Author Archive: Pastor Mark

Awaken Lovingkindness

Awaken me with word of Your Lovingkindness

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Well tonight is a David night. All five psalms I am intending to cover were composed by him. They are also the last Psalms known to be composed by David in the greater book of Psalms.

Most of these are an appeal to God for deliverance from various enemies during David’s life. most noteably among them is Saul when David hid in the cave in Adullam which means refuge. It was a cogent lesson in that the very place we often run to for refuge, is what places us in mortal danger. It was there that David learned, in new and deeper way to make God alone his refuge.

Though all these psalms are excellent there are two more worthy of special mention.

One is 144 and 145.

144 presents us with what has to be one of the most unique considerations of God’s tenderness in all of scripture. David was once more facing danger on all sides and was crying out to God to “train his hands for war and his fingers for battle”. notihing new here, but what is unique is that David did this with his mind’s eye on the lovingkindess of God. Two subjects which at least on the surface seem distant from each other. Its another beautiful and palepable example of God’s tender involvement in all arenas of our lives and that nothing escapes His attention, mercy or the touch of His hand.

Then in Psalm 145 is the second acrostic poem in the book of Psalms. Unlike Psalm 119 which has each letter of the hebrew alphabet representing in sets of 8 verses from beginning to end, this Psalm commits a single verse to each letter in succession. That is except for the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

It is suggested by some that this was done to avoid putting a negative note of human failing in the midst of a psalm dedicated to God’s power and glory. So it appears David transposed the 15th letter with the 14th mentioning them both in a single verse. He did this so that the letter NUN could be mentioned as representing human tendancies to fall AFTER preculding that thought with God’s support for His Own in a word which begins with the 15th letter.

In any case, these like all psalms, are ultimately about the greatness of God and His mercy to all and His faithfulness to His Own.

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Good Works Titus

What are good works?

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Last week we read in 2 Timothy 3:14-17 that God’s word is powerful to establish us in sound doctrine, to correct us and thoroughly outfit us for every good work – of course one of those good works is being a good and faithful steward over the spiritual gifts the Spirit has given you.
However there are many more good works!
What are they, what do they have to do with Christ being formed in us and doing ministry work?
That is what we begin to address this week.
So are you ready to dive into learning more about good works?
Before we begin, remember that many miss the supernatural looking for the spectacular. Good works are things we do in our everyday life which are in accordance with God’s word and ways.
Today we are looking at some good works for men, women, children and employees and our text is in Titus 2:1-15.

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Psalm 139

A literal & relational exploration of Psalm 139

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This is one Psalm I have been eager to study in preparation to teach, but which somewhat disappointed me once I got into it.

On the surface it appears a very intimate psalm. It opens with words that seem very personal, even warming, but evidently they are words which are used more generically of what God does with every human being.

So while there is a romantic notion of beginning this psalm as if David were making very personal claims of the exchanges he has with God, it is evidently to be taken as generalized statements which he experiences as an individual but which are not unique to him nor are they the result of being in covenant with God. They are truths respecting God’s knowing of His creatures, rather than personal statements of a Father with His son or a God with His beloved servant.

In summary, this Psalm is a poetic way of saying Hebrews 4:12-13 & Matthew 10:29-30.

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