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When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

If the LORD had not been on our side – let Israel say – if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

The foiled assassination plot against the King can be likened to your salvation experience. Remember, due to Mordecai’s timely warning the two officers who plotted the King’s death were discovered and sentenced to die. Most translations of my story say they were hanged,

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

With the death of Haman and the elevation of Mordecai to Chief Counselor, you’d think my problems would be over, but we still had the extermination order against all my people in Persia to deal with. I fell on my knees and begged the King to rescind Haman’s order.

I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD,

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

As I mentioned last time Mordecai is my cousin, although he’s so much older than I am that he actually remembers life in Jerusalem before the Babylonians destroyed it. When my parents died he took me in and raised me as his own.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, O LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. What will he do to you, and what more besides, O deceitful tongue? He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree.

Note:  Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem which means that each of its stanzas begins with one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet starting with the aleph and continuing in order through the tau. In Hebrew, each verse in a stanza begins with the  letter by which the stanza is titled. 

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

(NOTE: Ray C. Stedman’s book “The Queen and I” was a major source of inspiration for this series of articles on the Book of Esther.)

This is part of Jack’s, Bible Thru the Eyes of Its Writers series where he tells the stories in first-person—as if the authors were telling the story themselves.

Note:  Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem which means that each of its stanzas begins with one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet starting with the aleph and continuing in order through the tau. In Hebrew, each verse in a stanza begins with the  letter by which the stanza is titled. 

Note:  Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem which means that each of its stanzas begins with one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet starting with the aleph and continuing in order through the tau. In Hebrew, each verse in a stanza begins with the  letter by which the stanza is titled. 

‘ Aleph

Blessed are they whose ways are blameless,  who walk according to the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.
They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.
You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;his love endures forever.  Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”  Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.”  Let those who fear the LORD say: “His love endures forever.”

In my anguish I cried to the LORD, 

Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?”   Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases him.

When Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. Why was it, O sea, that you fled,

Praise the LORD. Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore.  From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.  The LORD is exalted over all the nations,

Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.