by Stuart | 30 Jun 2021 | Devotionals, Psalms
Psalm 48 portrays Jerusalem, the city of God, as a fortress for God’s people (vv. 1–3). We do not know the precise setting of the psalm, but the writer describes a time when a formidable army besieged the city to overthrow it. The attack did not last long, however,...
by Stuart | 29 Jun 2021 | Devotionals, Psalms
Last year, I read The Myth of Christian Persecution by English academic and theologian Candida Moss. Her premise is that the infant church invented a narrative of systemic Christian persecution, which was only reversed after the conversion of Emperor Constantine early...
by Stuart | 28 Jun 2021 | Devotionals, Psalms
“Unprecedented.” “Unknown.” “Uncertain.” “New normal.” These terms were commonplace during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic? How often was said that we were living in “unprecedented” times? We were all told to prepare for the “new normal”? We lived as though nobody...
by Stuart | 25 Jun 2021 | Devotionals, Psalms
My wife and I were engaged on 4 April 2004. We were married on 21 August 2004. A typical wedding planning checklist would suggest that we went about things the wrong way. According to MagnetStreet.com, the wedding date—or three dates, for flexibility’s sake—should be...
by Stuart | 24 Jun 2021 | Devotionals, Psalms
Have you ever met anyone who believed that Christianity holds all the answers to life’s most perplexing questions? If we are honest, we will admit that that is not our experience. God’s people often wrestle with questions to which they find no answers. Psalm 44 is a...
by Stuart | 23 Jun 2021 | Devotionals, Psalms
Psalm 43 strikes us exactly where we live. The writer felt deep, abiding conflict. On the one hand, he seemed confident that God would vindicate, defend, and deliver him (v. 1) because he had taken refuge in God (v. 2a). On the other hand, he felt as if God had...
