Psalm 10 Pastor Mark Hudson I probably have too many commentaries, but I am greatly helped by the insight of others. I have a number of commentaries  on Psalms but one of the best is a series of 3 small paperbacks by Derek Kidner.  He is consistently insightful and helpful.  He titles his comments on this Psalm as Man: predator and prey.  His first few comments are worth quoting in whole. “It is the arrogance…

Psalm 9 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, Psalms 9 and 10 are taken together as one unit or psalm. This is because the two psalms together form an acrostic in the original Hebrew language, with each stanza beginning with the consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Interestingly, Psalm 9 strikes a more triumphant note overall, while Psalm 10 is primarily a lament that only seems to…

Psalm 8 Pastor David Groendyk Psalm 8 is surely many Christians’ favorite psalm. Allen Ross summarizes this psalm well: “The psalmist marvels that the glorious Lord of heaven whose name is excellent in every way should even give thought to a human let alone exalt him and give him dominion over all creation.” Psalm 8 highlights both God’s greatness and man’s importance. First, God’s greatness bookends this psalm in verse 1 and verse 9. Above…

Psalm 7 Pastor David Groendyk As has been the theme for the past few psalms, Psalm 7 is a cry for justice. Someone or some people have wronged and persecuted David. Many have speculated about who Cush the Benjaminite is in the superscription of this psalm, perhaps being one of Saul’s lackeys back when Saul was trying to hunt David down (remember Saul himself was from the tribe of Benjamin), but ultimately we do not…

Psalm 6 Devotion By Pastor Lawrence How long? That is a question often asked by those wrestling in prayer, especially those suffering under the most severe injustice and persecution. As with many of these psalms, the reader isn’t provided the particular details surrounding the events causing such an outburst of emotion. Clearly, David is beside himself with grief. In verses 6-7, he describes a ‘flood’ of tears upon his bed, how he ‘drenches’ his couch…

Psalm 5 Pastor Mark Hudson Psalm 5 is a morning psalm that contrasts God’s differing relationship with the wicked and the righteous.  The Psalmist is a man of prayer who recognizes his dependence on God.  First, he is praying which is a signal that he is looking outside himself to Someone greater.  He looks away from himself and he looks toward God.  This indicates he knows his place in the universe and knows something of…

Psalm 4 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Does God answer our prayers? Perhaps not always in the way we expect or precisely when we desire it, but unquestionably, He does respond to the supplications of His people. In this brief psalm, David fervently implores the Lord to graciously heed his prayers. He repeats this plea twice in verse 1, acknowledging God's past assistance. Then, in verse 3, he assures his adversaries that the Lord listens when…

Psalm 3 Pastor Mark Hudson Psalms 3 is one of the 14 Psalms that refer to an actual incident in David’s life.  The other Psalms are 7, 18, 30, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 142. These introductions are included in the Hebrew Bible’s numbering.  So, for us, verse 1 begins with, “O Lord, how many . . . .” but in the Hebrew Bible verse one begins with “A Psalm of…

Joshua 24 Pastor Mark Hudson We arrive at the end of the book of Joshua which also includes a brief mention of his death at the age of 110.  The majority of this chapter is Joshua’s speech to the people of Israel, but we will also mention vs. 29-33 which mean seem insignificant to the modern reader but are important to the author. Joshua gathers everyone together at Shechem and delivers his last and most…

Joshua 23 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence This chapter serves as a prologue to the final chapter in which Joshua renews Israel's covenant with the Lord. Before gathering all of Israel at Shechem for this solemn purpose, he summons all the leaders of Israel to give them a special exhortation in light of all that the Lord had done for them. This moment in time is one of the high-water marks in the history of Israel,…

Joshua 22 Pastor Mark Hudson Dale R. Davis titles this chapter, “What can an altar alter?”  This incident will divide readers over what is happening and who is to blame.  Some will say the 10 ½ tribes overreacted.  Some will say the 2 ½ tribes committed a serious sin.  Let’s see where you end up after we look at the story. First, an overview of the book as we arrive at the last section of…

Joshua 21 by Pastor David Groendyk This is the last chapter of divvying up and dishing out land for the Israelites, and it is the long-anticipated Levites who have been waiting the longest. Several times leading up to this point in Israel’s history, God has stated that Levi would not receive their own portion of land, but they would live amongst the people and be provided for by them (e.g., Num. 18:21–24; Deut. 10:8–9; 18:1–5).…

Joshua 20 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence After all the tribes had received their allotted inheritance, Joshua designated six cities at various locations throughout the Promised Land to serve as cities of refuge, three west of the Jordan and three east of it, so that any Israelite or foreigner who had unintentionally killed another could find a place of refuge close to home in order to escape the avenger of blood. Previously in Numbers 35:9ff Moses…

Joshua 19 Pastor Mark Hudson One of the ways to divide Joshua chapters 14-19 up is as follows: Caleb, 14:6-15                            Positive Joseph’s tribes 17:14-18             Negative Seven tribes, 18:1-10                 Negative Joshua, 19:49-50                        Positive   (Dale R. Davis p. 150) This is a way to bracket the negative examples of the tribes of Israel with the positive examples of both Caleb and Joshua covering this large section of chapters 14-19.  These two remain faithful even though initially (Numbers…

Joshua 18 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Now that Israel has acquired most of the land after seven years of fighting, the tabernacle is moved from Gilgal, which was on the very border of the Promised land, to Shiloh in the territory of Ephraim. Because Joshua is an Ephraimite and would be overseeing the allotment of land, this new site would be in a more central location for him to seek the guidance of the Lord…

Joshua 17 Pastor Mark Hudson The conquest of the land of Canaan is not as simple as one might think.  Also, the people of Israel had various reactions to the fighting and allocation of the land.  Caleb in chapter 14:6ff is a sterling example of both courageous speech and action 15:13ff.  This is not always the case in the book of Joshua, the Bible as a whole, or in real life.  In this stage of…

Joshua 16 by Pastor David Groendyk What can we derive from 10 simple verses of land allotment for one tribe of Israel? Quite a bit actually! It’s hard to separate chapter 16 from chapter 17, because together they make up the land allotment of both of Joseph’s sons—Ephraim and Manasseh—but chapter 16 alone offers both a wonderful reminder and a stern warning. The wonderful reminder comes from an observation in verse 5: Ephraim is listed…

Joshua 15 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence This is the first of many chapters recounting how Joshua divided the land amongst the remaining tribes west of the Jordan River. Judah is the first tribe to receive her inheritance in the southernmost region of the Promised Land. With the natural boundary of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea in the east, and the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the region of Judah lay just south of…

Joshua 14 Pastor Mark Hudson You just have to love Caleb! We start this chapter with how and why the land was divided the way it was. Then in verse 6, we hear from Caleb. Carefully read the words the narrator records that come from Caleb’s mouth. The constant refrain is “just as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses” or phrases similar to that. Israel was to obey God. They did this…

Joshua 13 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Now that most of the regions of the Promised Land have been taken by the Israelites, God commands Joshua to divide the land into allotments as an inheritance for the nine and a half remaining tribes who had not yet received their inheritance east of the Jordan River through the hands of Moses. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had received their inheritances early after…

Joshua 12 Pastor Mark Hudson This chapter may seem a bit like reading a bookkeeping ledger.  Remember to keep in mind that conquering this land was no small thing for Israel.  God, who made heaven and earth, God who is holy, and God who owns every single inch of this world is doing something great.  God is forming a new nation out of one couple: Abraham and Sarah.  God is then giving them a small…