psalms – Page 3 – Year in the Bible

July 18, 2012

A Song for Psalm 51

On Sunday I invited everyone who is not reading along with Year in the Bible to read one thing this week, Psalm 51. It’s thought to be a psalm written by David after Nathan the prophet came to him, rebuking him for the sin he committed with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12).

It is a psalm of repentance and reliance on God, and it is one of my favorites. A band called Indelible Grace plays an amazing version of a song based off this psalm that balances a plaintive, yet hopeful tone. I think this is fitting given the context and the depth of pain and brokenness we see in these words. There is a desperate longing to be reconciled with God. But there is still hope because of the work of God and the assurance we have that he will forgive. Check out the song at this link, and let me know what you think:

Indelible Grace, ‘God, Be Merciful To Me (Psalm 51)’

June 18, 2012

A Song of Psalm 36

An oldie, but a goodie from Third Day, with words taken from Psalm 36, which is in our week’s readings. Enjoy.

June 3, 2012

Week 11

We are in the home stretch of this Spring quarter. I hope you can dig deep and finish out strong as we now enter this week into the book of Deuteronomy. We’ve got some longer weeks ahead, but then our last week of quarter one will give us some time to breath as we have a lighter load.

So jump in and get going on that reading today. It makes such a difference if you do even just one chapter a day. That way you’re building up the habit, making God’s Word part of your routine.

This week I’ll post some helpful resources about the Deuteronomy and thoughts on Acts. If you have something you’d like covered, let me know. Deuteronomy is the last of what is called the Pentateuch, or in other words, the first five (penta, like pentagon) books of the Old Testament. Once we finish that book we’ll have read those first five pivotal books of the Old along with two gospels and what amounts to the start of the church in the New Testament in the book of Acts. All that plus over a quarter of the Psalms. Not bad for a quarter.

This is also a great time to be thinking about our summer and asking others to try Year in the Bible along with you, at least for a quarter.

April 22, 2012

Week 5

We start today another week and in the Old Testament we follow along to see what the people of God do having been freed from the slavery of Egypt. God guides them in setting up life around the worship of the one, true God and in this section God reveals his ten commandments to Moses.

Jesus calls his disciples in Luke and continues his public ministry with amazing signs and wonders, as well powerful teachings, like Luke’s account of the beatitudes in chapter six. Our focus passage this week comes from chapter eight when Jesus is confronted with a man possessed by many demons, so pay close attention to that section.

Enjoy these passages and the Psalms as well. As always, send your questions my way.

April 20, 2012

A Theme for Year in the Bible

No one has asked the question about the logo for Year in the Bible, but I’ll answer it anyways. There is a tree that has played the part of mascot for this site, and it is not just because trees are beautiful. We began reading psalms along with the Old and New Testament this week, and the first one paints a beautiful image of the one who delights in God’s word.

He is like is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:3

That is our aspiration in reading all of the Bible, together, and in one year. We seek to find our delight in God and in his word, and we trust that in doing so our roots will grow down deep into fertile soil. Our relationship with God will strengthen, we’ll be blessed with greater understanding of who God is and what he desires for us, and we’ll be better equipped to follow him in this world.

Psalm 1 is a beautiful reminder of what we can expect if we delight in God, and it also shows us what happens if we instead neglect him. Take time to try to memorize it, and in so doing, delight in the words God has given to us.

April 15, 2012April 15, 2012

Week four begins today

We are now finished with two longer books of the bible, Genesis and John. So this week begins two new books, Exodus, featuring Moses, and Luke, which like John features Jesus primarily. But new to the mix is a third reading, and that is taken from the poetry of the Psalms.

I hope you enjoy these books and are open to what God will speak to you through his words.

Click on This Week for more information and to find the focus passage for this week.