Verses 1 to 3 This psalm begins with the psalmist declaring that God should be glorified and not us. 'Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory.' Our chief end in life is not to glorify ourselves, but to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever. And … Continue reading Psalm 115
Author: Colin Gamble
Against Assisted Dying
Introduction The elders asked me if I would speak from time to time on what some people call 'hot topics'. And so, since we finished Lamentations last Sunday evening, I thought I would take the time this evening to speak about assisted dying, which has become a hot topic in the last few years and … Continue reading Against Assisted Dying
Psalm 113+114
Introduction I'm going to take these two psalms together, mainly because they're both short. However, some of the commentators say that the Jews in the first century sang both psalms one after the other before eating the Passover. Apparently they then sang Psalms 115 to 118 to conclude the Passover feast. In Psalm 113, the … Continue reading Psalm 113+114
Psalm 112
Introduction Today's psalm, like the one we studied last week, is an acrostic poem so that, if you disregard the opening 'Praise the Lord', the remaining twenty-two lines begin with each successive letter in the Hebrew alphabet. As I said when we were studying the acrostic poems in the book of Lamentations recently, the writer … Continue reading Psalm 112
Lamentations 5
Introduction We come today to the fifth and final chapter of the book of Lamentations. The writer -- who may well have been Jeremiah the prophet -- has been lamenting before the Lord, calling out to him because of everything that has happened to the writer himself and to the people of Jerusalem. The Babylonian … Continue reading Lamentations 5
Ephesians 06(01–04)
Introduction It seems as if it's been ages since we were studying Paul's letter to the Ephesians together on a Sunday morning. Last week we had the BB enrolment and the week before that was harvest. And so, it's been a while. But we're in that part of Paul's letter where he's giving us instructions … Continue reading Ephesians 06(01–04)
Acts 14(17) (Harvest 2024)
Introduction I want to focus our thoughts today on one verse from the passage which we read a moment ago. And it's verse 17 where Paul said to the people in Lystra: 'Yet he [i.e. God] has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in … Continue reading Acts 14(17) (Harvest 2024)
Lamentations 4
Introduction We've been studying the book of Lamentations for four weeks now. And we've seen how the author of the book -- who may have been Jeremiah -- has been lamenting before the Lord, calling out to him because of everything that has happened to the author himself and to the people of Jerusalem. The … Continue reading Lamentations 4
Harvest and the attributes of God (Harvest 2024)
Introduction We studied the attributes of God together on Wednesday evenings in 2021 and 2022. And I said at that time that when we're talking about God's attributes, we're talking about what God is like. And over the years, theologians have identified quite a number of God's attributes to describe what God is like and … Continue reading Harvest and the attributes of God (Harvest 2024)
Psalm 111
Introduction We've been studying the book of Lamentations on Sundays evenings and I've explained that chapters 1 to 4 of Lamentations are what are known as acrostic poems. That means that each verse in each poem begins with each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And Psalm 111 is also an acrostic poem, because if … Continue reading Psalm 111
