Digging in Deeper: Exodus 15:17-21

“You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your possession; Lord, you have prepared the place for your dwelling; Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary. The Lord will reign forever and ever! When Pharaoh’s horses with his chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought water of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. Then the prophetess Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came out following her with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them: Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted; he has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the clearest indicators that God was the ultimate author of all the Scriptures via the inspiration of His Holy Spirit is the sheer number of times and places where one part makes reference to another part. Backward-looking references are certainly easy to explain. The later authors simply had to be familiar (very familiar sometimes) with the earlier documents. Forward-looking references (prophecy), though, are harder to understand apart from two things: God’s inspiration, or a much later authorship of some parts of it than we think. In this final part of Moses’ song of praise (whose exact ending point in the text isn’t totally clear), we see an example of this. Let’s talk about this last stanza, what follows, and what we can learn from this whole thing.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 103:1-2

“My soul, bless the Lord, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. My soul, bless the Lord, and do not forget all his benefits.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When was the last time you were in one of those moods where you were so glad you didn’t think anything could bring you down? Whatever life threw your way, you were ready to tackle it with a smile on you face. Everywhere you looked were more reasons to be happy. Sometimes, being around someone like that too long can drive us crazy, but it’s nice to feel that way at least every once in a while. It’s good to be filled with praise. Being filled with praise, though, should be more than just an occasional thing if you are a follower of Jesus. As David reminds us here, there are so many reasons to be filled with praise for the Lord that it should be a feature of our lives, not an exception. Let’s look at what he has to say.

Read the rest…