First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

There is so much unrest in our culture these days. But God wants to give us rest. Peace. He is holy and powerful. We learn this clearly in Psalm 29. Verses 1-2: Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness. Verses 9-10: The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and stri...

David says God is "MY" light. "MY" salvation. He uses a personal, intimate pronoun to describe these truths.

David claims the Lord as his light who exposed his enemies. Even when an army sets up camp and wages war against him, even then, David trusts the LORD who will keep him safe. The LORD, his light, is the solution to his fear. Psalm 27: 1–6 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my...

The Creator of the universe offers intimate friendship to us. This is a stunning sentence! He wants to bring us into the circle of trust. To share his heart with us.

This second part of Psalm 25 is where we can put our roots down and get to know even better why Samuel and Paul both called David a man after God's own heart. It's also a place where we can press deeper into Christ and become men and women after God's own heart. Psalm 25: 8-22 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches...

Oh my God I need you now, but don’t answer based on my deserving. Please answer according to your own character; not mine!

Remember me not according to the sins of my youth but according to the LORD's own character. He is merciful.

The gates to God’s presence only open to Jesus, the one who lived with clean hands and a pure heart. We only get joined to Jesus when we open the gates of our hearts to him. That’s once for all for salvation. That’s also every single day of our lives for fellowship and mission. Lift up your hearts! Jesus declares that the gates will open for both of us, if we go with him. He asks us, urges us to l...

Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! A powerful reminder of who Jesus is. God's Son who was present at the very Creation.

The Psalmist, David, recognizes a dirty little secret about us. We find afflictions to be gross. Needy people can disgust us. Don’t dare sneeze in a public place or you will be shunned. If you’ve ever been fired, you know the weird feeling that it seems like people everywhere know about it. The cashier at Whole Foods is not really sure you should be shopping there. The bank teller you’ve known for...

Gerrit takes a deeper look at the philosophy underlying “critical theory,” more popularly known as cultural Marxism or Cancel Culture. He considers the Christian worldview in comparison and also ways to recognize and respond to this philosophy in daily life. For a detailed comparison, please consider watching his August 9, 2020 sermon, "Walls of Salvation."

After the gut-wrenching abandonment of the first half of Psalm 22, we have a dramatic change of mood beginning with verse 22. Praise and proclamation. Victory and blessing.

It’s almost impossible to read Psalm 22 without thinking about Jesus. He quoted the first verse from the cross, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?” And there are another half dozen direct connections between Psalm 22 and Matthew’s account of Jesus’ passion. So this psalm connects deeply to our redemption. It takes us to the inner heart of our Redeemer and what he went through for us.

Welcome to the Introduction to Psalm 22. Jesus knew Psalm 22: The Cry of Dereliction. Mark and Mattheww tell us Jesus uttered the first line on the cross. It's an emotional encounter to imagine Jesus suffering for our sake.

Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Welcome to week four of Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms: An Introduction to Psalm 28. Only Christianity offers more than we deserve. When we cast our lives into God's hands, we depend on his mercy.

Ancient words of unending power. Psalm 20 contains words to bless others, words you can speak or write that will encourage and lift up weary souls and give them hope. Psalm 20 is also a script to lead us through the passion and triumph of Christ. If we use our imaginations, we can pray this psalm as a great "Yes" to all that Jesus has undergone for us. We can find lyrics to praise him in ways we h...

Dr. Mark Futato of Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, a world expert and engaging speaker, will explore the different types of psalms and take us deep into 25-32.

Welcome to week two of Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms. Join us as we study and meditate on Psalm 20: a Royal Psalm.

The noise and strife, fear and anger in our world tears at all our souls. It wears us down. We need not only good analysis. We need a supply line to the only Source that can sustain us. God’s people have found for 30 centuries that the psalms do just that. They fill us in. They open us to the presence of God.

Welcome to the opening day of Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms! May Christ’s Spirit guide your prayers through Psalm 23 this week.

Christianity identity is received. It’s a gift that comes from placing your life in Christ’s hands. Shed your baggage, pride and stubborn will in order to enter the gate of the City whose walls are salvation. Before you make the decision, those gates look very narrow. Rumors are that life in the city is constricting and dull, oppressive and confining. But the people on the ramparts are shouting a...

Senior Pastor Gerrit Dawson teaches us the basics of how to read a psalm to encounter God. By the end of the hour, you will have heard from the Lord!