Category Archives: Scripture

A voice of one calling:“In the wilderness prepare    the way for the Lord;make straight in the desert    a highway for our God.4 Every valley shall be raised up,    every mountain and hill made low;the rough ground shall become level,    the rugged places a plain.5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,    and all people will see it together.For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:3-5 From wordsContinue reading “Advent: Glory”

In this Advent season I want to reflect on various passages from Isaiah 40-55. These are some of my favourite sections of Scripture. As I do, I want to pay close attention to the texts I pick, perhaps deal with any questions they raise, and then focus on how they speak to our hearts asContinue reading “Advent: Comfort for the Heart”

Almost a year ago now I tried to start a series on Lamentations, that has been fairly sporadic. But there is now a post on all of the first four chapters. This post concludes that series and starts an Advent series. In the last chapter of Lamentations the Lamenting poet reaches the end of hisContinue reading “Advent: Behold! Look!”

The second half of chapter 4 is if anything more overwhelmingly dark than the first half. But once again it is worth moving ourselves mentally to the wreckage of Jerusalem so that we can see the world through the eyes of the Lamenter. He begins with the impossibility of God’s people coming to such aContinue reading “Lamentations 4:12-22”

With chapter 4 of Lamentations we move into a new stage of the poetry – there are still 22 stanzas, but each stanza has only four lines. The poem is shrinking – and as it shrinks the Lamenter reflects on the loss of glory for Jerusalem: 4 [a]How the gold has lost its luster,    the fine goldContinue reading “De-humanisation: Lamentations 4”

As we come to the end of chapter 3 the tone of the verses changes. There is initially a sense of relief – the chapter begins to read like some of the Psalms where the poet is praising God for rescuing them. Those who were my enemies without cause    hunted me like a bird.53 They tried toContinue reading “Cursing and Vengeance”

I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are evil – Gandalf, at the end of Lord of the Rings as Sam and Frodo part. “All our enemies have opened their mouths    wide against us.47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,    ruin and destruction.”48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes    because my people are destroyed. 49 MyContinue reading “Tears”

I wanted this series to be one that I wrote during March, during the latter half of Lent, and maybe finished off during April. But three things happened that slowed down that process. One was good news – I got a new job, and so lots of energy has gone into working out learning ofContinue reading “Lamentations 3: dissonance”

This next section of chapter 3 is the section that has struck me most profoundly. We see in these verses God’s complete goodness in the midst of what seems like utter darkness. The poetry of these verses leads us deeper into the heart of God – a God who is always and completely good, andContinue reading “Waiting for compassion”

In the middle of this third chapter of Lamentations we finally reach some hope in the book as we come to the words many of us are familiar with from the great hymn of hope: Great is Thy Faithfulness. As we look at these words we need to notice that the poets outward circumstances haveContinue reading “Faithful Mercy, Steadfast Love”