Category: Psalms

March 15, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented

Matthew 22:34-46  The Pharisees tried to entrap Jesus by asking him which is the greatest commandment. Jesus answered with the first commandment and added another: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Once more they tried to entrap him with the question: Whose son is the Christ? Jesus answered: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?  If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?” That shut them up.

Deuteronomy 9, Israel’s rebellion is reviewed, but in spite of being a stiffnecked people doing abominations to the LORD like the Golden Calf orgy, God in His mercy  kept His promises.

Deuteronomy 10, take Two Tablets, Fear the LORD and circumcise your hearts,  that is the Essence of the Law. Remember, you too were aliens in Egypt.

Psalm 22, of David. It is also called “The Crucifixion Psalm”. Read it and ponder.

March 8, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented

Matthew 19:1-12 is relatively short but contains some of the most important aspects of life, such as marriage and divorce. “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”

Ecclesiastes 7. There is value in practical wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 8. Obey authorities for God’s Sake, and yes, this too is in Ecclesiastes: “Eat, drink and be merry.” It fits with the theme of vanity.

Psalm 19, of David. “This Psalm reflects, more than any other, the beauty and splendor of the Hebrew poetry found in the Psalter. C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘I take this to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.’” (VanGemeren)

Psalm 20, of David. The people’s prayer for the King is heard by the LORD. The most quoted part is: “ Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” The Lord saves, we pray for the King.

Psalm 21, of David. The New Testament references from Revelation 14 seems to fit. When I read the Psalm the battle hymn of the republic kept ringing in my ears.

March 6, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented

Matthew 18:1-10. As an object lesson to the question: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus called a little child. Then he expanded the question and elaborated on the subject of sin.

In Numbers 29 the specifications for offerings continue, Offerings at the Feast of Trumpets, Offerings at the Day of Atonement and finally Offerings at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Numbers 30 is short, and it deals with what the Law says about vows.

Numbers 31. The Israelites executed vengeance on the Midianites, returned from the war and dividied the spoils.

Numbers 32, The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh decided to settle East of Jordan.

Psalm 18 is the fourth longest psalm. David wrote it ” To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:” (Read it, ponder and enjoy.)

March 5, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented

Matthew 17:14-27. The disciples tried to heal a boy with epilepsy but failed. Jesus healed him immediately. The disciples could not do it because they had so little faith. Jesus also predicted his death, and the tax collectors came to Peter to collect the poll tax. Jesus solved this by telling Peter to go fishing and from the first fish he caught he would take the four drachma coin swallowed by the fish. That did take care of the tax for both Peter and Jesus.

Numbers 26 lists in detail, by tribe, the Second Census of Israel.

Numbers 27 defines inheritance laws, and it was decided that Joshua should succeed Moses.

Numbers 28 is all about offerings, the Daily Offerings, Sabbath Offerings, Monthly Offerings, Offerings at Passover and Offerings at the Feast of Weeks.

Psalm 17 demonstrates David’s total trust in God and not in self in spite of David’s best efforts. It can be summarized: “Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings” with regard to the threats from David’s enemies.

February 22, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented

In Matthew 12:1-21 Jesus proclaimed he  is the Lord of the Sabbath and healed a man with a withered hand. Since this was on a Sabbath it was considered blasphemy. Jesus continued to heal all to fulfill the prophecy of the Prophet Isaiah.

After completing the book of Leviticus we take a one day break before we continue with Numbers, and read

Ecclesiastes 5. Fear God, keep your vows. There is vanity in amassing riches, even vanity in seeking honor.

Ecclesiastes 6. Vanity is the theme, this time the vanity of desire.

Psalm 14 is short and to the point. It begins: “The fool has said in his heart, there is NO GOD.”

Psalm 15 is only 5 verses long but full of truth which carries on into the New Testament. Fittingly there are five 5 references in the New Testament given from this psalm.

Psalm 16, of David. A wonderful psalm of confidence in the LORD even in times of trouble. This is a prophetic psalm pointing to Jesus resurrection, it is also quoted in the New Testament.

February 12, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented

After every book in the Old Testament I insert one day of sayings from King Solomon about human behavior in the form of teachings or sayings. In the sermon on the mount Jesus speaks of seeking the Kingdom of God and the spiritual blessings that comes with that. This is in stark contrast with the world and its doublespeak.

Matthew 6:19-34 continues the telling of the sermon on the mount. Jesus spoke of  storing up eternal, spiritual treasures, not physical riches, for you cannot serve two masters, you serve either God or money. Jesus then continued by telling how foolish it is to worry about the future, concentrate on what is important, seek first the Kingdom of God, and God will take care of all the other things.

Ecclesiastes 3. There is a time for everything. The gift of God is that He has set eternity in our hearts, yet injustice seems to prevail.

Ecclesiastes 4. There is oppression but no comforter, there is vanity of selfish toil. There is value in having friends “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken,” yet, popularity passes away.

With all the double speak today, Psalm 12 is especially valid. The Lord has something to say about that.

Psalm 13 has only 6 verses; used as a moving Anglican Chant. Enjoy.

January 31, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

John 20 deals with the resurrection, and Jesus was not there, only his grave clothes, strips of cloth, not the “Turin Shroud.” It was the first day of the week and Jesus showed himself to all the disciples except Thomas. He doubted their testimony, and it is from this we have the expression “Doubting Thomas.” Later, when even he saw Jesus, he bowed down and worshiped him saying “My Lord, and my God”. Jesus also gave the promise they would receive the Holy Spirit.

Exodus 10: Two more plagues, the plague of locusts and the plague of darkness. For these two plagues the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

In Exodus 11 Moses and Aaron proclaimed the tenth and final plague: The death of the firstborn. Interestingly enough the plagues of Egypt are also in the Quran, four are the same, five are different, and one is missing altogether. Guess which one!

Psalm 11 has the phrase “flee as a bird to the mountain”, which bring back memories of songs we used to sing in choir.

Yes, it was a long time ago, and our pastor wanted us to sing it, but our choir director thought otherwise. However, in obedience we sang it, and it was well received. The disagreement centered around: We are supposed to be in the world, but not of it. To flee to avoid all sin is not in the Gospel commandment.

When Jesus breathed on the disciples, they received the Holy Spirit, but they still had to wait until they received power from above. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, but the power of the Holy Spirit is still given only by God and only to do His will in His opportune time. This is why daily communication with God is so important, in thanksgiving , prayer, and yes ; in spiritual songs.

January 27, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

John 18:1-27 deals with some of the last 24 hours of Jesus life, the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane and the subsequent arrest of Jesus, the trial before Annas, Peter’s first denial, Jesus trial before Caiaphas, Peter’s second and third denial and the cock crowing.

Exodus 3 tells where God revealed Himself to Moses in the form of a burning bush and declared “I am that I am”. Jesus made a similar declaration in John 8:58 “Before Abraham, I am”.

In the Septuagint Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 belong together. They speak of God’s faithfulness and the only temporary victories of the wicked one.

January 25, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

Between every book of the Old Testament I have inserted some of the writings of the wisdom of Solomon. While Jesus said: “Be of good cheer’ I have overcome the world” King Solomon said : “All is vanity”, and indeed, without a personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit, indeed; all is meaningless.

John 16:17-33. Jesus continued his instructions to his disciples. They did not understand why it is good he leaves and sends the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that their grief would turn to joy and ended with this encouragement: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Ecclesiastes 1. The author, king Solomon spoke of the vanity of life and the grief of wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 2. King Solomon continued with the vanity of pleasure, the end of the wise and the end of the fool.

Psalm 9 speaks of God’s faithfulness and the victories of the wicked one are only temporary.

January 21, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

John 14:1-14 records the events of the hour after the Passover meal before they all depart to Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples he is going away to prepare a mansion, more precisely a dwelling place for them. Thomas, always questioning him, asked him “How can we know the way?” And Philip added “Show us the Father“. Jesus answer? “Believe in me“.

Genesis 40 deals with dreams. Joseph’s two fellow cellmates in prison each had a dream, Joseph interpreted the dreams that the cup-bearer would be released and restored to his former position, while the baker would be hanged on a tree.

In Genesis 41  Pharaoh himself had a dream, and Joseph was released from prison to interpret the dream. It dealt with seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. Joseph interpreted the dream so well that Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all affairs of Egypt. The seven years of plenty came and good harvests filled the storehouses. Then came the seven years of famine.

Psalm 8 has been set to music many times. Even I have sung it many times, both as a choir number, and the first verse as an introit. Looking for the music I found a far better, very free rendition of the Psalm, this one by Marty Goetz.

God created the universe; first in a vision or a dream, then He spoke; and it was so. We have the proof by existing and living in the created universe. Jesus explains the eternal future for believers, but we can only see it as the dream yet, but then we shall see fully as we are fully known. Thomas had trouble with that, he required visual proof.

The Old Testament connection is Joseph, able to both have and interpret dreams. This lead him both in trouble and victory.

These dreams are recorded to help us better understand God’s ways, and the miracles of Jesus that are recorded occurred often on a Sabbath, but Jesus saved and healed people all the time.