Posts from 2011 (Page 2)

Living for God isn’t like walking on a tightrope without a safety net, while a breathless crowd sits below just waiting for you to fall! In Psalm 125 David is emphasizing the safety of being right with God, despite what might be happening in your life or what others might be trying to make you do with your life! But in the light of that he also emphasises the faithfulness…

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12) Rocks in your head? Isn’t that a derogatory statement, a form of ridicule to indicate that someone is crazy? Yet here is Samuel setting up a big solitary stone in the ground that would serve as a constant reminder to the…

“Remember my chains” (Col 4:18) Paul in writing to the Colossians in a prayer request marked by its own brevity and simplicity actually highlights the deep anguish of a believer’s heart under the hand of persecution. He does not rebel against it but lets us know that he feels it. It is not a light or easy thing. He does not diminish the realities of…

As he came from his mother’s womb, naked  shall he return, to go as he came; and he shall take nothing from his labour which he may carry away in his hand. (Ecclesiastes 5:15) While the ‘Preacher’ is speaking of the vanity of living to amass wealth, possessions and property, the principle can be applied to other areas of life too. The simple reality is…

‘My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, and my soul  which You have redeemed.’ (Psalm 71:23) Problems cloud our vision and prevent praise, It is said that on one occasion, the Cleveland Orchestra were playing the overture to The Magic Flute by Mozart when the house lights went out due to a power-failure. The orchestra kept playing and managed to…

Now what is the answer which the cross of Christ gives to this inquiry? We know the answer which paganism would give; it would point the inquirer to the Ganges and tell him, That is the way to heaven. We know the answer which Rome would give; it would tell him to repeat his prayers to the virgin. . . . But what is the answer which the cross gives to his inquiry? It will…

Can you sense the stirring emotions felt by the pilgrims as they came to Jerusalem, and into the courts of the temple? The anticipated entering, intensifying as they got closer, and then the great enthusiasm as they stood within the precincts of grace and met with brethren whom they perhaps had not seen since the last time they were all together. In this Psalm David, as…

This week we continue to consider and unite in the Songs for the Road (Psalms 120 – 134). As Psalm 120 declared the supreme motivation in the believer’s life of longing to be with God and know the blessings of His love and fellowship, Psalm 121 speaks of the confidence with which he sets out as being kept safe by the power of God. In both Psalms his eye is on…

The Psalms are for worship – and so they have been used through the years been a vital part not only of Jewish worship but of Christians in the Presbyterian Churches. They rightly hold a place in our worship here in SYPC. But they are also Songs for Life, reflecting on all the situations, emotions, questions, desires, aspirations and delights of being the people of…

“Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” (1 Tim 3:7) John Stott wrote, “William Golding is a contemporary novelist who has vividly illustrated the negative power of hypocrisy. In his book Free Fall he tells the story of Sammy Mountjoy, an illegitimate child brought up in…