Tuesday: A Psalm for Old Age

By James Boice

Theme: Some Universal Problems

In this week’s lessons we are reminded that God has demonstrated his faithfulness in the past, and can be counted on in the future.

Scripture: Psalm 71:1-24

It is not fun to be old, especially in America. At other times and in other cultures old age had advantages to offset its disadvantages. Elderly persons were honored and respected. Their wisdom was valued. That is no longer true in America or in the West generally. Here we value youth, and the culture is so oriented to youthful interests that many old people even try to dress and act like teenagers. David didn't have those problems, of course. But the problems he had as a result of his old age were serious and even universal. In fact, they are the most basic problems of all.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Monday: A Psalm for Old Age

By James Boice

Theme: A Song of Old Age

In this week’s lessons we are reminded that God has demonstrated his faithfulness in the past, and can be counted on in the future.

Scripture: Psalm 71:1-24

Almost all the psalms in the second book of the Psalter have title lines, with the exception of this psalm. In fact, the only other example is Psalm 43, which seems to belong with Psalm 42, which was why those two psalms were treated together in our study. Since Psalm 71 likewise has no title line, some commentators think it might originally have belonged with Psalm 70, both therefore being ascribed to King David.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Friday: Let God Be Exalted

By James Boice

Theme: Crying Out in Faith

In this week’s lessons the psalmist teaches us to pray in desperate circumstances.

Scripture: Psalm 70:1-5

The last verse of Psalm 70 is what I call the psalmist's most basic beliefs or persuasion. It has two parts: 1) that he is "poor and needy"; and 2) that God is his "help and deliverer.”

The last verse of Psalm 70 is what I call the psalmist's most basic beliefs or persuasion. It has two parts: 1) that he is "poor and needy"; and 2) that God is his "help and deliverer.”

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Thursday: Let God Be Exalted

By James Boice

Theme: Using Our Trials to Pray for Others

In this week’s lessons the psalmist teaches us to pray in desperate circumstances.

Scripture: Psalm 70:1-5

Yesterday we looked at the first two of David’s prayers in Psalm 70. The first was for himself (that he might experience a quick deliverance). And the second was for his enemies (that they might be ashamed and confused). Today we'll look at the third prayer.

Yesterday we looked at the first two of David’s prayers in Psalm 70. The first was for himself (that he might experience a quick deliverance). And the second was for his enemies (that they might be ashamed and confused). Today we'll look at the third prayer.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Life Under the Son

by Jeff Windt • August 22, 2018

Our toil under the sun is not fleeting when done in the context of life above the sun, life in the Son of God, for the glory of God. 

The title of Ernest Hemingway’s first major literary success, The Sun Also Rises, draws off of the words of Ecclesiastes 1:5: “The Sun also rises and it goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose.” Hemingway cites Ecclesiastes 1:4-7 in the opening epigraph to the novel. With that, Hemingway set the stage on which the characters in the story act out their inevitable hopelessness and resignation to an aimless and meaningless existence.

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Wednesday: Let God Be Exalted

By James Boice

Theme: The Need to Pray Always

In this week’s lessons the psalmist teaches us to pray in desperate circumstances.

Scripture: Psalm 70:1-5

What do you do in such desperate times? The answer for those who know God is to pray, turning to God. For however desperate the situation seems to us, we can know that it is never desperate for God, but rather is under his control. This is why Paul told the Philippians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6, 7).

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Tuesday: Let God Be Exalted

By James Boice

Theme: A Life of Trouble

In this week’s lessons the psalmist teaches us to pray in desperate circumstances.

Scripture: Psalm 70:1-5

What is immediately apparent about Psalm 70 is that the writer is in serious trouble and that he is calling on God to help him quickly before it is too late. We do not know what his trouble was, though it clearly had to do with enemies who were not only mocking him, saying, “Aha! Aha!” (v. 3), but were also seeking to take his life (v. 2). With the exception of the years in which David was hiding from King Saul and the time, much later, when he was forced to flee Jerusalem due to the rebellion of his son Absalom, we do not know what these specific dangers might have been. But we discern from this as well as from other psalms that David faced such dangers much of the time.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Monday: Let God Be Exalted

By James Boice

Theme: Repetition in the Psalms

In this week’s lessons the psalmist teaches us to pray in desperate circumstances.

Scripture: Psalm 70:1-5

For the second time in our study of the psalms we come to a psalm that is a virtual repetition of words found earlier. The first time this happened was more obvious, because it involved the almost exact duplication of an earlier psalm, namely, the duplication of Psalm 14 as Psalm 53. This psalm we are looking at repeats only a portion of an earlier psalm. It is a repetition of verses 13-17 from Psalm 40. Nevertheless, it is a repetition, which makes us ask about the relationship between the two psalms as well as question whether there is any reason for the several slight differences that exist.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Friday: Man of Sorrows, Part 2

By James Boice

Theme: Victory and Praise

In this week’s lessons we observe how David expresses himself honestly before God, and see how God hears and understands the great difficulties we go through.

Scripture: Psalm 69:19-36

There is a great deal of sorrow and tragedy in this life. A person would have to be blind not to see it. But for the Christian, tragedy is never the final word. The final word is always victory and praise. So this is the note on which the psalm ends, just as Psalm 22, which was also a psalm of pain and suffering, ended on a note of victory.1 In this case the psalmist first voices his praise to God, then calls on "heaven and earth... the seas and all that move in them" to praise God also.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Thursday: Man of Sorrows, Part 2

By James Boice

Theme: When God’s Judgment Comes

In this week’s lessons we observe how David expresses himself honestly before God, and see how God hears and understands the great difficulties we go through.

Scripture: Psalm 69:19-36

Blessings can become curses, as we have seen with the first two examples of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Today we mention two more.

Blessings can become curses, as we have seen with the first two examples of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Today we mention two more.

  1. Material possessions. I do not need to elaborate on this. Money and other material goods are from God. But they are dangerous, particularly when we possess them in abundance. They should lead us to God in gratitude. More often they lead us from him.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

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