Category: Psalms

November 22: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

1 Peter 4:12-19. The apostle reminded the believers to not be surprised when they suffer, remember it will be much worse for those who do not believe.

Joel 1. The Word of the LORD told Joel of the great locust attack, the drought and the land laid waste. Lament for the land, for the day of the LORD is near.

Psalm 119 is a meditation on the excellence of the Word of God. It it anonymous, but is most probably a collection made by David and put in its final form during the time of Ezra. The Psalm is in the form of a true acrostic with eight verses for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet, totaling 176 verses. The acrostic form makes it possible to memorize, and so the students learning the Law did, even during Jesus’ time.

November 21: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

1 Peter 4:1-11. The apostle urged the believers to serve God as the end of all things is near. He told them to practice hospitality to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 20, more proverbs of Solomon. Don’t be lead astray by alcohol! Who can find a faithful man? Dishonest weights are an abomination to the Lord. Do not love sleep, or you will become poor. These are timeless proverbs, some quoted even today.

Psalm 117. The shortest Psalm of them all with only two verses, but they are full of praise.

Psalm 118. This is probably the best example of Hebrew poetry with verses repeated with only small variations. It is quoted in the New Testament in many places, even by Jesus directly.

November 16: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

1 Peter 1:1-12. The apostle Paul was greeting his fellow elect pilgrims of the dispersia and reminded them of their heavenly inheritance, as they were living before God their Father.

Hosea 1. God told Hosea to marry a harlot. She gave birth to three children, given negative sounding names. In spite of this God promises the restoration of Israel.

Hosea 2 tells of God’s unfaithful people, how they are punished and restored, and finally to be shown unmerited mercy.

Psalm 115 through Psalm 118 are part of the Hallel (praise) Psalms and are sung after the Passover meal. Psalm 115 gives praise that the Lord is our help and shield. Not so the heathens, their idols are worthless.

Psalm 116. The Lord heard my prayers, I will pay my vow of gratitude with the sacrifice of praise.

November 15: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

James 5 begins with a stern warning to rich oppressors, much like Old Testament teaching, but this letter is to the Jews in dispersia. He tells them to be patient,       persevere, meet each other’s need and above all do not swear, but let their yes be yes and their no be no. If anyone is sick, call in the elders and pray for him.  ” The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Bring Back erring Brothers. “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Proverbs 19, Proverbs of Solomon. There is wisdom in getting along with others, but do not give in to the wicked ones, a prudent wife is a gift is from the Lord, but a foolish son is his fathers ruin.

Psalm 114 is the second Psalm of the Hallel. In eight short verses it retells of God’s miracles of delivering them out of Egypt and into the promised land. Short and to the point.

November 14: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

James 4. Pride promotes strife but humility edifies when it comes from an active faith. ”Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Do not judge a brother, that is God’s domain and do not boast about tomorrow, be humble and recognize that God is in control.

Daniel 12. This chapter deals with the end times. Many have tried to make a final timeline out of this and out of Revelation, but the book is sealed until the time of the end. As Jesus himself said: “Only the Father in heaven knows.” It makes for a very interesting and thought-provoking read.

Psalm 113. This Psalm is part of the “Hallel”, consisting of Psalm 113-118. Two are sung before and three after the Passover meal. It begins and ends with Hallelujah, and praises God how He lifts up the lowly, even the barren woman.

November 12: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

James 3:1-12. We can tame a horse, put a bridle in his mouth to control him, steer a ship with a small rudder but we can not tame our tongue. There are two types of wisdom, heavenly wisdom, coming from God and earthly wisdom coming from man that can even be demonic. Heavenly wisdom produces peacemakers, earthly wisdom, not so much.

Daniel 9 is all about Daniel’s prayer and the “seventy sevens”. Many have tried to predict the return of Jesus Christ based on this prophesy. So far, all have failed. Even Jesus said he could not predict the day of his return, only that it is imminent. God only knows, and He is not telling. We live in “today” and “today” is the day of salvation.

Daniel 10. Daniel saw a vision of a man. It is described in colorful images, much like the way Jesus Christ is pictured in the book of Revelation. He became completely exhausted, fell asleep and was having a dream. In this dream the angel Michael spoke to him and told Daniel about his own struggle and about future events.

Psalm 111. A short, beautiful psalm with this truth: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Psalm 112 like Psalm 111 is an acrostic Psalm, meaning that each line (not verse) begins with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet, starting with Aleph and ending with Taw. It tells of the blessings that follow the man that fears the LORD. Not so the wicked.

November 9: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

James 1:19-29 is more than any letter a bridge between the Old and the New Testament. It encourages us to be swift to hear and slow to wrath, and above all. be doers and not hearers only of the word, for that is true religion – faith in action.

Daniel 5. This is the famous chapter with the handwriting on the wall: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin“

Daniel 6. Time passed. Daniel was by then about 80 years old. He was still praying as he always did, three times a day but not to King Darius, and for that he was thrown into the lions’ den. God sent his angel to protect Daniel, so the next morning he was rescued unharmed, but for his accusers, thrown into the same den after Daniel came out it turned out the lions were really hungry.

Psalm 109, of David. Leaving vengeance to God, David prayed for the full measure of God’s vengeance to be poured out on his wicked enemies. He is “poor and needy” and vengeance is God’s business.