Building on the Foundation

As we prepare to get into the third Psalm, I would like to revisit the first two briefly and introduce something that just jumped out at me as I was reading the third Psalm. David is a type of Christ, and His writings heavily point to God and His plan for us. As I read through the third Psalm, it seemed very connected to the first two, so I was going to group them together, but then I read further. It’s not just the first three that seem like they go together; it’s the first eight.  Then I kept reading, and what I seem to have stumbled onto is a series of eight groups that lay out the plan God has for us, His people, in poetic form! Naturally, I am super excited to share what I have learned with all of you, so I would like to introduce the first series here and briefly revisit it from the first two Psalms. I hope it gives extra meaning to the Psalms for you as it has for me! The first series, which contains the first eight Psalms, is a mini overview of the overall series and it als...

  God’s Word is filled with Passover symbolism and foreshadows of Jesus Christ’s death as our Passover Lamb. In fact, one could make a case that the entire Bible points to Passover because the entire Bible points to “Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2) — and that’s what Passover is all about! “Before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:20), God planned for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to cover our sins. And at Creation, even before He had created man, God likewise established His appointed times or Holy Days — including Passover, setting the sun and moon in the sky “for signs and seasons [ moedim ; appointed times], and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14). So the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the symbolism of Passover is woven throughout the Bible, from the very beginning to the end. The Bible first mentions “unleavened bread,” or the Hebrew matzah (Strong’s # H4682), in Gen. 19, the story of Lot. Now I don’t know whether this event literally took place at Passover or not, but ...

Why do we have scriptures that when someone gets up here and reads them it makes us uncomfortable? We seem to avoid certain parts of the Bible like the plague, certain verses that make our throats tighten, our butts clench, and our hearts beat just a little bit faster.  Quite often, these feelings are motivated by fear that someone might be offended by what is read, or it might cause disunity, or it makes us feel guilty because we know that we are not living according to that scripture! We are worried that someone might be offended by something being read out of the Bible! Doesn’t that seem a bit silly?  They are God’s words, not our own, so why should we feel worried about how someone might receive them? Yet we worry still, and often, we take great care to gloss and skim over the parts that make us uncomfortable or that we think might make someone listening uncomfortable.  People don’t like Paul. He just really does not have a way with words, and he is very blunt. He mak...

The second Psalm is the first prophetic Psalm, and it is a prophecy of Jesus Christ , the Son of God. The first of many Messianic prophecies in the Psalms, we get into some major elements that later Psalms will address more fully, and it also raises some interesting questions. Something to keep in mind is that while this is poetry, it is poetry that tells the truth. Not every flowery element of poetry is literal (a vault of snow in heaven, for example), but the image it paints is the truth. A vault of snow is an analogy for the clouds and utilizes poetic language. Just because the language is poetic does not mean that it is not describing something very real; it is not the language itself that is literal; it is the thing being described. I bring this up because as we move through the Psalms, we will run into a lot of poetic language (it is a book of poetry, after all), but the picture or prophecy being painted is still very real.  Another thing of interest is that this whole Psalm ...

What an incredible book Psalms is! I have always loved the Psalms; they share a special place in my heart. It’s easy to identify with them, seek comfort from them, and simply enjoy their beauty, yet there is always a deeper layer to them. They contain doctrine and prophecy in abundance and even the deeper message God has for each one of us. Most of the Psalms were written by David, a man after God’s own heart, and each one was a song written to the creator He loved. Growing up, as part of our schooling, we read a psalm every day, and it has been something I’ve gotten away from. I think it’s about time to revisit the Psalms and explore the beauty, wildness, and the voice of God in each one. Join me for thoughts on the Psalms as we read through some of the most beautiful poetry ever written and see through the eyes of men deep in a romance with their creator.  I thought about starting with my favorite Psalm, 119, but as I read through Psalm one, a couple of key things jumped out to ...