The prayers of Paul This is a series on the prayers of St Paul found in the letters attributed to him in the order he is believed to have written them. Letters to the same place or person will be treated together with the first letter to that destination. The letter to the Ephesians is …
Continue reading Knowing Jesus leads to praise—Ephesians 3:14-21
Psalms of David Psalms in Book 1 (Psalms 1 to 41) are primarily personal songs, so I will look at how they apply to us personally. Social and communal aspects of life and work do not come in until the later books of psalms. Psalm 26 is a song of praise and thanksgiving to God. …
The prayers of Paul This is a series on the prayers of St Paul found in the letters attributed to him in the order he is believed to have written them. Letters to the same place or person will be treated together with the first letter to that destination. It looks like the end, but …
Psalms of David This is the last of the psalms attributed to David in the fifth book of Psalms and David's last psalm in the psalter as a whole. It has two poetic forms, an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet and each of those verses is in …
Continue reading Let God turn your mess into something beautiful — Psalm 145
The 4th book of Psalms In churches we hear a lot about confession, and rightly so. The General Confession in the Book of Common Prayer is a bit grovelling, containing the phrase, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Why be miserable when forgiveness is assured? Outdoor praiseFree image on PxHere The 4th book …
The 4th book of Psalms Floods are becoming more widespread. It is to be expected as a a sign of global warming on a planet whose surface is 71% water covered: Warmer temperatures means that more vapour evaporates from the oceans and more rain condenses to fall on the land. At the same time, higher …
Psalm 81 — Psalms of Asaph This is a prophetic song. The purpose of God's prophets was not to foretell the future, their job was to say what God is saying now to his people, the importance of the covenant relationship, God subduing aggressive neighbouring countries is part of the blessings of relationship in the …
The end of the road We are there. We have got to the end of the psalms of ascents. The pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem have been singing these songs on the way, now they are at their destination, Jerusalem. This may be the last of the psalms of ascents, but it is not …
Full redemption Redemption in the modern world means going to the pawnbroker's with some money and getting your things that you pawned back. With God it means exactly the same. This is God's world, and God is buying it back. Psalm 130 A song of ascents. 1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;2 Lord, hear …
Watching and waiting Psalm 123 A song of ascents. 1 I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven.2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us …
Making an ass of myself 