A Psalm a Day Keeps Satan Away: The Podcast

Gamla was a Zealot town. It was on the outskirts of the Galilee. It was prosperous. By its geography, it was defensible. But in 67 AD, it succumbed to the overwhelming force of a Roman legion, and its faithful people died en masse, either by the sword, or by suicide by plunging over the cliff at the top of the community. The story is tragic. The faithfulness of the victims … inspiring. We come to...

Sussita may be better than a top five spot! This ancient pagan city overlooks the Sea of Galilee and the views are stunning. Further, it is “unknown” to tourists, making it a perfect place to visit, experience the view, and learn some profound faith lessons. Almost certainly, this is the location of the healing of the demon possessed man based on the description offered in the text of Mark 5 and M...

En Gedi is a top five spot in Israel. This oasis paradise in the midst of the desert supports many plant and animal species and provides refreshment to the many visitors who come to bathe in the pools. Since the stream gradually makes its way to the Salt (Dead) Sea, this location provides the perfect “compare and contrast” opportunity to consider the Biblical stories and references to Living Water...

Masada is “must see TV.” King Herod the Great (aka King Herod the Wicked) built this desert palace fortress as part of his “escape route” back to his home region, Idumea. Nestled next to the Salt Sea (Dead Sea), it soars 1200 feet above its shores. It boasts a three-tier palace with magnificent views of the desert and the Sea, two massive cisterns carved into the rock, a large swimming pool and st...

The desert is harsh. It is a place of discomfort. That’s why so much of the Biblical narrative takes place in the desert. That’s why Steve “The Rev” Allen and I always start our faith trips in the desert. The Hebrew word for desert is Mid-Bar with its root being Da-Bar which means “word.” A believer should not shun the discomfort of the desert … for in the discomfort of the desert, a WORD from G-d...

Psalm 84 – The House of the LORD Today, we note a change in convention in the psalms going back to Psalm 42. Psalms 42-83 are known as the Elohistic Psalms because they seem to purposely avoid using the name of Yahweh in referencing G-d, instead preferring to refer to G-d as Elohim. As we have previously noted, in Judaism, avoidance in using the term Yahweh is a form of reverence for G-d’s Holy Na...

Psalm 83 – Praying for Our Enemies Imprecation psalms (prayers cursing ill will on enemies) seem in complete conflict with our Christian doctrine of loving our enemies. Psalm 83 provides us the opportunity to reflect again on imprecations. Here are my observations this morning: 1. The psalmist is clear that the enemies are G-d’s enemies: “Look, your enemies rage. Those who hate you lift their head...

Psalm 82 – God of the Nations We believe in the ONE true God. We spent time with yesterday’s psalm reflecting on the Shema: “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God the LORD is ONE …” Monotheism is so ingrained in our modern religious psyche that we forget that it emerged (re-emerged from a Biblical viewpoint) out of the chaotic world of paganism which entailed myriads of gods. Much of Scripture (both Old...

Psalm 81 – Hear (and obey) The opening lines of this psalm are a great call to worship and serve as a call to covenant renewal. Some scholars argue that it was associated with the Fall festival known as the Feast of Sukkot (Booths or Tabernacles) which celebrates the Exodus wilderness experience whereby G-d saved His chosen people from the bondage of slavery in Egypt and led them into freedom in t...

Go Forth Teaching Ministries is excited to announce our next faith based tour: Egypt! Our journey will include a 4-day Nile River cruise, a tour of the Egyptian Museum, a a visit to the pyramids and sphinx, an optional sunrise hot air balloon ride over the River Nile, and an optional hike up Moses Mountain. Each day will include a Bible study of the Exodus focusing on how the Egyptian culture and...

Psalm 80 – God’s Favor We start today with a review of some lockdown dates everyone needs to remember regarding the ancient history of Israel in which the Hebrew Bible (what we call the Old Testament) was produced: 1300 BCE - The Exodus led by Moses - (give or take 100 years – there is significant dispute regards this date) 1000 BCE – The Kingdom of David 722 BCE – The Assyrian conquest of the Nor...

Psalm 79 – Love Our Enemies? For those Psalm a Dayers who were alive, do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001? I was in California on a business trip. I went down from my hotel room early to eat breakfast and saw what everyone else was seeing: the destruction of our iconic Twin Towers. I was scheduled to leave that day to return to NC, and obviously, the itinerary changed as all air t...

Psalm 78 – A History Lesson The setting is a small village near the Sea of Galilee. I imagine an evening fire in the courtyard of an extended family’s “insula” which is a series of connected rooms (sleeping quarters for each family unit) and a courtyard making a singular rectangular compound (see attached sketch). The evening meal is finished, and the animals are secure within the courtyard. The f...

Psalm 77 – Remembering and Forgetting Has G-d changed? “Has God forgotten to be merciful?” (v. 9) Theological questions like this (remember, the Bible is a book of questions!) span human existence and explain why the psalms remain so relevant to our modern lives. This psalm is classified as a lament (complaint) psalm, and it follows the “good ol’ days” theme that we have observed several times. In...

Psalm 76 – Our Warrior God Our God is a Warrior God. He dwells with us. He fights for us. His power is awesome. As we encounter the events of our day, as we interact with people who are for us and against us, we often forget that. We get mired in the anxiety of our day. We forget Who is fighting for us. Psalm 76 reminds us of our Warrior God. He is known by His people in His land. (v. 1) He dwells...

We just completed our most recent trip to Greece and Turkey following the footsteps of St. Paul during his second (and part of his third) missionary journey. As always, it was an incredible trip, and this group leaned in to the faith lessons in a big way! We also had a lot of fun creating community and enjoying the beauty of mainland Greece and the Greek Islands as well as the hustle and bustle of...

Psalm 75 We are now at the halfway point of our Psalm a Day Keeps Satan Away exercise. If you are reading this … THANKS for hanging in there! For some of you, this is round 2 or 3 or 4 … again, THANKS for being a part of this exercise. Some have asked for new content … I promise, it will be forthcoming! In the meantime, now that we are using Substack, you can go to the GoForth website at in order...

Psalm 74 – The Good New Days Have you ever longed for the “good ol’ days?” Do you remember the days of old when your body was fit, and you could eat anything you wanted and not gain weight? Do you remember the “good ol’ days” before Facebook, IG and Tik-Tok? Do you remember the “good ol’ days” when we only had three TV channels and an antenna on the roof? Do you remember the “good ol’ days” when t...

Today is our 250th Substack submission! Thanks to our more than 300 subscribers for reading/listening/watching. This endeavor has been a humbling and unexpected experience. And now, as promised in the podcast, our shameless plug for our small book “Creating a Christian Seder Worship: A Maundy Thursday/Good Friday Worship Experience.” See the link below: Book Link Godspeed and Shalom, Pastor D-Wach...

Cancel culture is killing our country. The faith community is not immune from it. It is HaSatan’s most lethal weapon. Ten years ago I created a set of principles to help me through a relationship conflict … I needed something to help guide me to forgiveness and reconciliation. Given recent events that are dividing us, I offer fellow believers the following. Godspeed and Shalom, Pastor D-Wach D-Wac...

Psalm 73 Don’t you hate it when good things happen to bad people? Isn’t it frustrating when you “fight the good fight” and it seems in vain? It should come as no surprise that the psalms articulate that very sense of frustration. The psalmist laments today, “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free...

Psalm 72 – Legacy, Part 2 Fun facts about Psalm 72: 1. It is the last psalm in ‘Book II’ of the Psalter, which ends in a characteristic doxology (v. 18-19) similar to the ends of other ‘books’ of the Psalter. In addition to that, there is an addendum, v. 20, that reads “This concludes the prayers of David, son of Jesse.” This is clearly an add-on. Is it inspired? Is it Scripture? Why does this not...

Psalm 71 - Legacy Psalm 71 is a top fiver for me. It is the lament of an old man who is looking back on his life of faithfulness to the One who has been his rock and fortress since birth: “You have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” (v. 5-6) This confession of faith and...

Psalm 70 – Slow Down … Get Smooth … Smooth is Fast! Fun Facts about Psalm 70: 1. This short psalm is a duplicate of Psalm 40:13-17 with slight variations, including the use of אֱלֹהִ֥ים ‘El-o-HIM’ (G-d) in Psalm 70 rather than יְ֝ הוָ֗ה ( Yahweh ) in Psalm 40 (with two exceptions). Remember, we are in the Elohist section of the Psalter (Psalms 42-83) where the references to G-d are Elohim and the...

Psalm 69 – In the Pits and In the Deep Psalm 69 is a “stock” individual lament (complaint) psalm utilizing the basic structure we have seen more than two dozen times already: the lament (complaint) lifted up to G-d, the petition (fist shaking) demanding G-d do something, imprecations (curses) against the psalmist’s enemies, and acknowledgement/submission/trust/praise directed to G-d. But there are...