1 Kings 8:1-11; 2 Chronicles 5:1-14; 1 Kings 8:12-21; 2 Chronicles 6:1-11; 1 Kings 8:22-53; 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 Recently, I heard a radio commercial that spoke of a plague which has struck relationships in America. It has crippled intimacy, love, and a feeling of connectedness. This plague is the inability to listen. According to the advertisement, our inability to listen is destroying our most i...  Read More

1 Kings 7:1-51; 2 Chronicles 3:15-4:22 There are moments in our lives when a huge shift happens. This change may come when we move, take a new job, get married, have kids, retire, etc. The construction of the temple and its furnishings is one of the most dramatic pivots in the history of Israel. Prior to the Exodus, people could worship God without a priest anywhere and at any time. With the const...  Read More

1 Kings 3:16-28; 1 Kings 5:1-18; 2 Chronicles 2:1-18; 1 Kings 6:1-13; 2 Chronicles 3:1-14; 1 Kings 6:14-38 The first thing we do each morning says a lot about our priorities. Do we reach for our phone first? Do we grab a newspaper or a cup of coffee? In the same way, what a politician or king does at the beginning of their reign speaks about their passions, interests, and agenda. We see the key pr...  Read More

Psalm 83; 1 Chronicles 29:23-25; 2 Chronicles 1:1; 1 Kings 2:13-3:4; 2 Chronicles 1:2-6; 1 Kings 3:5-15; 2 Chronicles 1:7-13 Life is like a rollercoaster. Our days are filled with highs and lows. We have great victories that are followed by crushing defeats. In the Psalms, David freely expresses the highs and lows of his emotional condition to God. In Psalm 83, David pleads for God not to keep sil...  Read More

Psalm 79-82 Young children think that a dinner of ice cream and brownies would be the greatest meal ever, not realizing the stomachache that would follow. Many of our psalms today speak to a similar mentality in the heart of every human. We are all prone to what feels good in the moment without any understanding of wisdom, eternity, or truth. God desires to lead us to freedom, while we are prone t...  Read More

Psalm 75-78 There are times when our emotions are not in line with what we know to be true. We know God loves us, but we do not feel like he does. We know that God is present, but we do not sense his nearness. Psalm 77 describes this situation in the life of Asaph, or possibly his reflection on this in the life of his friend Jeduthun (who oversaw music for God's house like Heman). The psalm reflec...  Read More

Psalm 50, 73-74 Over the next few days, we will work our way through the psalms of Asaph. Asaph is the assistant to Heman, who was head of music for the house of the Lord. So, in our terms, Heman is the worship leader and the singers or musicians on the stage would be Asaph. One of the themes Asaph focuses on is God as judge. Asaph looks around at his world and notices the financial prosperity of ...  Read More

Psalm 144-145, 88-89 It may be easy to trust God after things have worked out─when a challenge is over, or when God shows up in a big way─but what about when we are still waiting? Do you find yourself easily praising and trusting God when you are waiting for an issue to be resolved or a prayer to be answered? This is the situation of Psalm 143. David calls out to God for mercy, relief from enemies...  Read More

Psalm 131, 133, 138-141, 143 Psalm 139 tells us that God is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (all-present), and omnibenevolent (all-good). No matter what we face in life, we can know God knows what we are experiencing. He is always with us, and he is always operating for our best. These are the truths to which we can cling when nothing else seems to make sense. Further, God is not just these ...  Read More

Psalm 103, 108-110, 122, 124 We are born praising things. As children we praise toys and ourselves, as we get older, we praise boyfriends and girlfriends, sports teams, friends, and a myriad of other things; but ultimately, we are created to praise God. Since he is the infinite God of the universe, we have an infinite number of things for which to praise him. We may get stuck in a rut of praise wh...  Read More

Psalm 68-70, 86, 101 What do you think of when you think of God? This is one of the most important questions for us to answer. It is critical because our view of God determines how frequently and in what circumstances we run to God. One of the attributes of God we see highlighted in our psalms today is his power. Psalm 68 describes God as blowing away his enemies like smoke, riding the clouds, and...  Read More

Psalm 61-62, 64-67 You can live under the same roof as someone and not spend time with them. You can work with someone for decades and not really know who they are. It is possible to read the Bible for years and not really know God. The primary purpose of reading the Bible, prayer, and all spiritual habits is to meet with God. Psalm 61 speaks of dwelling with God and being in God's presence. Psalm...  Read More