Passage, Paragraph, and Prayer

Memorials often urge us never to forget the tragedy or atrocity being memorialized, so that we don’t repeat it. The psalmist urges us to follow his lead in resolving never to forget God’s precepts fo…

Genesis 6:9 begins the third of the ten “accounts” that make up the book of Genesis (2:4ff; 5:1ff; 6:9ff; 10:1ff; 11:10ff; 11:27ff; 25:12ff; 25:19ff; 36:1ff; 37:2ff). The “account of Noah” begins by …

How are you doing with your affliction? Whether your affliction is a disease, adverse people or circumstances, wrestling with your conscience, wrestling with unhealthy desires, wrestling with the mea…

In Genesis 6:9 we’re told that, in the midst of an increasingly and breathtakingly wicked world, Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generations, and he made his way through life with God. But…

In the first three verses of the twelfth stanza of Psalm 119 (vv. 89–91), the psalmist praises the Lord’s word by going back to its first use, the creation of the universe, and noting how we can stil…

The only reason we are able to rage is because we humans were originally created in the image of God, and God is capable of rage too. But his rage is much different from ours.

Music Credit: J. S. Bach…

In the first three verses of the twelfth stanza of Psalm 119 (vv. 89–91), the psalmist praises the Lord’s word by going back to its first use, the creation of the universe, and noting how we can stil…

How does God feel about our sins? What do they do to him? Genesis 6:5–6 answers these questions in soul-stirring language.

Music Credit: J. S. Bach, “Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten,” …

In this devotion, we begin looking at the twelfth stanza of Psalm 119. In the first three verses of this stanza (vv. 89–91), the psalmist praises the Lord’s word by going back to its first use, the c…

The Lord says of mankind before the Flood that “every formation of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil all the time.” But before we think that humans were somehow extra corrupt during that tim…

By the time we get to the end of the eleventh stanza of Psalm 119, we're probably left with two impressions: 1) Being a Christian can wear a person out, and 2) the psalmist has nearly superhuman resi…

When interpreters go astray in interpreting Genesis 6:1–2, they also go astray in identifying the people that Moses calls “the Nephilim.” In this episode, we explore who the Nephilim were and see how…

In Psalm 119:87, the psalmist acknowledges the harm that persecutors can do and have done to him. But he also makes clear that they are incapable of actual destroying him.

Music Credit: Johann Sebasti…

Two of the toughest traits of good parenting to put into practice are setting consequences for wrongdoing and enforcing them. The Lord does both, because he cannot just wink at sin, both because it w…

In Psalm 119:86, you can almost see the psalmist clenching his fists or wringing his hands in frustration at what is happening in his life. He is asserting and doing what is right, but is getting per…

Even many Christians see Genesis 6:1–4 as describing spirit beings having intimate relations with human women and producing children that are sort of half-spirit, half-human. Having already seen that…

“The proud dig pits for me that are not in keeping with your law,” the psalmist writes. So is it possible to dig pits for others that *are* in keeping with God’s law?

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Ba…

Apart from the creation account, Genesis 6:1–4 are probably the most scrutinized verses in the book of Genesis. Even many Christians see these verses as describing spirit beings having intimate relat…

Sometimes the authors of Scripture highlight the brevity of our lives, how quickly we pass away and are gone. But when we are in the middle of persecution and hardship, the author of Psalm 119 acknow…

Apart from the creation account, Genesis 6:1–4 are probably the most scrutinized verses in the book of Genesis. Even many Christians see these verses as describing spirit beings having intimate relat…