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Psalm 67

In 2017 at the Sing! Conference David Platt spoke on Psalm 67. He explains something about God that we have a difficult time grasping. God didn't save us for us. Psalm 67 is a series of verses that point us to the ultimate reason that God has saved us, namely for His own glory. The psalmist demonstrates this in a couple of ways. First, God blesses us so that His way may be known on the earth. God deeply desires for the nations to know Him and His ways. His blessings exist so that we may bring Him the glory He is due. What is His way you may ask? His saving power among all the nations. Secondly, God blesses us with salvation, love, provision and justice, so that we will worship Him! Look at verse 4, "Let the nations be glad and sing for joy". God desires our praise! He has reached down from heaven in the person of Jesus Christ, demonstrating His unequaled love for us, allowing His only Son to be the sacrifice for sinful humanity and a broken world, SO THAT, w
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Valley

"You never said that it would be easy, You never said there'd be no pain But you promised you'd go with me And your promises you always keep." "Valley" is a new song by Chris McClarney that everyone needs to be singing. Based on Psalm 23, it's a song built on the truth that suffering is inevitable in this life, but we can rest assured that whether the Shepherd chooses to deliver us or not, His promises to His children He always fulfills. I'm not sure where the idea that once a person confesses Jesus as Lord, everything then becomes easy or blessed, came from, but it certainly isn't from the Scriptures! Let's just take a few examples of those from the OT and the NT and work this misnomer out. The most obvious would be our friend Job from the book that bears his name. This is a man that had it all. Large family, lots of money, big house on the beach (I made that up), most likely prestige and all the things that go
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I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

As we make our way through the Advent season, we come to the word "peace".  In Hebrew, the word is "shalom". Many greetings and wishing of glad tidings come with the word "shalom". In the Old Testament, the word "shalom" has a variety of meanings, but primarily it refers to completeness. When a wall is complete with no holes or missing bricks it is said to be in "shalom". When relationships are healed there is a sense of "shalom" between the two parties. This peace, or absence of war, must have been what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was referring to in his famous poem turned into a song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". Longfellow was living in the midst of Civil War times. Battles were being fought in every corner of the eastern seaboard and Longfellow's son, Charles, longed to join the fighting. He was a skilled soldier and decided to join the Union army despite his father's displeasure. Henry
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