God’s Covenant with Adam after the Fall

Posted inCovenants
The promise of God to Adam after the fall, implicit in his words to the serpent in Genesis 3:15, is the mother of all the promises of God in Old and New Testaments and the acorn from which grows the mighty oak tree of God's covenant with his people maintained and enriched throughout all of…

God’s Covenant with Adam in the Garden

Posted inCovenants
Though the Scriptures do not tell us directly that God's relationship with Adam was covenantal, there was a promise implicit in his threat of death for eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is best not to call this a covenant of works.

Old Testament Covenant History

Posted inCovenants
A review of Old Testament history that demonstrates that God made his covenants with his people at times of crisis, when the seed of the serpent was strong and threatening the continued existence and prosperity of his people.

Covenants of God with Men

Posted inCovenants
God's covenants are unilateral. He always initiates them and says, I will make my covenant with you. Therefore, they are not treaties or agreements, but promises which God makes voluntarily, and by which he graciously brings men into friendship with himself.

Covenants of Men with Men

Posted inCovenants
The Scriptures speak of covenants that men make with other men. These are of different sorts, such as contracts, treaties and agreements; and they vary widely according to the circumstances and the relative status of the parties involved. But they all have this in common, that they are the establishing of a relationship between two…

Psalm 44: Why Have You Cast Us Off?

Posted inPsalms Commentary
There are two things that are immediately obvious about this psalm. The first is that it was written in a time of military defeat and disaster for the people of God. The second is that the people were not, at the time of this defeat, in apostasy from God. It does not belong, for example,…

Psalms of the Incarnation

Posted inPsalms Commentary
The Psalms are songs about Christ as the God of our salvation in all their praise of Yahweh, the Most High and the Holy One of Israel. They are also about our Lord's life, suffering, resurrection and glorification in all their descriptions of our sufferings and the glory of our salvation. They talk about his…

Psalm 71: A Psalm for Old Age

Posted inPsalms Commentary
David was an old man when he wrote this psalm. Do not cast me off in the time of old age (v.9). Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me (v.18). In it he faces the problems that go with old age: failing strength, unfinished business and unrelenting enemies.…