In these verses, the apostle once more takes up the question of sexual immorality, a sin that was prevalent in Corinth. The temple of the love goddess, Aphrodite, was there. It employed more than a thousand prostitutes and sex was part of the worship ritual. In other words, Corinth was a morally …
What would you like to be doing when Christ returns (v. 14). That is how you should be living every day. While you are waiting, you should make certain that the Lord finds you pure, spotless, and living at peace†(v. 14). We should be living in eager expectation. Don’t for …
This passage can be divided into three sections with each introduced by the words “Moses said: “Moses said he wanted God’s presence to be with them as they journeyed toward the promised land (vv. 12-13). In response, God reversed his threat and promised to go with …
This psalm expresses David’s confidence in the words of God for deliverance amid men who are full of deception. Some think he wrote it during those days when his duties kept him in Saul’s courtroom while Saul was looking for ways to kill him. Others think he wrote it during those days …
The crowd listened until Paul made this last statement (v. 22). Then they started shouting, “Get rid of this man! He doesn’t deserve to live.†For Paul’s sake, it was probably good that the courtyard was paved. Had there been stones lying around the Jews may have …
The list of David’s mighty men is preceded by a short poem (vv. 1-7) titled the last words of David. In the first stanza (v. 1) he identified himself as “the son of Jesse,” a peasant farmer in Bethlehem. David was never ashamed of that, as God lifted him “ …
In this chapter God’s judgment results in three things: 1. Rebuke (vv. 1-7). This is addressed to the religious leaders, the nation in general and the royalty. It is especially directed to the religious and governmental leaders, who have been …
We are often confronted in Scripture with the evil that the tongue inflicts on others. A fool finds himself constantly in trouble because he speaks from a heart that is corrupt. In fact his mouth eventually will lead him to destruction if he is not brought to repentance. His sp …
The rest of the chapter contains Ezra’s prayer. It is in its entirety one of confession of sin, with no petition or request of any kind. Although Ezra was not personally guilty of these sins, he identifies himself with his people in his prayer. He acknowledged that all the horrib …
David may have written this psalm after the purchase of the threshing floor of Araunah (II Sam. 24) and the erection of the alter there to the Lord. Prosperity had caused David to become self-confident and proud. As a result of this God sent a great plague upon Israel which killed 70,000 …