Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: touch, feel, sense of touch, tactile sense, tactility, contact, using one's hands, sensation, sense, suspicion, sneaking suspicion, notion, inkling, hunch, fancy, apprehension, presentiment, premonition, foreboding, love, care, affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, warmness, emotion, sentiment, emotional state, compassion, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, understanding, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, tender-heartedness, brotherly love, sensibilities, sensitivities, self-esteem, ego, pride, opinion, belief, view, impression, intuition, instinct, estimation, guess, theory, hypothesis, thought, way of thinking, point of view, atmosphere, ambience, aura, air, mood, climate, character, overtone, undertone, tenor, spirit, quality, flavour, colour, aptitude, knack, flair, bent, talent, gift, skill, art, trick, faculty, ability, propensity, inclination, sensitive, warm, warm-hearted, tender, tender-hearted, caring, soft-hearted, sympathetic, compassionate, empathetic, responsive, receptive, intuitive, thoughtful

Antonyms: bad feeling, acrimony, animosity, animus, antagonism, antipathy, aversion, bitterness, detestation, disgust, dislike, disrelish, enmity, friction, grievances, grudges, hatred, hostility, loathing, malevolence, malice

Showing 4176 to 4200 of 4770 results

4176. Samuel Subdues the Philistines at Mizpah

1 Samuel 7:2-17

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... the writers come to the next main focus, the beginning of kingship. In chapter 7 we have Samuel’s ministry and his credentials as an appropriate kingmaker established, but we also have the power of God presented in such a way as to indicate the writers’ view that human kingship was unnecessary. 7:2–13a Twenty years pass from the ark’s lodging at Kiriath Jearim to the events at Mizpah, which result from the nation’s turning to the Lord. Even at this stage, Samuel seeks evidence of the sincerity of ...

4177. Samuel Anoints Saul

1 Sam 9:1–10:8

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... , but in 1 Sam. 19:20 he is associated with a group like this. Gibeah, where this group was to be found, is Saul’s home (10:26), which explains why those who knew Saul were able to observe his behavior. Mention of a Philistine outpost nearby would substantiate the view that Saul had ambitions to get rid of the Philistines.

4178. Samuel Rebukes Saul

1 Samuel 13:1-15

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... not a priest. God remained the true king, and absolute obedience to him was essential for any lasting kingdom in Israel. So far, apart from the brief reference to Saul’s family in 9:20, there has been no indication that a dynasty was ever in view. It is possible, even probable, that Saul had pondered such a prospect. But Samuel’s raising the possibility and then taking it away must have disturbed the king, who still had a job to do. The prospect of an appointed though unknown successor would have only ...

4179. Jonathan Eats Honey

1 Samuel 14:24-48

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... his death. Their will prevails, Jonathan is spared, and there is no immediate effect from all this foolish swearing. This section recalls both Jephthah’s foolish oath and the common-sense attitude of Manoah’s wife when she contradicted her husband’s view that their having seen the angel was bound to lead to death (Judg. 11; 13). Whether or not the authors intended that reminder, this passage challenges readers to consider whether cursing or oath taking are appropriate ways to discover God’s plans ...

4180. The Lord Rejects Saul as King

1 Samuel 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... Prov. 21:3; Hos. 6:6). 15:23 How the sin of divination, which is condemned throughout the OT, relates to the use of the ephod (which seems to have been permitted) is not clear. Perhaps seeking to discover what was going to happen in the future was viewed differently from the attempt to discern God’s will for the present. 15:24 Saul failed to recognize the responsibility of the king as God’s regent to direct the people to follow God. By seeking the approval of the people rather than leading them to obey ...

4181. Samuel Anoints David

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... portrayal of Saul’s reign as being a pause before the genuine new age arose in Israel with David’s enthronement. The writers convey the impression that Saul’s reign could have been the new beginning. But because Saul failed, at least in the view of the Deuteronomic historian, to grasp that kingship in a theocracy meant complete obedience to God, his reign became an intermission. It is interesting to note that Samuel is presented as the primary decision maker in the appointments of both Saul and David ...

4182. David at Nob

1 Samuel 21:1-9

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... holding his spear because it gave him confidence in his own status and reminded those around him that he was to be taken seriously. 22:22 The fact that David had recognized Doeg at the shrine could be seen as evidence that Doeg was a known troublemaker and supports the view of his detention as some kind of punishment.

4183. David Destroys the Amalekites

1 Samuel 30:1-31

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... of the march down from the north, proved too much for some of David’s men. 30:12 The down-to-earth realism of this narrative, describing the exhaustion of the men and the details of the food given to the slave, provides support for the view that it originated as an eyewitness account. 30:14 The Kerethites, allies of the Philistines, also originated from Crete. 2 Sam. 8:18 tells us that there was a Kerethite section in David’s entourage. Possibly this defeat of their common enemy (the Amalekites) led to ...

4184. David Hears of Saul's Death

2 Samuel 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... seen as a prearranged rendezvous. Given the suspicion of David by Saul and presumably by many of his entourage, this would have been interpreted as providing evidence of David’s complicity in Saul’s death; possession of the royal insignia would reinforce this view. In order to avoid any suggestion of such complicity, David had to act quickly and decisively. David did not doubt that this young man deserved death—not because he had brought bad news, but because of the action that he had taken against ...

4185. David Anointed King over Judah

2 Samuel 2:1-7

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... more of a natural compassion. Three hundred and eighty Israelites were killed that day, the vast majority of them coming from the tribe of Benjamin, as Judah had the best of the fierce fighting. The most significant incident from the writers’ point of view, however, was the death of a Judean, Joab’s young brother Asahel, who shared Joab’s arrogant confidence. Although he had speed, Asahel had not developed tactical abilities. He decided that he would put an end to the fighting by defeating Abner, and ...

4186. God’s Promise to David

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... extension of the Davidic line is said to be more obvious in the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 17, though in both cases the thought is clearer from a retrospective position. Although the Davidic king became the ideal (e.g., as in Ps. 72), the view here is realistic. Verse 14 in particular shows that David’s descendants were not expected to be ideal. The Davidic dynasty will endure, but it is to be a “dynasty under discipline” (Ackroyd, The Second Book of Samuel, p. 78). The intimate father-son ...

4187. David Flees

2 Samuel 15:13-37

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... God’s control over the affairs of king and people. 15:32 There was apparently a recognized shrine at the top of the Mount of Olives. It was common for such worship centers to be set up at high places, providing panoramic views of surrounding countryside, in this case of the city of Jerusalem. Although such worship centers later became identified with pagan worship and were strongly discouraged, there is no suggestion of that at this point. The people of Hushai the Arkite were originally Canaanites ...

4188. The Last Words of David

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... 47; 23:3) directly links the two passages. David, through this oracle, is presented as a prophet as well as a poet. He desperately wanted his descendants to be aware of the lessons he had worked so hard at learning, and verse 2 emphasizes that he viewed what he was about to say as coming directly from God. Nevertheless the significance of these words as a prophecy was perhaps drawn out only after his death. He presents, focusing primarily on the future of his own descendants and addressing them, a prophetic ...

4189. David's Mighty Men

2 Samuel 23:8-39

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... identified as belonging to David’s thirty chief men, but whether this was as formalized a group as it became during David’s kingship is not clear. 23:18–23 That Abishai and Beniah were so significant and yet not included among the three supports the view that the earlier fighting but not the later was considered to be part of a holy war. As Hertzberg put it (I and II Samuel, p. 406), “These were daring deeds but not ‘saving’ deeds.” Benaiah replaced Joab as commander of the army after having ...

4190. Introducing Job

Job 1:1-5

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... to speak to the deepest issues of the human condition. Whose name was Job. The similarity of Job’s name (ʾiyob) to the Hebrew word for “enemy; opponent” (ʾoyeb) has led some to suggest a symbolic interpretation of the name. In this view, which undermines the historicity of the book’s central character, Job is the literarily conceived “opponent” who confronts God. There are examples of the name in various forms in early ancient Near Eastern texts, however, so a symbolic understanding of the ...

4191. Job's Reply to Eliphaz

Job 6:1–7:21

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... . In the same way, Job’s friends are not only unreliable sources of comfort, but misleading mirages that threaten to draw a desperate Job away from the true trade route—the path of Yahweh—to his destruction. The friends’ counsel is, in Job’s view, not only insensitive to his suffering, but ultimately a threat to his saving relationship with God! 6:21 Like these unreliable streams that lead trusting travelers to their destruction, Job’s friends have also proved to be of no help. Job explains this ...

4192. Eliphaz's Third Speech to Job

Job 22:1-30

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... how to resolve the question of the delay of divine judgment. Eliphaz’s distorted quote of Job presents a picture of a decidedly transcendent deity, far removed from the human realm, moving about the vaulted heavens blissfully ignorant of human pain and suffering. Such a view runs contrary to that actually espoused by Job on at least one major point. Job’s complaint is grounded in his firm belief that God is well aware of what is happening in the human sphere and quite capable of acting to affect the ...

4193. God Is in Control, Humans Are Unrighteous Maggots

Job 25:1-6

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... , uncolored as they are by evil and trouble, even the “moon” and “stars” fail to measure up to the standard of purity in God’s eyes. The reference to the divine eyes reminds the reader once again of God’s scrutiny of human activity with a view to judging evil (vv. 2–3). If these exalted heavenly bodies cannot satisfy God’s demand for purity, what chance has weak and limited man (ʾenosh)? By contrast, says Bildad, a man is a maggot and a worm. These terms describe insect larvae that invade ...

4194. The Escape to Egypt

Matthew 2:13-18

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... to warn the Magi to return to their country by a different route). On two subsequent occasions in chapter 2 Joseph will be instructed by means of a dream (vv. 19, 22). In the ancient world people attached great importance to dreams. The dream was viewed as a form of communication with the unseen world, and every primitive culture had its professionals who would interpret dreams (cf. Dan. 2:2). In Hebrew tradition the ability to interpret dreams comes from God (Gen. 40:8). The angel who appears to Joseph in ...

4195. Mercy for the Languishing

Psalm 6:1-10

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... we treasured only the final stage and the final form of God’s revelation. There is still a valuable lesson to be learned from this earlier stage, namely that the inability to praise God leaves his people feeling near death. Life without worship, in the liturgists’ view, is no life at all. Not to praise is a form of death. The primary indicator of our being truly alive is our praise of God. This psalm is correct in that sickness, or at least symptoms similar to physical illness, should remind us of our ...

4196. The Baptism of Jesus

Matthew 3:13-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... superiority, so he attempted to get him to change his mind (the Greek verb translated in the AV as “forbade” is taken as an “imperfect of attempted action” and rendered in other versions as “sought to dissuade” [Rieu], “protested strenuously” [Amplified]). Schweizer’s view that “John cannot have spoken the words given to him here” (p. 57) is based on the assumption that had John said what he is purported to have said he would have had to quit baptizing and become a follower of Jesus ...

4197. Delivering the Helpless from Social Oppression: Part I

Psalm 9:1-20

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... “the wicked” and “the helpless” (implying social oppression within the nation). How can these psalms be seen to work together? After closer examination we shall discover the “I” of the psalm speaks as a representative on behalf of the helpless. When viewed as a whole, Psalm 9 appears to appeal to Yahweh’s past, praiseworthy judgments (esp. regarding the nations) as precedents for how he should intervene in the current social unrest within Israel/Judah, as described in Psalm 10 (note the sole ...

4198. Delivering the Helpless from Social Oppression: Part II

Psalm 10:1-18

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... world in righteousness . . . . . . judging the fatherless and the oppressed (10:18) / The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed (9:8–9). Psalm 9–10 presents a powerful appeal to God. It neither retreats from reality, using God’s promises as a security blanket, nor rejects God’s promises in view of the lamentable reality. Rather, it sets the contradictions side by side and leaves their resolution to God.

4199. There Is No One Who Does Good: Version 1

Psalm 14:1-7

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... elōhîm) in a verse that begins with “the LORD” (i.e., God’s personal name) underscores the psalm’s universal scope. His search is not restricted to those who have been informed of Israel’s God. Yahweh’s perspective is from heaven and his field of view is the sons of men. The result of this polling is unanimous: all have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. 14:4–7 Curiously, however, the psalm’s second half refers to a class of people ...

4200. Confessing Loyalty to the Lord of the Land and His Benefits

Psalm 16:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... metaphoric. Either a Levite here “spiritualizes” his “inheritance” amidst “the boundary lines” as a spiritual inheritance from Yahweh, or the psalm directs any worshiper irrespective of tribe to claim Yahweh as “my portion.” The latter is possible especially if we are to view the claim of Yahweh as “my portion” as a parallel claim to Yahweh as “my Lord” (v. 2). In effect, the worshiper would be affirming his choice of Yahweh, as opposed to other gods of the land. 16:7–11 Once the ...

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