Passage, Paragraph, and Prayer

“Direct me in the way of your decrees,” the psalmist says. The idea is that we need to be an arrow in God’s bow in order to persevere on the path to heaven.

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio f…

This is the second of eight devotions on the first gospel promise in Genesis 3:15. In this devotion we consider how God *alone* needed to redirect mankind’s hostility after the fall into sin. He coul…

Did you know that those humans (and animals) who are consistently the best and most powerful long-distance runners not only have a strong body, but also a large heart? We, too, need a large heart for…

This is the first of eight devotions on the first gospel promise in Genesis 3:15. In this devotion we consider how God needed to redirect mankind’s hostility after the fall into sin.

Music Credit: J. …

What does it mean to be put to shame? And what shame do you fear most?

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No. 1, Movement 4

When we hear God’s curse on the serpent in Genesis 3:14, questions naturally arise: Why did God punish the serpent, when the devil was the one tempting Adam and Eve through the serpent? Did the serpe…

“The way of truth I have chosen.” Is that even possible for us? Doesn’t Jesus himself say elsewhere, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16)? How then should we understand this psalm ve…

God pronounces a curse on the devil and gives mankind the first gospel promise *before* they have even expressed their repentance. This is a clear demonstration of God’s grace or undeserved love.

Musi…

The psalmist asks God not to turn him away from falsehood, but to turn the way of falsehood away from him. Why does he phrase it that way? What are we praying when we repeat his words?

Music Credit: J…

“What have I done?” “What have you done?” In rhetorical questions like this, we detect the anguish in the person asking them. In Genesis 3:13, as God moves on to the woman to call her to repentance, …

In Psalm 119:28, the psalmist describes his soul melting away in grief. What does grief do to you? And where can you go to find relief from it?

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenbu…

In Genesis 3:12 we note how fallen humans tend to point the finger at other people and things, even God, for their own wrongs, and how sin not only ruins our relationship with God, but also with one …

What is at the heart of God’s word? And what then should be the effect of studying it?

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No. 1, Movement 4

In Genesis 3:12 we note how fallen humans tend to point the finger at other people and things, even God, for their own wrongs, and how sin not only ruins our relationship with God, but also with one …

The popular hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” emphasizes that we can share *anything* with God. Of course, that idea didn’t originate with the hymn writer. It’s right here in Psalm 119. NOTE: Whe…

After asking Adam an innocent, open-ended question and then a question that would have required a more complex answer, God finally make confession of sin as simple as possible for Adam. Did you or di…

This Bible verse is a good prayer for us to pray when we feel healthy and invincible, and death is the farthest thing from our minds. In reality, we live every moment in the company of death. Yet wit…

Those who teach their students how to teach others have a rule: Only ask one question at a time. It initially seems like God breaks this rule in Genesis 3:11…until we remember that God is the perfect…

Maybe we’re too proud to admit it, but how often don’t we need reliable advice and counsel? In God’s word we have an advisory team that never fails us in life or in death.

Music Credit: Johann Sebasti…

When someone starts questioning us after we’ve done wrong, what do often do? Stall for time. We’ll blubber and mumble and talk about details that don’t directly relate to the question and don’t reall…