Wilderness Wanderings

The Lord reigns… Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name—he is holy. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. (Psalm 99:1a,2-3, 9)   Like Psalms 93 and 97, psalm 99 also begins with the declaration: "The Lord reigns."  Each of these psalms praise God for a different aspect of his kingsh...

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him…Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity (Psalm 98:1, 7, 9). Momentous events need to be celebrated. In o...

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord , you who are righteous, and praise his holy name. (Psalm 97:1-2, 11-12).   This psalm encapsulated both Israel's present faith and their future...

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Daniel 3 from the New International Version of the Bible.  Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelministries.ca What does...

"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples" (Psalm 96:1-3). What's the point of life? Where is history headed? Is it just a random series of events? Why even ask questions like this? Isn't it better just to do one's best to survive...

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord … For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. … Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, "Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness…...

"The Lord is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth. Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve…When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy" (Psalm 94:1,2, 19). An appeal to the God who avenges sounds inconsistent with the Scriptures that present Jesus as bringer of shalom - peace. Yet that is how this psalm begins. Have not the storms of...

The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers o...

"It is good to praise the Lord, and to make music to your name, O Most High. proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night…For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done" (Psalm 92:1,2,4). Each work of art comes out of a context, whether its poetry, music, photography, or sculpting. Art historians enjoy debating the effects of the contex...

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Romans 8:31-39 from the New International Version of the Bible.  Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelministri...

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." (Psalm 91:1-2)   Pastor Michael talked yesterday about finding a home in God.  A place to dwell.  It's the theme of Psalm 90: God is our home.  But it is also the theme of Psalm 91, a reflection and promise of what home with God...

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations" (Psalm 90:1). When I was younger, our family's New Year's Eve celebration would end with my dad reading Psalm 90 and leading us in prayer. I'm not sure why he read this psalm every year, but it might be rooted in his immigration from the Netherlands to Canada. When I flew to Europe at 19, I fully expected to fly home again. When m...

How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all humanity! Who can live and not see death, or who can escape the power of the grave? Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David? Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my h...

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Daniel 9:1-19 from the New International Version of the Bible.  Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelministries.ca   1....

"You have put me in the lowest pit in the darkest depths" (Psalm 88:6). This text is no 'happy go lucky' religious trope. It's downright depressing. And it's not just this verse, the entire Psalm is dark. We might ask ourselves, why is it in the Bible? Various answers may be given. Paul tells us that all Scripture is for our training in righteousness and being equipped for every good work (cf. 2 T...

He has founded his city on the holy mountain. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God. "I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me—Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush—and will say, 'This one was born in Zion.'" Indeed it will be said of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born i...

Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy" (Psalm 86:1). Praying is difficult. Beyond giving us a model for our prayers, Jesus teaches us two things about this spiritual work: don't babble and persevere. One wonders at what point perseverance turns into babbling. The tension between these two is one of the challenges prayers must wrestle with. Wisdom is needed. The apostle Paul reminds...

I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—but let them not turn to folly.   Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. (Psalm 85:8-9)   What makes a good listener? Being a parent of elementary aged children, when I think of this question I think of how, or rather how 'well', my kids listen to me. It's...

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God" (Psalm 84:1-2). What do you want? How would you answer this question if it was popped on you randomly? Pause your listening or reading and ponder this question for a while. Before you carry on, wonder about it again. Confession time! I get...

O God do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish…Cover their faces with shame Lord, so that they will seek your name…Let them know that you alone are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:1-3,16, 18) Psalm 83 is the last of the psalms...

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Daniel 8:1-14 from the New International Version of the Bible. To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelministries.ca

"God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgements among the "gods": Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance" (Psalm 82:1-2). Not many of us will remember hearing a sermon on this song. And I doubt that it's popular in modern devotional literature. It takes a bit of imagination to grasp its setting. North American Christianity is extremely monotheistic. Ther...

Hear, O my people, and I will warn you—if you would but listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices...

"Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel... Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved " (Psalm 80:1,3). Our psalm stands in sharp contrast to Psalm 23, the better-known shepherd psalm. Here God is also addressed as a Shepherd. In Psalm 23, David appears to live as close to paradise as one can find in this life. But here, in Psalm 80, Israel is far from such tranquil...

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.…  They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead. We are objects of reproach to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us. How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?...