For several years now at BBC, we have promoted a “prayer psalm of the week.” We simply follow the Psalms systematically, and each week we encourage the church to use the psalm for that week as a means to pattern their prayers. In August 2014, to help the church understand how the psalms can guide our prayers, we made the decision that, when one of our own elders preached a … [Read more...]
Behaving Sanely (Psalm 34:1–22)
Psalm 34 was written, according to its inscription, by David “when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.” The historical background to this psalm is found in 1 Samuel 21:1–22:2. David was on the run from Saul, who had begun to seek David’s life. He came to Nob, where he met Ahimelech the priest, and asked for food. The only food available … [Read more...]
Gospel Celebration (Psalm 32:1–11)
This year marks the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, which commenced with Martin Luther’s thunderous hammer on the doors of the Wittenberg church. Luther was simply calling for a civil debate with Catholic Church leaders concerning some doctrines that he believed they had gotten wrong. He aimed to help correct the errors and assumed that they would appreciate his … [Read more...]
Shame in the Hands of a Truthful God (Psalm 31:1–24)
In late March of 2013, Adria Richards, an employee of an email delivery company, was at a technology conference when she overheard two male developers making what she interpreted as sexist jokes. Rather than saying anything directly to the men, she surreptitiously took a photo of them and tweeted it out with her accusation of the alleged sexist comments. An event organiser … [Read more...]
The Rest of the Story (Psalm 22:22–31)
Psalm 22 records some event in the life of David in which he suffered extreme heartache. He felt desolate and disorientated. This is clear from vv. 1–2, 6–8, and 12–18. But amidst this heartache, David clung to God. He professed great confidence in God even as he confessed that he was confused by God. We see this in vv. 3–5 (in which he remembers the character and the past … [Read more...]