Passage, Paragraph, and Prayer

In Psalm 119:83, the psalmist compares himself to a wineskin in thick smoke. What does that mean? And what does it mean for us?

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No.…

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…

Have you ever heard of talking eyes before? The psalmist mentions talking eyes in Psalm 119:82, but he uses this metaphor to teach us how and where to seek God’s comfort.

Music Credit: Johann Sebastia…

On the surface, Genesis 5 just looks like a boring genealogy. In this devotion, Pastor Biebert discusses the fourfold purpose of the chapter, and also uses its information to give us an idea of the a…

Verse 81 begins the eleventh stanza of Psalm 119, a stanza that has a fairly well-defined theme of being worn out, tired, and on the brink of ruin as we wait for God to keep his word to us and to bri…

Just like with Eve and her firstborn, Cain, Lamech may have thought that his son Noah was the promised Messiah, and named him accordingly. Even though he was not, God does still continue to bring Chr…

In the closing verse of the tenth stanza of Psalm 119, the psalmist reminds us of the kind of blamelessness God is looking for—a blamelessness that should always prevent us from claiming we have the …

There isn’t a lot we can say about the meanings of the names in Genesis 5, because we don’t even know for sure if they are Hebrew names (was Hebrew around before the Tower of Babel?), and even if the…

”You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” Randy Newman sang for the "Toy Story" movies. In Psalm 119:79, the psalmist leads us to pray that our fellow believers would see us as a friend they can turn to in need.

M…

In Genesis 5, the refrain “and he died” repeatedly rings out like a funeral toll. We do well to figuratively walk past the graves of these deceased men, to ponder the consequences of sin, and to cons…

In this devotion we cover the three predominant worldviews (guilt-innocence, fear-power, honor-shame), so that we can answer the question: What is the psalmist leading us to pray for when he says, “L…

When people read in the Bible about early men routinely living over 900 years, they often can’t help but wonder if a different time scale isn’t being used. Pastor Biebert discusses this question in t…

In this devotion, we review the way this psalm uses various synonyms for God’s word. We then apply that to a verse might initially seem to be saying that God gives us compassion and life in exchange …

Many Christians will say that all humans are still made in the image of God. While that is true in a limited sense, such people have not sufficiently grappled with what Moses writes in Genesis 5:1–5.

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Last week we grappled with the uncomfortable thought that sometimes God decrees affliction for us. The psalmist immediately follows up that truth with a prayer for the comfort of God’s—a prayer that …

Genesis 5:1 begins the second 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). Its name, “the written account …

In this devotion we grapple with an uncomfortable thought, but one the psalmist makes believers come to grips with: Sometimes God decrees affliction for us.

Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio f…

Have you ever wondered when the first church services were held? In this devotion, we not only look at the first church services, but also consider why they were not held until about 150 years after …

Those who are loyal to God and his Word above all don’t just have haters. They also have supporters, admirers, and cheerleaders, who derive great admiration and joy from their godliness.

Music Credit:…

After losing a son to a violent murder, many mothers would shake their fist at God. Eve did not. She charged her son’s murder to her other son who committed it, but she ascribed to God the new life G…