Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 2376 to 2400 of 4942 results

2376. A Failure of Leadership

Num 20:14-29

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Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: Leaders’ plans fail and leaders die, but God’s work goes on. Understanding the Text Three things form obstacles to the goal of progress toward the promised land in Numbers 20: death, rebellion, and opposition. Numbers 20:1–13 shows that not only are there still voices of discontent and rebellion against Moses and Aaron, but also that Moses and Aaron themselves are not immune to falling into sin. As a result of their sin, they are told that neither of them will live to enter the land of promise. ...

2377. Through Moab into the Transjordan

Num 21:10-35

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Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God helped Israel overcome obstacles and enemies to reach the brink of the promised land. Understanding the Text Rapid progress and victories follow the healing of sinful attitudes seen in preceding sections. Moses, Aaron, and the people had sinned, and Miriam and Aaron have died (Num. 20:1–13, 22–29; 21:1–9). Yet unlike the old generation, this one shows a willingness to quickly repent (Num. 21:7). Edom denies Israel easy and direct passage toward the promised land (Num. 20:14–21), but the ...

2378. David Runs for His Life—Again

2 Samuel 15:13-37

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: In the midst of a crisis, submission to the Lord’s will and wise action go hand in hand. Understanding the Text The tension in the plot heightens in this episode of the story. When the news of Absalom’s revolt and widespread support reaches Jerusalem, David decides to flee the city immediately. Apparently he feels that the city is indefensible, and he does not want Absalom to slaughter the city’s people (v. 14). Yet all is not lost: the foundation is laid for a favorable resolution to the plot as ...

2379. Defeat, Death, and Departure

1 Sam 4:2-22

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea The Lord’s decree of judgment is certain of fulfillment, bringing tragedy in its path. Understanding the Text This chapter records the initial fulfillment of the Lord’s decree of judgment prophesied by the man of God (2:27–36). The Lord has warned that Eli’s sons would “both die on the same day” (2:33–34). This would be the “sign,” or guarantee, that the prophecy would eventually be fulfilled in its entirety (2:34). The ark of the covenant, mentioned just once in the book to this point (3:3), ...

2380. The Ark Heads Home

1 Samuel 6:1-7:1

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The holy God must be treated with respect. Understanding the Text This chapter continues the story of the ark. In the aftermath of the Israelite defeat at Ebenezer, the Philistines captured the ark and took it to Ashdod. But it brought death and destruction wherever it went in Philistine territory. Finally the people of Ekron insisted that it be sent back to its homeland (5:11). Chapter 6 tells how the ark returns to Israelite territory, but not without incident! The ark does not make it back to ...

2381. David’s Faith Ignites a Victory

1 Samuel 17:1-58

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: Faith in the Lord’s power to save can be the catalyst for victory. Understanding the Text In the previous chapter, Samuel anointed David as the new king. Having departed from Saul, the Lord’s Spirit came upon David, and the Lord sent an “evil spirit” to torment Saul.1Through God’s providence, David has arrived in Saul’s royal court and relieved Saul’s fears with his music. Now the stage is set for David to replace Saul. In chapter 17 the narrator continues to demonstrate David’s superiority to ...

2382. David on the Run

1 Sam 21:1–22:5

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: Even when faith wavers, the Lord confronts his chosen servants with their divinely appointed destiny. Understanding the Text As David left Jonathan, he knew that Saul was now fully committed to murdering him. The king tried to kill him in a variety of ways, but each time David escaped (chaps. 18–19), once through the Lord’s direct intervention (19:23–24). Apparently unaware of Saul’s latest attempts to kill David (19:9–24), Jonathan was confident that his father would not harm David (cf. 19:6–7 ...

2383. David Listens to the Voice of Wisdom

1 Samuel 25:1-44

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord’s chosen servants should embrace the wisdom that he provides. Understanding the Text Chapter 24 ends with David’s being vindicated as Saul acknowledged David’s innocence, pronounced a blessing upon him, and assured him that he would someday be the king of Israel. However, he did not invite David to return to the royal court; Saul and David went their separate ways (v. 22). As we move to chapter 25, Saul remains backstage for a brief time as the narrator focuses on David’s dealings with ...

2384. David Flees to Gath—Again

1 Samuel 27:1-12

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: When faith wavers, the Lord’s chosen servants sometimes compromise their identity and resort to desperate measures that place them in a precarious position. Understanding the Text Convinced that Saul will never really abandon his quest to kill him, David, for the second time in the story, seeks asylum with Achish, the Philistine king of Gath (cf. 1 Sam. 21:9–15). On the first occasion David was alone, got cold feet, and left in fear. But on this second occasion, he has his own private army with ...

2385. Tell It Not in Gath!

2 Samuel 1:1-16, 1 Samuel 31:1-13

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: Rebellion against the Lord culminates in humiliating defeat, but the demise of the Lord’s rebellious servants is to be lamented, not celebrated. Understanding the Text Chapter 31 returns the focus of the story to Saul and picks up where chapter 28 left off. Samuel’s prophecy of Saul’s impending death and of Israel’s defeat (28:19) is fulfilled. In 2 Samuel 1 the focus returns to David. There is a flashback at the beginning of the chapter: verse 1 informs us that this episode takes place on the ...

2386. Turning Up the Pressure

Job 2:1-13

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Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Despite increased adversity, Job reasserts his complete commitment to the sovereign Lord. Understanding the Text Job 2 completes the prologue, which sets the scene for a thorough discussion of a godly response to adversity. Much of the language of 1:6–22 is repeated and intensified in 2:1–10, as the writer uses the technique of repetition with variation to build suspense and interest. When Yahweh’s words in 2:3 are compared to his earlier description of Job in 1:8, it is evident that the first ...

2387. Zophar Rejects Job’s Complaints

Job 11:1-20

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Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Zophar dismisses Job’s complaints as illogical. Understanding the Text In their first responses to Job, Eliphaz appeals to experience and personal revelation (Job 4–5), Bildad adduces traditional teaching (Job 8), and Zophar applies strict deductive logic to evaluate Job’s situation (Job 11). Zophar seems to be the most curt and insensitive of the three friends in speaking to Job. By taking the retribution principle to its logical conclusion, Zophar insists that suffering necessarily proceeds ...

2388. Job Destroys the Friends’ Major Argument

Job 21:1-34

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Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Job demonstrates that the observable evidence argues against the absolute application of the retribution principle. Understanding the Text Up to this point in the book, Job has been on the defensive as his friends argue that the retribution principle is an absolute pattern for life. In particular, the friends have insisted that Job must be a sinner, because the wicked are always judged by God with adversity. In his speech in chapter 21, Job unhooks the necessary connection between a person’s acts ...

2389. “You Are My Son; Today I Have Become Your Father”

Psalm 2:1-12

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: God’s sovereign control of the universe establishes a touchstone for understanding God’s relationship to us and ours to him. Understanding the Text The content and form of Psalm 2 is generally identified as a royal psalm, composed for and used on the occasion of some Israelite king’s elevation to the throne. We do not know which king, but given the David collection that it prefaces, it could have been composed as a literary introduction to Book 1 (Pss. 3–41). Hilber has made a case for a ...

2390. “Lord, Our Lord, How Majestic Is Your Name in All the Earth!”

Psalm 9:1-20

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: God wrote his character into the world of nature, but as awesome as that is, it is no match for the mindful care of his human creation. Understanding the Text Psalm 8 immediately follows the pledge of Psalm 7:17 to sing praise to “the name of the Lord Most High” (7:17). Now the psalmist does that in majestic words that honor the majesty of the Name. As in the creation narrative of Genesis 1, the psalmist employs an economy of words that stylistically reveals the Creator’s orderly manner and ...

2391. “The Lord Looks Down . . . to See If There Are Any Who Understand”

Psalm 14:1-7

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: The world’s God-deniers will find, maybe to their surprise, that the God they deny is found “in the company of the righteous.” Understanding the Text The form of Psalm 14 is sometimes considered to be an individual lament, and in tone, it is, because the psalmist grieves over the vacuum of faith that he perceives in his world. But it does not follow the form of the lament. Others have suggested it is a wisdom psalm, in view of its use of wisdom language. In wisdom terms, the word “fool” stands ...

2392. “Ascribe to the Lord the Glory Due His Name”

Psalm 29:1-11

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: God has many voices, sometimes proclaiming his majesty and power through nature, while his people acclaim the message in worship. Understanding the Text In this beautiful psalm of praise, the “voice of the Lord,” the central thrust of Psalm 29, heard in the frightful storm, announces in nature’s accent the lordship of Yahweh, ending in the peaceful lull of the storm. In Psalm 96 (v. 10a) the announcement of the Lord’s reign sends the heavens and the earth and all creation into passionate ...

2393. “Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit”

Psalm 31:1-24

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Life’s opposition forces are formidable, but God holds powerful sway over the evil forces that assail us. Understanding the Text Psalm 31 is an individual lament.[1] The lament proper is found in 31:10–13, where the psalmist complains about his crisis, which, judging from the anatomical language of 31:9–10, was an illness, interpreted by his enemies as God’s ill favor. In view of the declaration of trust in the Lord (31:6, 14), the attestation of his deliverance (31:7–8, 21–22), and the ...

2394. “For Your Sake We Face Death . . . as Sheep to Be Slaughtered”

Psalm 44:1-26

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Sometimes when we have been faithful to God and bad things still happen to us, the best and only explanation is that it is for God’s sake. Understanding the Text Psalm 44 is a community lament that follows some national defeat of Israel’s army (44:9), even though the psalmist, speaking on behalf of the king, cannot understand why this has happened, since Israel has not forgotten God or “been false” to his covenant (44:17). Psalms 42–43 celebrate the psalmist’s hope that he, isolated and dejected ...

2395. “Ride Forth Victoriously in the Cause of Truth, Humility and Justice”

Psalm 45:1-17

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Great value is put on leaders who, by their own lives, exemplify the virtues of truth, humility, and justice. Understanding the Text Psalm 45 belongs to the genre of royal psalms, which celebrate the king and his reign, not as a lone-standing king, but as a stand-in for Yahweh as king. It is better to think of these psalms as constituting two subgenres, psalms of the heavenly King, which celebrate Yahweh as king, providing the model for all kingship, and psalms of the earthly king, which shine ...

2396. “The Lord Most High Is Awesome, the Great King over All the Earth”

Psalm 47:1-9

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: God’s covenant of grace with Abraham, far from being exclusive, is an implicit call to the people of the whole world to become members of this covenant. Understanding the Text Psalm 47 is a good example of what Gunkel calls a hymn, and he includes it in a subcategory of Zion songs. Mowinckel has followed Gunkel’s study by proposing a new classification, the enthronement psalms,1postulating that ancient Israel celebrated a fall festival at which they reelevated Yahweh to his throne, or at least ...

2397. “In Your Heart You Devise Injustice”

Psalm 58:1-11

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C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: As one thinks in one’s heart, so one does, and that explains many of the tragedies of history. Understanding the Text Psalm 58 is usually identified as a community lament, although Gerstenberger is probably more accurate when he says it is “neither complaint nor thanksgiving nor hymn” but closer to the prophetic invective against the ruling classes.1 Except for the historical note in the title of Psalm 57, the terms of the title of Psalm 58 are the same. Further, the two psalms share the metaphor ...

2398. Abram in Egypt

Genesis 12:10-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

A famine sends Abram to Egypt. He is certain that, once there, the Egyptians will abduct Sarai and murder him. Why he thinks that or how he knows this is not clear. Since God is certain about Abram’s future (12:1–9), why cannot Abram himself be as certain? Abram asks Sarai to identify herself to Pharaoh as Abram’s sister (which is partially the truth). The logic of Abram’s move is clear enough. As brother to the woman involved he can be ignored; as husband to the woman he would have to be eliminated. Think ...

2399. Abram and Lot Separate

Genesis 13:1-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The Negev is the desert region south of Palestine. It is through this region that Abram, his wife, and Lot (he also goes to Egypt) travel on their way back to Canaan. Abram is a wealthy man (13:2), but his wealth is not necessarily an evidence of divine blessing for obedience. Back in his own backyard, Abram’s first priority is to renew his life of worship (13:4). There is a problem, however. Not a problem with outsiders, but inside the family. Abram and Lot each have so much that the land cannot support ...

2400. Abraham and Ishmael

Genesis 25:1-11, Genesis 25:12-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Abraham remarries after Sarah’s death, and his second wife’s name is Keturah. Even though he himself felt he was past the age of fathering children before Isaac, he now produces six more children (25:2). The places represented by these names are all Arabian. The best-known of them (from the books of Numbers and Judges) is Midian. These six children of Abraham do not supplant Isaac as the son of promise (25:5). Abraham lives until he is 175 years old (25:7–11). This means, according to 12:4, that he lived ...

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