Psalm 119:132 – Be Gracious
Praying for something God has already made standard practice is an inherently confident prayer.
Psalm 119:107
When I am weak, Lord, strengthen me according to your word!
Psalm 119:58 – Favor
I seek your face with all my heart.Show me favor according to your word. A friend commenting on Facebook mentioned ancient translations, so I thought I’d mention a few of these over the next few days just to give a flavor. If you’re not that interested in this kind of detail, skip the section between…
Psalm 119:49 – Remember!
Remember your word to your servant,upon which you have caused me to hope. We have another imperative, but this one is addressed not to us, but to God! My wife sometimes is hesitant to remind me of things. She doesn’t want to say, “Henry, you forgot …” or “Please remember my ….” She especially wants…
Psalm 119:26 – Just Talking
I tell you my stuff and you answer me.Teach me your statutes. I frequently comment that “always and everywhere there is stuff.” There is stuff to do, stuff not to do, stuff that I did, and stuff that I didn’t do. Not to mention the physical stuff to keep, stuff to get rid of, and…
Psalm 119:22 – Reproach and Contempt
Remove from me reproach and contemptfor I have guarded your testimonies. Meditating on a single verse each day means I often get somewhat out of context. But while context is important, literature can easily suggest other lines of thinking. Folks in various classes I’ve taught have called me the king of the rabbit trail because…
Fear, Prayer, Trust, and Action
As I write posts and various notes that speak against fear, I want to make sure some things are clear. There are two quotes that have been going through my mind. The first is: “Prayer is not a substitute for anything, and there is no substitute for prayer.” I know I first heard this from…
We Have Sinned
This week as the story of yet another prominent Christian who had fallen passed through my news feeds, a young man who was pleading guilty to 18 counts related to sex with minors, I was led again to Daniel 9 and Daniel’s prayer of repentance. We argue about the impact of prayer and what God…
Pious People Popping Platitude Pills
Tacky title, eh? I don’t apologize. I had fun constructing it. The other day someone asked me whether there were any scriptures I liked to go to when I was having problems. I gave the answer immediately and then explained, but I’m going to do the opposite here. I’m going to explain and then tell…
Daniel 9: Confession and Repentance
The Adult Bible Studies Sunday School curriculum was on the subject of confession and repentance with the primary passage being Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9. This is an interesting and powerful prayer to read and deserves more attention than it gets. They secondarily referred to Psalm 51, which is also an important prayer of confession,…