1 Chronicles 27 - Listed among the commanders of war was a very intriguing man by the name of Benaiah.…
1 Chronicles 25 - Attention musicians! Does the name Asaph mean anything to you? Anyone....anyone.....Bueller? Although it might not mean…
1 Chronicles 23 - David appoints Solomon king, then numbers the Levites for their special work. He made arrangements to…
1 Chronicles 19 - The Ammonites strategy was to force David's army between two enemy forces. The Israelites were stationed…
1 Chronicles 18 - So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people.…
1 Chronicles 15 - Chapter 16 ends with an interesting and dramatic detail. And as the ark of the covenant…
1 Chronicles 11 - David's ascent to king was not as simple as three verses. In the book of 2…
1 Chronicles 10 - The Philistines Who were the Philistines? They were sea-faring people who immigrated from the island of…
1 Chronicles 9 - Psalms 99:5-6 ESV Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he! 6…
1 Chronicles 8 - Within the tribe of Benjamin, we are reminded of Israel's first king. He was the best…
1 Chronicles 6 - One particular name that sticks out in this chapter is Hilkiah. An unknown to most people,…
1 Chronicles 1 - It was a bittersweet time for Israel. The Jews had just returned from 70 years of…
Isaiah 52 - God's people will be redeemed. They were sold for nothing but they will be bought back without…
Isaiah 44 - "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am…
Isaiah 38 - Let's review what's happened thus far and what will happen in the future. Assyria has built the…
Isaiah 37 - Much of what Isaiah has written leading up to this point has been about the rebellion of…
Isaiah 36 - The goal of the enemy is to render us hopeless in the face of our circumstances. The…
Isaiah 32 - Isaiah's description of a true king is exactly what we all desire. He is righteous, just, and…
Isaiah 27 - This chapter, as a whole, is about the destruction of Israel's enemies. The smaller story line, however,…
Isaiah 25 - Following a chapter on the destruction and judgment of God, we read a deeply personal appeal to…
Isaiah 23 - Babylon was the great city along the eastern side of the ancient world and Tyre was considered…
Isaiah 20 - Let's first set the stage. Coming on the heels of Isaiah 19 and the oracle concerning Egypt,…
Isaiah 15 - Moab was the region on the east side of the Dead Sea. The total land surface would…
Isaiah 14 - There are some deep theological principles at work in this chapter. There is also some controversy as…
Isaiah 12 - Isaiah 12:1 is a mirror image of Paul's writing in Romans 6:17. Compare the two passages. Then…
Isaiah 8 - There are many prophecies to sort through in this text. First, we have the prophecy of Samaria…
Isaiah 7 - War has broken out and Jerusalem is under attack. Amazingly, God shows King Ahaz mercy by commanding…
Isaiah 6 - The first 5 chapters of Isaiah outline his prophecies, but do not establish his calling. In chapter…
Isaiah 5 - Six woes are given to the nation of Israel starting in verse 8. The woes include greed,…
Isaiah 4 - Isaiah 4:2 describes the Branch of the Lord. The time is coming when the LORD will make…
Isaiah 3 - Strong Christian leadership is important. Most likely during the time that Isaiah was writing this, the readers…
Isaiah 1 - The book of Isaiah is full of prophecy. Hebrew poetry used a literary style called parallelism, much…
Philippians 3 - Have you ever met someone who always tries to one-up you? No matter how the story goes,…
Ephesians 2 - Many of us today live under the illusion that we simply can’t change. Hidden deep under a…
Exodus 29 - From the beginning we get a glimpse of God's design for sacrifice. Consecration. This word was translated…
Exodus 23 - "You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to…
Exodus 15 - The structure of this song can be broken up into four sections with a one-line closing declaration.…
Exodus 14 - Like the Canaanites, ancient Israel thought of the sea as an uncontrollable beast. At creation the Lord…
Job 24 - Job continues on his theme of questioning why the wicked get away with so much. To the…
Job 20 - The cruel misjudgment of man stems from an ignorant and arrogant attitude. I've written this many times…
Job 18 - The dating of this time period would have meant that Job and his friends were highly influenced…
Job 15 - Eliphaz brings a load of sarcasm to this chapter. He claims that his understanding of Scripture and…
Ezra 9 - This chapter is a perfect example of why context is so important when reading Scripture. The Israelites…
Ezra 8 - This trek consisted of over 900 miles on foot. But also consider that there would have been…
Ezra 6 - The people trusted God they were delivered from the threat to their temple. God knew exactly where…
Ezra 5 - Let's get a quick background on the characters involved in the temple rebuild. Haggai and Zechariah are…
Ezra 4 - "It is what it is." We hear this phrase spoken all the time. In some cases, it's…
Ezra 2 - Why was genealogy so important to the Jews? We see this many times in Scripture and often…
Ezra 1 - It is fascinating to consider the faith of Cyrus, King of Persia. Was he a believer in…
Matthew 22 - The Sadducees and Pharisees were always playing games with Jesus. They, like some today, thought they could…
Matthew 21 - During the Passover festival, scores of Jews came from all over Israel and the Roman Empire to…
Matthew 17 - The half-shekel tax was equivalent to about 2 days of wages. It was collected annually from every…
Matthew 16 - The Pharisees and Sadducees (who demanded signs in this chapter) were two of the five major political…
Matthew 15 - It's the worst feeling that any human can experience in this life. It's the realization that I…
Matthew 3 - Photo credit: Nelson's New Illustrated Commentary Pictured is the traditionally accepted site (the Jordan River) for the…
Matthew 2 - Remarkably, the calendar we all depend on was originally created around Jesus' birth. Medieval creators tried to…
Matthew 1 - The Gospels do not record a single word spoken by this man. Yet, the Gospel account written…
Proverbs 31 - Proverbs 31 is a famous chapter describing a virtuous woman of God. Many of us have heard…
Proverbs 30 - Nelson's Commentary gives us a brief introduction to the mysterious authors of the last two chapters of…
Proverbs 28 - "The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find…
Proverbs 21 - A very intriguing verse in this chapter of Proverbs includes a reference back to the days of…
1 Peter 5 - Peter is following up on his previous chapter on suffering. It's no surprise that in order…
2 Samuel 24 - This account of a census is a puzzling chapter. We wonder today, what could be wrong…
2 Samuel 23 - David was never ashamed of who he was and where he came from. In a culture…
2 Samuel 22 - My rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. These were the words David penned about God after…
2 Samuel 21 - King David was seemingly indestructible. He was a beast on the battlefield and a musician at…
2 Samuel 20 - Concubines, intestines, and a severed head being thrown over a wall! This chapter is not for…
2 Samuel 19 - It's an awkward moment when the rebels realize their rebellion has failed and the king they…
2 Samuel 18 - This is a difficult chapter to absorb. On one hand, justice was served and the rightful…
2 Samuel 17 - Ahithophel had gone all in. He was firmly in Absalon's camp after abruptly turning on David.…
2 Samuel 16 - The reason why we read several chapters back about the grace David extended to Saul's family…
2 Samuel 15 - Absalom was good looking, charismatic, and a cutthroat politician. Modern-day politicians would do well to study…
2 Samuel 14 - David's go-to plan of action always centered around waiting on the Lord. I'm speculating, but it's…
2 Samuel 11 - Most of us know the story of 2 Samuel 11. David's sin and repentance are well-documented.…
2 Samuel 10 - After David's men were humiliated by the Ammonites, a war was sure to break out. The…
2 Samuel 9 - David had made a promise to Jonathan, and David was a man of his word. So…
2 Samuel 8 - In many ways, David is presented as the "anti-Saul" even though at times, their behavior does…
2 Samuel 7 - We live in a society of bare minimums. What's the least I can pay and still…
2 Samuel 6 - Familiarity can often produce deadly results. It was Jesus who proclaimed he could do no miracles…
2 Samuel 5 - Every sports fan knows the term "bulletin board material." It occurs days or weeks before a…
2 Samuel 4 - In 2 Samuel 4, we see the collision of two different kingdoms. Humanity's kingdom operates within…
2 Samuel 3 - In 2 Samuel 3, we find two men making a deal in order to see their…
2 Samuel 2 - There is an interesting backstory on the relationships that take place in this chapter. Abner crowns…
2 Samuel 1 - There are three versions of Saul's death mentioned in Scripture and one of them is found…
1 Samuel 31 - Let's do a quick recap. In desperation, Saul traveled to see a witch who brought back…
1 Samuel 30 - David returns to Zikleg, where he had fled from Saul only to find that while he…
1 Samuel 29 - Can you imagine David fighting against his friends and family? Can you imagine him going to…
1 Samuel 28 - I've always had lots of questions about 1 Samuel 28. Was David actually going to fight…
1 Samuel 27 - The life of David is not all sunshine and rainbows. Though he was a man after…
1 Samuel 26 - If there was ever a justifiable moment for David to end Saul's life, this was it.…
1 Samuel 25 - As well as David reacted to having a moment with Saul to himself, he backtracks with…
1 Samuel 24 - David retreats with his men to the caves of the Wilderness of En Gedi. This was…
1 Samuel 23 - All Saul cares about is killing David. He doesn't care about worshiping God. He doesn't care…
1 Samuel 21 - David has lost so much. He has gone from the beloved and admired son-in-law of King…
1 Samuel 19 - Saul has tried everything by this point. He will not be satisfied until David is dead.…
1 Samuel 18 - “Saul has slain his thousands,And David his ten thousands.” The wording here says that "all cities…
1 Samuel 17 - Malcolm Gladwell recently delivered a TED talk titled, "The Unheard Story of David and Goliath." In…
1 Samuel 16 - Samuel loved Saul. He wanted so badly to see him live a fruitful life. But there…
1 Samuel 15 - Do what you want, and ask for forgiveness later. If God is full of love, and…
1 Samuel 14 - Those who are dialed into the Spirit are sensitive to the timing of the Lord. In…