Gospel Living

4            The Lord is in his holy temple;             the Lord’s throne is in heaven;             his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. 5            The Lord tests the righteous,             but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. 6            Let him rain coals on the wicked;             fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. 7            For the Lord is righteous;             he loves righteous deeds;     ...

7            But the Lord sits enthroned forever;             he has established his throne for justice, 8            and he judges the world with righteousness;             he judges the peoples with uprightness. 9            The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,             a stronghold in times of trouble. 10           And those who know your name put their trust in you,             for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. When we consider God’s attributes, remember that He establishes and defines them; He doesn’t submit to any standard o...

He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); Our Lord appointed twelve to assist Him in the work of His earthly ministry.  Let’s focus today on the first of those—Simon Peter.  This is the first time the name “Peter” appears in Mark, even though he’s mentioned in the previous chapters.  From this point forward, Mark refers to Simon as Peter.  As Peter himself is likely speaking through Mark’s writing, it appears that Peter saw this moment as a turning point for Him—the point at which the Lord began to change him. The Lord gives new names.  God frequently changes the names of His saints.  Abram (a former idolator who had no children but whose name meant “exalted father”) became Abraham (“father of many nations”).  Jacob (“deceiver”) became Israel (“God’s fighter”).  Jesus says in Revelation 2:17 that the overcomer in Him receives “a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who r...

15  And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16  And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17  And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” A friend of tax-collectors and sinners!  This is the accusation the self-righteous would hurl at Jesus (Mt 11:19).  It may not make sense to us, but you must consider the world in which the Jews had been living. After the Greeks had swept through the world and imported new temptations to sin, the faithful successfully fought for the cause of righteousness.  That priestly class came to be the Pharisees, and they became the standard of righteousness for ...

14           Behold, the wicked man conceives evil             and is pregnant with mischief             and gives birth to lies. 15           He makes a pit, digging it out,             and falls into the hole that he has made. 16           His mischief returns upon his own head,             and on his own skull his violence descends. 17           I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,             and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. Today, we conclude David’s prayer of i...

6            Arise, O LORD, in your anger;             lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;             awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. 7            Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;             over it return on high. 8            The LORD judges the peoples;             judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness             and according to the integrity that is in me. 9            Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,    ...

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. 1            Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!             You have given me relief when I was in distress.             Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! We start a new psalm this week, but with some of the same themes from Psalm 3.  In fact, the occasion may be the same, with David either on the run from Saul or Absalom.  In any event, this psalm is meant to give us peace during the troubles of life.  We begin to see that here. When facing trouble, remember what the Lord has done in the past.  In this first verse, David begins with a plea common to the Book of Psalms—“Answer me when I call.”  This isn’t a call of vain desperation, because he looks back and sees that the Lord has given him relief in the pas...