In today’s psalm, David was in big trouble. Verse 14 says that violent men were trying to kill him, and for a soldier who spent much of his life at war, this situation was all too common. But instead of trying to fight his way out, he sought the Lord…

What a triumphal conclusion this passage is, not just to this chapter, but really to everything Paul has said up to this point. We are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Christ has set all who trust in Him free from bondage to sin and…

How can a stone be a witness? Well, we have plenty of mute memorials, don’t we? Yesterday around 20 survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor gathered near the USS Arizona Memorial to remember that terrible day. But every day of the year, the silent memorial and the sunken battleship…

When two people get married, they make solemn promises to one another. In today’s passage, we see the same sort of thing happening, with the people of God promising to worship and serve the Lord. And, just as is the case in a marriage, the people understood that this was…

Before issuing his challenge to the people, a challenge to devote themselves exclusively to God, Joshua does something we might thing strange – he spends ten verses teaching a history lesson. He thus reminds us that our devotion to God actually begins with His devotion to us. Our faith is…

The stories of Old Testament conquest may be the most difficult for modern Christians to understand. Why would God want His people to kill others in the name of God? It just doesn’t make sense to us, and in the light of Jesus’ Great Commandment, we certainly don’t believe we…

Today we come to the second part of the Ten Commandments, those that regulate the way that we treat other people. And once again we need to avoid the sin of legalism, of using these commandments as a checklist to make us feel good about our own spiritual condition. “I’m…

When we study the Ten Commandments, it’s easy for us to fall back into the weeds of legalism, imagining that keeping these Laws is the way for us to be saved. Instead, any time we take an honest look at any of God’s Law, we should confront our sin and…

How can we nurture the love of God in our hearts? One good way is to remember all He has done for us. This is why so many of the Psalms which praise God spend so much time rehearsing all the ways He has blessed His people throughout the years….

Earlier in this chapter, God gave Moses the first part of the Great Commandment: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5). But how are we to put this commandment into practice in our daily…