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I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.  I pour out my complaint before him;  before him I tell my trouble.  When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way.  In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. 

O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; protect me from men of violence, who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day.  They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips.

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely,

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept  when we remembered Zion.  There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”  How can we sing the songs of the LORD  while in a foreign land?

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD;  praise him, you servants of the LORD, you who minister in the house of the LORD,  in the courts of the house of our God.  Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. 

Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Recently my belief that Jesus is God in human form was challenged again. This has happened to me several times in the past and while I’ve laid out the Biblical basis for my belief in several articles I’ve never specifically addressed the common objections others have put forth.

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head,  running down on the beard,  running down on Aaron’s beard,  down upon the collar of his robes.

It is as if the dew of Hermon  were falling on Mount Zion. 

O LORD, remember David  and all the hardships he endured.  He swore an oath to the LORD  and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: “I will not enter my house or go to my bed- I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids,

My heart is not proud, O LORD,  my eyes are not haughty;  I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.  But I have stilled and quieted my soul;  like a weaned child with its mother,  like a weaned child is my soul within me.  

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

We’ve arrived at the final chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, where Paul has presented a strong case against combining Law and Grace. In effect, he has said the two are like oil and water;

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

They have greatly oppressed me from my youth — let Israel say, they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me. Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long. But the LORD is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

By now you know that Paul’s letter to the Galatians was a vigorous rebuttal to the claims of the so-called Judaizers, Jewish Christians who taught that Gentiles desiring to become Christians had to put themselves under the Law and be circumcised to be saved.

Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.

Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,

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.”

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Paul has been showing the Galatians that all believers in Jesus are children of God. We are also descendants of Abraham, and heirs according to the promise God gave to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him.

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.