lord, the wicked man is attentive to the voice of…

Psalm 35 Pastor Mark Hudson It is fairly easy to see the sections in this Psalm, but Kidner provides the easiest outline to remember. 1-10             The scheming 11-18           The mobbing 19-28           The gloating For the Psalmist, we often find that calling people their enemy and wishing destruction upon them is somewhat normal.  This author knows enemies who want to kill him.  They actively work against all he tries to do.  But He pleads with God…

Psalm 34 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence We might refer to this psalm as an ode to the God who answers prayer. Even though the superscription tells us that it was written particularly to commemorate David’s escape from Abimelech or Achish, it doesn’t go into any of the details of that specific narrative. Instead, it is written in the form of an acrostic lyrical poem where each verse begins with the successive letters of the Hebrew…

Psalm 33 Pastor Mark Hudson I like to look at how others outline chapters.  So here are some examples: Invocation to praise 1-3 Substance of praise 4-19 The Lord’s Word 4-9 The Lord’s Plan 10-12 The Lord’s Eye 13-15 The Lord’s Might 16-19 Conclusion 20-22  (Craigie, Word Commentary)   Rejoice in the Lord          1-3 His creative word             4-9 His triumphant will          10-12 His discerning gaze          13-19 We Hope in Thee             20-22  (Kidner)   Righteous…

Psalm 32 Pastor David Groendyk Have you ever been caught in a lie and then had to continually cover your tracks so that the lie didn’t catch up to you? Or have you ever been doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing and so you were continually looking over your shoulder to make sure no one caught you? What an agonizing and stressful way to live! Unchecked and unconfessed sin plagues you and overshadows…

Psalm 31 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Even without knowing the particular circumstances that led David to write this psalm, clearly, he is being afflicted somehow by the relentless pursuit of his enemies. Consequently, he calls upon the Lord again to be his refuge and rock, his strong fortress and deliverer. It is his fervent trust in the Lord that seems to be the primary theme of this psalm and the one that he commends to…

Psalm 30 Pastor Mark Hudson The superscription of this Psalm is ‘a song at the dedication of the temple [actually ‘house’]’ yet David never dedicated the temple since he was not allowed to build it.  David was not alive when the temple was finished.  The other interesting aspect of the superscription and the Psalm is that there is little talk of offerings, sacrifices, and religious words associated with the temple.  This is not a Psalm…

Psalm 29 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Similarly to Psalm 8, where David gazes at the stars of heaven in wonder and awe, giving thanks that the Lord is mindful of him in the midst of His vast creation, in this psalm he is mesmerized by the raw power and fury of a great thunderstorm sweeping across the plains, standing before it in fear and reverence for the voice of the Lord that thunders forth from…

Psalm 28 Pastor Mark Hudson There are various groupings in the Psalms.  You already know that the entire collection of Psalms are grouped together in 5 books. 1-41             Book One 42-72           Book Two 73-90           Book Three 91-106         Book Four 107-150       Book Five Then there are other groupings within those sections.  We have one small group of Psalms in 26-28.  As Derek Kidner notes, “In each of Psalms 26-28 the Lord’s house come into…

Psalm 27 Pastor David Groendyk The one word you could use to describe the tone of this psalm is ‘confident’. Even though David is not free from trials and enemies, he has a certain expectation and hope that his prayers will be answered and that the Lord will deliver him. Many Christians love Psalm 27 and have verse 1 (or more) memorized. It is a rousing introduction to this psalm, and it’s a message that…

Psalm 26 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Psalm 26 is the first of three psalms in which David speaks of standing in the house of the Lord, and in this particular psalm David is evaluating his ability to stand before God. As he offers himself and his sacrifice before the Lord, he is asking for the Lord to vindicate him or to justify him in his sight. He knows that he is not perfect and can…

Psalm 25 Pastor Mark Hudson One way to see the structure of Psalm 25 is as follows: 1-7     Prayer of confidence in God and repentance 8-14   Confidence in God’s covenantal love 15-21 Prayer for help to God 22      Prayer for all believers As a reader of the Bible knows, there is not one outline everyone agrees on.  Yet, this is a simple outline that we can use.  This Psalm is sometimes called an individual lament,…

Psalm 24 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Sometimes referred to as an entrance psalm, Psalm 24 was likely used when the Ark of the Covenant was first brought to Jerusalem. As David is witnessing this long-awaited event, the thought comes to his mind that the king of all the world, who created it in wisdom and glory is about to take up his abode in the city of Zion. And as God’s people are ushering the…

Psalm 22 Pastor David Groendyk This psalm is a great lament, but it is also a great encouragement to the people of God. No one should ever say that the Bible doesn’t understand the human condition and the human experience. Psalm 22 knows us very well. The presenting issue is that David’s enemies surround him and try to kill him. He’s being ganged up on with no way of escape. However, the greater lament in…