Psalm 16: A Pilgrim’s Song

Posted inPsalms Commentary
In Acts 2 Peter says about verses 9 and 10 in this psalm: Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath…

Psalm 9: A Prayer of the Oppressed for Justice

Posted inPsalms Commentary
This is a psalm about the judgment of God on the unbelieving that saves us, his people, from their oppression. Let’s look at some of its prominent features. 1. The Structure of the Psalm The psalm has three main parts. In the first part (vv. 1–8) David praises the Lord for upholding his right and…

Baptized into Christ’s Suffering

Posted inBaptism
In Mark 10:35-45 Jesus teaches the twelve a very important lesson about leadership and humility. More than once there was competition among them about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and they needed to learn that pride and ambition for position and glory do not have a place in the kingdom of…

Psalm 100: Four Triple Parallelisms

Posted inPsalms Commentary
In Hebrew poetry the usual form of parallelism is a pair of lines that are roughly the same in meaning (synonymous), or that present a contrast (antithetical). In Psalm 6 we see nine verses in the standard form, and all of these except verse 3 are synonymous. But one verse (v.6) adds a third line…

Praying to Our Father in Heaven for Deliverance from Evil

Posted inLord's Prayer
In the sixth petition we pray for sanctification. Sanctification has two parts. The first is removal of the corruption of our natures, and the second is making our natures holy again. We want more than spiritual neutrality; we want to be positively good, like God himself. Another way to look at it is that we…