Mark 6 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence            After feeding the five thousand people with just a few loaves of bread and some fish, Jesus made his disciples to get in to the boat ahead of him and head for Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowds.  Then he went up on the mountain to pray by himself.  We are not told what he was praying about specifically, but it is certain that he was also…

Mark 5 Devotional by Pastor David Groendyk   At the end of the previous chapter, fear of the storm (4:40) gave way to fear of Jesus (4:41). No doubt, the fear of Jesus was temporarily displaced in the disciples by the fear of a superhumanly-strong, violent, demon-possessed man as soon as they stepped off the boat. Jesus will again prove himself to be the Son of the Most High God who deserves our fear and…

Mark 4 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson   One of the harder passages to understand is when Jesus teaches that parables both conceal and reveal.  We see this in Mark 4:10-13 (see also Matt 13:10-15; Luke 8:9-10).  Parables present a challenge to the listener.  Look at the passage in Mark.  First, Jesus tells the parable of the 4 soils or some call it the Sower.  But the emphasis is on the different soils or the…

Mark 3 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence            One of my favorite Christian songs by Michael Card is “God’s Own Fool.”  In the song, he points out that if God’s holy wisdom is foolish to the natural man than Jesus must have seemed out of his mind: “For even his family said he was mad, and the priests said a demon’s to blame, but if God in the form of this angry young man could…

Mark 2 by Pastor David Groendyk   The rapid-fire pace of the Gospel according to Mark is on full display in this chapter. We get four quick snapshots of who Jesus is and why he came to earth. Perhaps the best summary of this chapter (and much of Mark) is that it displays Jesus’ authority as the Son of Man. An interesting aspect of this chapter is that in each of the four snapshots, Jesus…

Mark 1 Devotion by Pastor Mark Hudson           First, although Mark is never named in this gospel, the name for this gospel in Greek is The gospel according to Mark.  He is referred to in his own gospel as running away from Christ in the garden of Gethsemane (Mk 14:51-52).  He is seized but struggles to be set free leaving his clothes behind.  This self-deprecating account is an intentioned inclusion in Mark’s gospel.  He is…

Psalm 72 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence            This is the final prayer-song of David in Book II of the Psalms.  It appears to be a prayer for his royal son, Solomon, who would become the legitimate heir to the throne.  It is a prayer of blessing upon him as the ruler over God’s people.  In it he prays for justice and righteousness in his realm and prosperity and peace throughout his reign.  David prays…

Psalm 71 by Pastor David Groendyk We find in this psalm a plea from the psalmist for God to be their God throughout their whole life. The author is clearly looking both backwards to his youth (vv. 5–6, 17) and forwards to old age (vv. 9, 18). In the midst of whatever current, unspecified danger the author is facing, he’s pleading with God not to abandon him later in life, thus giving his enemies the…

Psalms 70 Devotions by Pastor Mark Hudson                     If this Psalm looks familiar, your may be harkening back to Ps 40:13-17.  There is considerable question about which came first.  But you may also notice similarities with Ps 22, 35, 38, 60, 71, and 102 (Craigie, p. 204).  It also may appear that Ps 70 and 71 were meant to be read together since there is no heading or superscript in Ps 71.  This lack…

Psalm 69 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence            This psalm doesn’t fit neatly into any one category.  It is a psalm of lament, a psalm of deliverance, a psalm of praise, a messianic psalm and an imprecatory psalm—one that invokes judgment upon the enemies of God.  David’s primary prayer in this song is “Save me!”  Surrounded by his enemies who are seeking to destroy him, David describes his condition as one who is about to drown…

Psalm 68 by Pastor David Groendyk   One of the traditions among professional sports leagues around America is that, when a team wins a national championship, they have a victory parade in their city where tens and hundreds of thousands of fans come out to celebrate. That’s what I imagine Psalm 68 is like for God and his people. This is a kingly processional where God and his people are parading and celebrating God’s victory…

Psalms 67 Devotions by Pastor Mark Hudson           This is a passage that is easy to understand and yet easy to overlook.  This Psalm is fairly easy to see an outline or the division of sections.  If you don’t have a favorite Psalm this could be the one.  In seven verses, we see the passion of a person who loves God and wants everyone to love him.           This is one of John Stott’s favorite…

Psalm 66 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence   This is clearly and evangelistic psalm.  Notice how the psalmist is continually addressing “all the earth” and “the peoples” or nations.  He is showing them the wondrous works of God through the medium of song.  Of course, the Jews themselves were also taught to sing this song, thus they were being taught to have an evangelistic focus and a missionary heart as well.  He is exhorting both groups…

Psalm 65 by Pastor David Groendyk   This psalm is a psalm of thanksgiving, and an appropriate one for this Thanksgiving weekend. It neatly breaks down into three sections, each of which highlight something great about God, but we will take them slightly out of order. The first section to notice is verses 5–8 that emphasize God’s power. God built the highest mountains, causes waves to stop roaring, silences nations, and causes the sun to…

Psalms 64 Devotions by Pastor Mark Hudson As even a casual reader of this Psalms will notice, the subject matter changes in v. 7 from describing the evil in 1-6 to verse 7 beginning with “But God.”  The Psalm can be organized with 1-6 as the insidious attack and 7-10 exemplary punishment (Kidner).  Let’s look more closely at verses 1-6. We see once again the author does not hesitate to ask God to listen to…

Psalm 62 by Pastor David Groendyk   “The psalm’s theme of exclusive trust is vital and far-reaching,” writes Joel Beeke. All throughout this chapter, King David gives us reasons to trust God alone in the midst of trial. God alone is salvation, a fortress, a rock, security, stability, hope, and a refuge (vv. 1–2, 5–8). It is this God for whom we ought to wait to deliver us and no other god. He is utterly…

Psalms 61 Devotions by Pastor Mark Hudson               The outline by Kidner is:1-4 a prayer for security; 5-8 thanksgiving for the assured answer.  When we see `a Psalm of David’ we don’t know if it was written by, for, or to David.  There is one letter in Hebrew that can mean all those things.  And the superscription or heading is part of the Psalm or part of the Bible.  That is not what the…

Psalm 60 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence            Even with the superscription given concerning David’s conflict with the Edomites, we are not entirely sure what happened and when.  But like with many of the psalms, this one is timeless in its applications.  It seems that there was either a military or a political defeat of such magnitude that it made David and Israel feel that God was working against them.          You can feel the…

Psalm 59 by Pastor Mark Hudson   This psalm is another lament written by David. The historical background alluded to in the header is 1 Samuel 19:11. You can read that entire chapter for the context. Psalm 59 shares many of the same themes as previous chapters in this stretch of psalms. Two particular emphases in this psalm stand out to me. One is in verses 3b–4. King Saul’s coming to capture and kill David…

Psalms 58 Devotions by Pastor Mark Hudson       Have you ever heard the phrase imprecatory prayers or imprecatory Psalms?   Imprecatory prayers are those that call down a curse against God’s enemies.  Since this is one of the Psalms that call down God’s judgment on sinners, I thought we might explore this topic.              Here are some of the passages in the Bible that show similar desires to curse the wicked: Ps 59, 69:23-25, 109,…

Psalm 57 A Devotional by Pastor Lawrence            David is on the run again after king Saul was given a tip as to his location, and once again David finds himself between a rock and a hard place hiding in a cave from his enemy.  Like before, he immediately cries out to God to have mercy upon him, seeking a refuge in the Lord even more than in the cave.  As he prays to…