Jeremiah 23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep…”            The word “pastor” comes from the Greek word in the NT for “shepherd.” As a noun, the word literally denotes someone who leads sheep. Figuratively, it is a reference to someone who teaches and leads God’s people in the Bible. In the OT, the spiritual shepherds were prophets, priests, scribes, and kings. In ...  Read More

Psalm 23:5-6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.            The metaphorical image of Psalm 23 is unmistakable. Everything David did for his own sheep is likened to what God does for His sheep....  Read More

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.            In v. 4, David continues with the metaphor of sheep as humans, putting himself in the place of sheep by comparing the many dark ravines in Israel that shepherds led their sheep through in order to find green pastures to his own times of ...  Read More

Psalm 23:2-3 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.Having compared Yahweh to a shepherd, in v. 2 David compares himself to a sheep. Sheep are easily startled, so it was the shepherd’s task to calm them. Yet at times shepherds must use force to bring a sheep under control once th...  Read More

Psalm 23:1 A Psalm of David. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”            The writer of this familiar passage of Scripture was David, the second king over all of Israel (r. 1010-970 BC). When he wrote this Psalm is not given. But prior to becoming king over Israel, David was a lowly shepherd. He did what many shepherds did in his day, he watched and cared for a flock of sheep, a flock t...  Read More

Psalm 139:19-24 O that You would slay the wicked, O God; depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. 20 For they speak against You wickedly, and Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; they have become my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and kn...  Read More

Psalm 139:14-15 I am fearfully and wonderfully made… skillfully wrought…What if you were to stumble upon a wristwatch in an open field? Would you conclude that it naturally grew there? Or would you conclude that there was a watchmaker and that someone dropped it there? This is an illustration that drives the question of God’s existence by design.Observational evidence teaches that intricate design...  Read More

Psalm 139:13-18 You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written...  Read More

Psalm 139:7-12 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the lig...  Read More

Psalm 139:1-6 (For the choir director. A Psalm of David.) 1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, an...  Read More

Psalm 13:1, 3, 6 How long O Lord? Will You forget me forever… Consider, answer me, or I will sleep the sleep of death. But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness… I will sing to the Lord. When we address Yahweh in prayer we are addressing the One and Only, the Eternal God, the Creator of time and everything that ever has or will happen in time. Yahweh is thus sovereign over all things. As to time, ...  Read More

Psalm 13:5-6 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.            David began his psalm by expressing his pain (vv. 1-2), then he offered up his petition to God (vv. 3-4). Now in vv. 5-6 he begins to praise God. He complained, he sought an answer, then he expressed his trust in God. No e...  Read More