Speaking to those who find themselves in exile, effectively cut off from life and hope and peace; who hunger and thirst for relief; who live as those among the dead, whose joy has all but evaporated in the barren wilderness, whose songs have faded to but faint echoes of memories … to these, Isaiah [...]

In the middle of the wilderness of Judah, as the title would suggest to us, pressed not only by his harsh, barren, dry surroundings, but being harrassed on every side by various groups opposing and even seeking to kill him, David writes:
O God, you are my God; earnesly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you; [...]

Jesus calls out to us, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
And so we come. Longing for relief, rescue and rest.
And as we come to him and walk with him, we find ourselves slowly wondering what exactly he means by “rest.” For like Jeremiah [...]

This week brings the conclusion of our journey to the dwelling place of God through the Psalms of Ascent. Our journey not only brings us with rejoicing – together as God’s people – into the presence of our God, but also to the very heartbeat, the very beating center of our life together [...]

We encounter it repeatedly in the account of the living God’s creation of his world and then, at the end, finally and climatically we hear God’s evaluation of all that he’d made:
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” — Genesis 1:31
Have you ever wondered what it would require to [...]

It is dangerous, so the conventional wisdom goes, to pray for patience …
Interesting, though, that we don’t consider it equally dangerous to pray for wisdom, and yet the two virtues are closely related.
Notice how closely they are related in James (sometimes known as the wisdom literature of the New Testament because of the apparently unrelated, [...]

Paul is writing to Titus, giving him practical advice regarding the hearts and habits that characterize godly men and women: humble submission, obedience, readiness to serve, keeping one’s tongue from evil, avoiding quarrels, showing respect, courtesy and kindness to all people, including rulers and authorities. (It is timely and worthy to note that among [...]

Our culture tells us, “Don’t worry; be happy!”
Paul tells us, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice,” and “don’t worry about anything …”
They look alike; even their implicit and explicit purposes appear the same: that we might live lives of peace and, well, serenity now.
But while they may look identical on the [...]

Charles Wesley is used to teach us who Christ is — and who we are:
Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find:
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; [...]

As the pilgrims made their way up to Jerusalem and as the city came into view, they reflected on the City and the Kingdom – both present and promised – it represented:

Unless the Lord build the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in [...]