Always Reforming

T he LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.     A well-known passage, and rightly so.  This is a beautiful picture of God's care for and relationship with his people.  The analogy utilized here is one that would have been fresh and accessible to the audience, which was largely agricultural, and in which sheep played a large role economically and religiously.  Notice one thing before we begin exegesis.  Yahweh, the actor portray...

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”   Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. ...

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."    This passage demonstrates the denseness of the book of Romans.  In just the greeting of this letter you could do at least a couple of sermons.  I, however, will quickly glean a few major thoughts.  Firstly, we see, once again, the truth that the Gospel (the Go...

"Then the word of Yahweh came to me: “Thus says Yahweh: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares Yahweh, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen."     The first seven verses of this chapter relate the story of how Yahweh tells Jeremiah to buy a loincloth and wear it and then bury it in a hillside.  Jeremiah is then instructed to retrieve it and, as expected, it is ruined.  It's good for nothing.  This is yet another picture that Yahweh gives to demonstrate the filth and putrition of Israel/Judah, and...

 " I, I am the LORD , and besides me there is no savior.   I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord , “and I am God. Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”     As a first order of business, let's be done with this LORD crap.  6,283 (or something like that...I know it's at least 6,000) times in the Old Testament the tetragrammaton "YHWH" is seen.  Now in ancient Hebrew the vowels were never written.  The reader supplied them.  At any rate, the probable pronunciation is Yahweh.  That is the generally accepted rendering.  To cut this little rabbit trail short, Lord is a title, but Yahweh is a name--a personal name, just like Bob or Ted (but way better).  The Bible does use the generic term Lord to refer to God, and when you see it written Lord, that is ...

"Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord ! And yet he is wise and brings disaster; he does not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the helpers of those who work iniquity. The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together."     Unfortunately, many of us often act like practical atheists.  We talk a good talk, but when it comes time to trust in God, we trust in man.  The American dream is the great humanistic victory in our unfortunate history.  We have believed in the good inside of man, ignoring the Bible, and reaping our just consequences.    ...

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children a have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord , they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. 5 Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. 7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left like...