Vanity and Children...but Not Related Topics

The next psalm in our journey through the Psalms of Ascents is interesting. It is found in the exact middle of the fifteen ascent psalms. It is the only one of the fifteen written by Solomon. There are seven psalms before it (120-126), two of which were written by David and five which are anonymous. After Psalm 127, there are seven psalms, two of which were written by David and five of which are anonymous. With the Hebrew propensity for chiasms (see here, here, here, and here), and the symmetry that appears to be here, the psalm may be the high...

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The Funniest Thing I Heard Today - 8.27.08

"...Barak Obama, the son of a black man from Kenya, and a white man from Kansas."Terry Moran, from ABC's Nightl...

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Remember the Great Acts of God - Addendum

In my last post, I was working with Psalm 126. This post is an expansion of verses 5-6 of this psalm. Read Psalm 126 (NASB, NIV, KJV)The context of this passage is the return of the Israelites from captivity. When they returned to Jerusalem and the promise land, they had to start again. Being an agricultural society, planting seed was of primary importance because they needed food. These farmers weep while sowing in remembrance of the good life before the Babylonian captivity. Sowing is hard work and starting over is never easy. These Israelites...

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Remember the Great Acts of God

(See the addendum to this post here)I have been blogging recently on the Psalms of Ascents and hoping that my posts on them will firm up some of my outlines. I also hope that others will contribute to the process and provide suggestions which will improve the outlines and provide a great skeleton for teaching through these psalms. To briefly sum up where we have been so far, the psalmist travels to Jerusalem (120-122). He begins his worship by asking God for mercy, praising God for His help in the past, and about the relationship they have currently...

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I Have Found a Friend in Jesus

In our series of the Psalms of Ascents, we come to psalm 125. to recap briefly, the psalmist travels to Jerusalem (120-122). He begins his worship by asking God for mercy (123) and then recounting how God has been the source of their help in the past (124). In this psalm (125), he sings about the current relationship he has with the Lord. Read Psalm 125 (NASB, NIV, KJV)Here is the tentative outline I developed for this psalm. As always, please send feedback. I think they always can be improved. I would like the flow of thought to be better than...

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Whose Side is God On?

Psalm 124 is the fifth psalm of those labels "Psalms of Ascent." After traveling and making it to Jerusalem (120-122), the psalmist begins his worship of God (123), which is why he came to Jerusalem in the first place. In this psalm, he is continuing that worship by recounting how God has helped His people in the past. Read Psalm 124(NASB, NIV, KJV)Here is the outline I developed for this psalm. I am happier with this outline than the previous two, but I would still love some comments on them. I would especially like to hear suggestions on making...

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Finding Mercy

The fourth psalm in the Psalm of Ascents is psalm 123. To recap our travel through our series of the Psalms of Ascents, it begins with the psalmist desiring to go to his true home (ps. 120). It continues with the psalmist praising God for His protection during the journey to Jerusalem (ps. 121). He reaches Jerusalem and praises God for the great things he finds there (ps. 122). In this next, brief psalm, we find the psalmist in Jerusalem and beginning to do what he traveled there to do: worship Yahweh. To begin this worship experience, he asks...

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When We All Get To Heaven

Continuing my series on the fifteen Psalms which are entitled "Psalms of Ascents," I will be looking at Psalm 122 today. This is the third psalm in this series (you can read my previous posts on 120 and 121 here). In the first psalm of the series, 120, the author communicated a dissatisfaction with living in a foreign place and he longed to go to his true home. The psalm 121 the psalmist wrote about the dangers of traveling to his true home but his God watched over him to keep him safe until he arrived. This next psalm seems to indicate that the...

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I am so Proud of Her

I have mentioned my brothers on my blog but I am not done. My sisters are also amazing women doing great things. My sister Audra is the coordinator for Smart Start of Bulter County (Kansas), which provides multiple areas of service and advocacy for families in that part of Kansas (Audra, if I have this wrong, let me know and I will change it). Here is her website:Smart Start of Butler CountyAnd here is her picture. You should click here, and then...

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My Help Comes from the Lord - Addendum

In a previous post, I wrote about Psalm 121 and gave an outline (please read that post before moving on with this post). I have adapted this outline to make the flow of thought a little more easy. Here is the new outline and then I will share my rationale.My Protector Watches Over MeI. My protector is the Creator (1-2)II. My protector is omniscient (3-4)     A. He keeps me from slipping (3)     B. He does not sleep (4)III. My protector is omnipotent (5)IV. My protector is omnipresent (6-8)     A....

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