Up from the Pit, Part 4

Theme: A Faithful Testimony

In this psalm we learn from the life of David what we must do when we find ourselves in pits of various kinds.

Scripture: Psalm 40:1-17

Jeremiah prophesied the coming of a new covenant, saying, "‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people’" (Jer. 31:33). To Jeremiah, having the law in our hearts is a proper definition of what it means to be in a right relationship to God. Jesus also had much to say about the heart, often stressing that the people's hearts were calloused (cf. Matt. 13:15; Mark 7:6, 21). In regard to the law, Jesus said that the chief commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37).

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.

Up from the Pit, Part 3

Theme: God’s Past Goodness

In this psalm we learn from the life of David what we must do when we find ourselves in pits of various kinds.

Scripture: Psalm 40:1-17

It is a characteristic of the psalms, particularly those of David, that they frequently first tell of the writer's personal experience of God's goodness and then reflect on that goodness, commending it to others. This is what the second section of Psalm 40 does (vv. 4-10). There are three parts.

It is a characteristic of the psalms, particularly those of David, that they frequently first tell of the writer's personal experience of God's goodness and then reflect on that goodness, commending it to others. This is what the second section of Psalm 40 does (vv. 4-10). There are three parts.

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.

Up from the Pit, Part 2

Theme: A Joyful Testimony

In this psalm we learn from the life of David what we must do when we find ourselves in pits of various kinds.

Scripture: Psalm 40:1-17

Yesterday we concluded by mentioning the first of a number of slimy pits that can afflict us. Today we list three others.

The pit of defeat. Some people have a very different kind of pit from which they need to be lifted. It is the pit of personal defeat, whether at work or school or in the home or in some other setting or relationship. Some people would say that their entire lives have been one long and unending defeat. They have never succeeded at anything.

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.

Up from the Pit, Part 1

Theme: Down in the Pit

In this psalm we learn from the life of David what we must do when we find ourselves in pits of various kinds.

Scripture: Psalm 40:1-17

Psalm 40 tells of a man who was stuck in a slimy pit, bogged down in mud and mire, but then was rescued by God, who set his feet on a rock and gave him a firm place to stand. That man was King David.

Psalm 40 tells of a man who was stuck in a slimy pit, bogged down in mud and mire, but then was rescued by God, who set his feet on a rock and gave him a firm place to stand. That man was 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.

Creature of a Day, Part 5

Theme: This World Is Not My Home

In this week’s lessons we see how David responds in the midst of trouble, which is by taking his cares to the Lord and trusting him to act.

Scripture: Psalm 39:1-13

The New Testament perspective on the idea of an alien is found in several places, for example, in 1 Peter 2:11: "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." It is an appeal to live like citizens of the heavenly country to which we belong and to which we are going and not as citizens of this earth.

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.

The Father of Hymnody

Ambrose brought the singing of hymns to congregational worship and established what became the foundation of Ambrosian Chant. Hymns like “O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright” and “Come, Thou, Redeemer of the Earth” have instructed countless churches throughout the centuries.

On December 7, 374, Ambrose became bishop of Milan and thereby became a staunch defender of the Faith against the Arians. Ambrose was born into a prominent Christian Roman family around 340 in Trier (which is in modern Germany). His father was the prefect of the region, but when he died about 14 years later, Ambrose’s mother moved the family back to Rome where Ambrose and his brother studied rhetoric and Greek.

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Why Saying "She's Just a Friend" is an Insult

And how it reveals our ingratitude.

What does friendship mean to you? Is erotic love in marriage the only real valuable outlet for our affection? Does all affection lead to erotic love? Christians have another relationship to consider as well, one that will last to the new heavens and the new earth. We are siblings to one another in Christ. And just like siblingship is our longest lasting relationship on this earth, sacred siblingship is our longest lasting relationship, enduring on the new earth. That’s got to mean something, right? How do you value your friends?

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Creature of a Day, Part 4

Theme: Made for Eternity

In this week’s lessons we see how David responds in the midst of trouble, which is by taking his cares to the Lord and trusting him to act.

Scripture: Psalm 39:1-13

When we do come to understand our own weakness and creatureliness in the context of our suffering, we tend to ask these kinds of questions: “What does God want with me?" “Why does he care what I do? Nothing I do can possibly affect him or hurt him. I don’t have anything to contribute to him.” “Why doesn't God just forget about me and leave me alone."

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.

Creature of a Day, Part 3

Theme: When Suffering Comes

In this week’s lessons we see how David responds in the midst of trouble, which is by taking his cares to the Lord and trusting him to act.

Scripture: Psalm 39:1-13

This is the meaning of verse 4. Verse 4 does not mean: "I am weary of this suffering; tell me when I am going to die so this will end" or "Life is too short for all I have been given to do; this is unfair." Instead, it means, as J. J. Stewart Perowne expressed it, "Make me rightly to know and estimate the shortness and uncertainty of human life, that so, instead of suffering myself to be perplexed with all that I see around me, I may cast myself the more entirely upon thee."3 This is exactly what David does in the verse immediately following this stanza, that is, in verse 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.

Creature of a Day, Part 2

Theme: Out, Out Brief Candle!

In this week’s lessons we see how David responds in the midst of trouble, which is by taking his cares to the Lord and trusting him to act.

Scripture: Psalm 39:1-13

We should learn a number of things from David's conduct: 1) What we say is vitally important; we can sin with our mouths as well as with our other bodily members; 2) It is better to be silent than to say things that can be used against God by wicked persons; 3) We should not be anxious to share such grief even with godly persons; and 4) We should bring our troubles to God.

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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