In Service to the King Abishag is a young, beautiful Shunammite woman. She’s carefully selected to attend to King David in his old age. Despite her sleeping next to him to keep him warm, their relationship isn’t sexual—though I’m sure people thought otherwise. When the king dies, we might assume her ordeal is over. But […]
If the Lord Is With Us, We Should Have Nothing to Fear Today’s passage: Psalm 118:1–7 Focus verses: The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. (Psalm 118:6–7) The authors […]
There Are Many Ways to Solve Family Problems, but Kicking Out Your Son Isn’t One of Them Last week we looked at the story of Cain and Abel. We examined the first case of sibling rivalry. Things escalated out of control with one brother ending up dead and the other sentenced to wander, forever carrying […]
Luke Bible Study, Day 33 Today’s passage: Luke 21 Focus verse:He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.” (Luke 21:8) When I read Luke 21, I want to focus on the opening passage about […]
Delight in the Lord—Especially the Parts We Don’t Understand I delight in the reality that there are aspects about God I don’t understand, of things I can’t comprehend. I savor the wonderful mystery of God. So does the apostle Paul. In many of his letters, he talks about aspects of God as mystery. If there […]
Commander for Life In Absalom’s brief coup attempt against his father, he appoints Amasa (1) as commander of his rebel troops. Amasa is the first cousin of Joab, who commands David’s army. During the rebellion, Joab kills Absalom. This occurs despite David’s explicit command to spare his son’s life. Though doing so ends the coup […]
Today’s passage: Philippians 4:4–9 Focus verse: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6) Does today’s passage sound familiar? It’s the same one as Day 9. Then we focused on verse four, which tells us to rejoice in the Lord. […]
Elihu Talks About Justice As we read through the book of Job, we see that Elihu pauses, giving time for Job—or anyone else—to respond. When they don’t, Elihu glances at the three older men and then resumes speaking. “Listen to me, oh wise ones, as I continue. Weigh my words as I speak. May we […]
Luke Bible Study, Day 32 Today’s passage: Luke 20 Focus verse:“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” (Luke 20:18) The twentieth chapter of Luke has five segments that all relate—to one degree or another—to the religious leaders. The tone is critical. Most scathing […]
Delight in the Lord—Even the Parts You Don’t Comprehend Are there parts of God you don’t understand? Does this frustrate you? It shouldn’t. Don’t let what you don’t know weigh you down. We should accept that we can’t fully know our Lord—at least not in this world—that we can’t yet understand God. Yet some people […]