“I will say to God my rock, Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the cruelty of the enemy?” (Psalms 42:9) This is a time in David’s life when he despairs. It’s either during Saul’s persecution or Absalom’s betrayal. Both times were extremely trying in every way. He had been sought to be killed by the king whom he loved, had obediently served and to whom he had pledged allegiance. And in the other case, his very own son had taken over the kingdom causin

“And when Jesus had risen early the first day of the Sabbath, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.” (Mark 16:9) We get a more detailed scenario from John. Both accounts together fill in the gaps in each account. Mary is by herself at the tomb according to John. But Matthew writes that she was with the other Mary. He doesn’t write that Peter and John went to the tomb. Matthew writes that both Jesus and an angel at the tomb told the women

“And God called the light, Day. And He called the darkness, Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:5) We tend to think that the beginning of the day is the morning. But by simply reading this Scripture, we see that the Lord considered the evening the beginning of the day. “...And the evening and the morning were the first day.” This is also repeated in verses 13, 19, 23 and verse 31 which seems to support this idea. “And the evening and the

“He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity and has not sworn deceitfully.” (Psalms 24:4) David wrote this in response to his question, “Who shall go up into the hill of Jehovah? Or who shall stand in His holy place?” (Psalms 24:3) His reply is “He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” They go together. Clean hands have to do with how we live, a righteous life. A pure heart is the product of that righteous living. “He Himself bore our

“...through which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2Peter 1:4) Right away we see that this is in the middle of some discussion. Questions arise in the beginning of this Scripture with the words, “through which.” To know through what it’s talking about we have to go to the beginning of this thought in the previous Scriptu

“...whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will not only shake the earth, but also the heavens." And this word, "Yet once more," signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, so that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:26-27) At first read, it seems clear, but the language confuses the issue. The Hebrew author is reporting what God has said, saying we should liste

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts; and shuts and no one opens, says these things:” (Revelation 3:7) In John’s Revelation, Jesus speaks to the church in Philadelphia. Jesus gives the church of Philadelphia two commendations. Although it’s not strong, it has kept His Word and has not denied His Name. “I know your works. Behold, I have given before you an open door,

“Therefore, you should not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner. But be partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the eternal times.” (2Timothy 1:8-9) Paul wrote to Timothy whom he had appointed over the church of Ephesus. Paul has been imprisoned for his

“Are they Hebrews? I also! Are they Israelites? I also! Are they the seed of Abraham? I also!” (2Corinthians 11:22) This is Paul’s “foolish boasting.” “What I speak, I do not speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this boldness of boasting.” (2Corinthians 11:17) False prophets and teachers had crept into the church in Corinth. They boasted of their identity and descent as the credibility of their teachings. Paul, who humbly hadn’t boasted of his heritage and

“And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8) The language in which Paul wrote this, even though translated, has a unique and different aspect to it which makes it difficult for us to understand. “And being found in fashion...” translates in our modern vernacular to say, seeing He was formed a man. Jesus, all God sees His human condition. “For we do not have a high priest who cannot b

“Behold, you are beautiful, my Beloved, yea, pleasant. Also our bed is green.” (Song of Solomen 1:16) This Scripture from the Song of Solomen, as has been discussed before is cannon, meaning that it’s accepted as inspired by the Holy Spirit and included in the books of the Bible. This poem which Solomen wrote about the love between a bride and bridegroom can be metaphorically interpreted as the love between the church and Jesus. There are various popular songs that have b

“And he said, So, says Jehovah, Make this valley full of ditches. For so says Jehovah, You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain. Still that valley shall be filled with water, so that you may drink, both you and your cattle, and your animals.” (2Kings 3:16-17) The back story is that Ahab, king of Israel died and his son, Jehoram began to reign. During Ahab’s reign, Moab paid tribute to King Ahab, but on King Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Jehoram. Jehoram sends fo

“And He said, I am God, the God of your fathers. Do not fear to go down into Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again. And Joseph shall put his hand on your eyes.” (Genesis 46:3-4) Joseph had made himself known to his brothers and sent for Jacob, his father, to go him in Egypt where he would provide his father and all his family and the families of his brothers with food from the supply he ha

“If a man die, shall he revive? All the days of my warfare I will wait, until my change comes.” (Job 14:14) Job continues the lament of his predicament in this chapter. He poses the question of whether man will live after he dies. He answers in the affirmative saying that he will wait until that time comes for that change. A few chapters later he proclaims, “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:” (Job 19:26). Ezekiel prophesied

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) This Scripture has been used to show that Jesus is knocking at the hearts of an unbeliever. But astonishingly, Jesus is speaking to Christians, specifically to the church of Laodicea. In John’s Revelation, Jesus speaks to seven churches in Asia. These churches metaphorically can be understood to be the actual ch

“You shall not fear the terror by night; nor because of the arrow that flies by day;” (Psalms 91:5) The whole psalm is a declaration of God’s protection during any kind of disaster. Jewish tradition holds that Moses wrote the psalm sometime during the forty-year wandering through the wilderness. But Christian tradition and some scholars believe that David wrote the psalm. The Septuagint which is the oldest Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament written in the third

“And Saul said to David, Behold I will give you my older daughter Merab for a wife. Only you be a brave son for me and fight Jehovah's battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.” (1Samuel 18:17) In this Scripture of study, we read that Saul’s jealousy of David has led him to devise ways to kill David. David was successful in battle and had become the “darling” of the people. There are two things that can be explored in

“Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; feed them also, and lift them up forever.” (Psalms 28:9) In his prayer for help, David asks the Lord for Israel in our Scripture of study. It’s believed he wrote it during a time a crisis. David had many times of crisis, both personal and national, from the time Samuel anointed him to be king and through his time as king. In our verse, David asks four distinct things for the nation. “Save Your people...” he cries in this las

“For tonight an angel of God stood beside me, whose I am and whom I serve,” (Acts 27:23) Angels do exist and do appear. Of all my experiences as a Christian, I never saw an angel as portrayed in illustrations with wings and clothed in a white gown, but I believe that I have had experiences with angels, although not confirmed. Those I thought were angels never told me they were angels. The first time was in the 1980’s sometime. I was running an errand for the church and stop

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) Chapter 53 of Isaiah is about the Messiah. If the Pharisees and Sadducees would have read the prophets, they would have recognized Jesus as the Messiah. But their focus and concentration of acceptable reading was only the Torah. And so, they missed their Messiah and misled their people. The practice of only reading the Torah still