Reading with M'Cheyne

Psalm 42:1-2: "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."Over the years I've backpacked though different mountain ranges, and I've also hunted big game,...

Psalm 40:8 "I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."What was David's motive for obeying the law of God: duty or delight? Throughout the Psalms, we read of God's commands to keep his...

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people--not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go...

1 Corinthians 4:1 "This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy."The apostle Paul was neither afflicted with false modesty...

It is sobering to see the extent to which David, 'the man after God's own heart', spent so much of his life embroiled in conflict. From the obvious tensions between him and his brothers when we first meet him, through...

Life has its low points for us all and, for David, the events that lay behind this particular psalm rank close to the nadir. The title of the psalm links its composition to the time when David 'pretended to be...

Singing new songs is one of those things that stirs different thoughts and feelings in different Christian circles; but here in this psalm David vigorously encourages the practice!  But before either side in the worship discussion gets too excited about...

What is the epitome of blessing in the life of faith? Different Christians would no doubt offer different answers: from personal peace and happiness through to the salvation of many as the gospel is proclaimed. It is certainly true that...

It so happens, as I sit at my computer preparing these notes, that we are very much in the midst of one of those defining experiences of life - a major relocation to a new church. So the sentiments expressed...

"One thing I have asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire...

"Make me to know your ways, O Lord;  teach me your paths Lead me in your truth and teach me;  for you are the God of my salvation  for you I wait all day long." Kind David tells us in Psalm 23...

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."--Romans 8:1There is no condemnation for you. Do you believe that? The more time I spend with my own heart, and with other Christians, the more I've become...

There are some commands that shock us into seeing ourselves for who we really are. Thou shall not covet is one of them. "I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You...

"It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened...

"And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision" (1 Sam. 3:1). This is a very disturbing statement - at least, it should be to anyone who cares about the Word of God....