Seeing Jesus in the Psalms

  Hebrews 3 “... think carefully about this Jesus   whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest. “ Hebrews 3:1 7 That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, 8 don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. 9 There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. 10 So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ 11 So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” 15 Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”  Hebrews 3:7-11,15 8 The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. 9 For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with them, and I said, ‘T...

  Psalm 143 “Don’t put your servant on trial, for no one is innocent before you.” Psalm 143:2 NLT MAIN POINT: You need to learn to discern what is sin and what is God’s will. Have you ever been on trial? I was on trial many years ago for a traffic accident where I was found to be the cause or guilty one. I had to pay the other insurance companies for years after that. I sat in a trial too a few times, as an observer, as a witness, as a supporter of the people involved in the trial. David is right, there are no innocent parties. Most situations in life are complex and even what appears to be the simplest of scenarios can often be traced back to other causes, perpetrators who had been themselves victims and so on. I want to make it clear I am thinking these things through. I have invited you as the reader to join me in the process. Depending on when you read this and in what form, you may see photos of the process of writing/copying or transcriptions of audio reflections I make while...

  Psalm 105 God assures us He will keep his promise to make us fruitful. That promise is made to many different people throughout the Bible in different ways. God uses both blessings and testing to keep his promise. And the reason why God uses blessings and testings to keep His promise is so we will obey and praise Him. Knowing that may help you answer why you have been blessed or tested. MAIN POINT: We are encouraged to praise because God uses wonderful deeds (blessings and testings) to keep His promise so we will obey and praise Him Although I have spoken little about the structure of the Psalms as a whole, it is often commented about by scholars and preachers that Psalms is a highly structured and intricate book containing five books, and each one of those made up of introductions and endings. So it should be of no surprise to us that we see a relationship in Psalm 105 to the preceding Psalm 104. Since Psalms has just established that God is creator of and He gives breath and su...