Psalm 121 Psalm 121 continues where Psalm 120 ends. We still live in this world, but we must recognize more clearly that it is God’s world. It does not belong to the people, pressures, threats, and interests that seek to wear us down. In his world, we live under the shelter of his outstretched hand, so we can sing the songs of Zion with peace of mind. There is no mistaking the keynote of Psalm 121; it is sounded six times: “he who keeps you (v3) … who keeps Israel (v4) … your

Psalm 120 Psalm 120 opens the “Songs of the Great Ascent” by giving voice to a feeling many of God’s people recognize: the strain of living faithfully in a place that does not feel like home. The psalmist names his situation plainly. He lives in “Kedar,” a place marked by darkness, deceit, and conflict. He is surrounded by lies, and when he speaks of peace, he is met with hostility. This is not exaggerated despair; it is honest prayer spoken aloud before God. Yet Psalm 120 te

This week we begin a new series on what may be the loveliest group of psalms in the Psalter. Psalms 120–134 are titled ‘Songs of Ascents’. What does that mean? Alec Motyer observes that the simplest explanation is often the best. He writes, “The plural word ‘ascents’ could be what in Hebrew is called a ‘plural of magnitude’ – ‘the Great Ascent’, or it can be left as a simple plural, an ‘ascent’ that happened over and over again. Either way, it readily points to the journ

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from a Nazi prison cell during World War II, awaiting execution for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Surrounded by hatred and violence, he still found hope. On June 4, 1943, it was Ascension Day that year, and he wrote to his parents: “Today is Ascension Day, and that means it is a day of great joy to all who can believe that C

1 Cor. 1:18-2:5 In the prophet Zechariah, we read, “’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zech. 4:6). During his day, the Israelites had returned by faith to the words God had given the prophets regarding hope for a new future. God told Isaiah, “Comfort, comfort my people…. speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned” (Isa. 40:1-2). But as grand as this and other promises were, they had

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 On June 16, 1982, at the Tenth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, Francis Schaeffer used his talk, “A Day of Sober Rejoicing,” to urge Christians to move beyond mere "accommodation" and engage in "loving confrontation" to speak truth into the culture. Schaeffer was never just a theorist or an abstract theologian. He always sought to offer practical wisdom and guidance on how the believer should live in an ever-darkening world. In on