Latest Commentaries

This section begins the “song of praise” portion of Psalm 22. David vows to publicly give the LORD credit for rescuing him. He exhorts his fellow Israelites to praise and glorify God for what He has done. The LORD did not despise David’s sufferings, nor abandon him as naysayers wrongfully claimed, but God came to David’s aid in his time of need. The people’s praise of David is not because of what he did, but what the LORD did for him. 

David concludes the “cry of anguish” portion of Psalm 22 with a series of petitions to the LORD. He asks the LORD to come to his rescue and save his life from a violent and humiliating execution at the hands of his enemies. After making his requests, David tells the LORD “You answer me.” This short but confident expression of faith is his transition from Psalm 22’s “cry of anguish” to its “song of praise.” 

David describes his experience when he was held as a prisoner of his enemies who are probably Gentiles. He describes what they do to him. They bound or pierce his hands and feet. They strip him naked. And they cast lots to see which of them will possess his clothing. 

David describes the painful conditions his body is suffering as he is surrounded by many powerful enemies. He is physically exhausted, is experiencing a painful heart—episode, and is severely dehydrated. His body is on the verge of death, but he appears willing to trust the LORD through the entire ordeal.

The psalmist prays for God to stay near during His time of danger because no one else is present to help him. He describes being surrounded by powerful enemies who are positioned and eager to do him great harm.

David proclaims how He was chosen by God from before his birth to be His servant. He describes how his rejection of the people and his solitude with God was also predetermined.

David, the psalmist reflects how greatly he is despised by the people—as a worm and not a man. He is openly mocked by all who see him. They appear to taunt David with his own words—Commit yourself to the LORD—as a way to ridicule his suffering and to delegitimize him as God’s appointed king. 

The psalmist contrasts his present anguish and his pain from feeling forsaken of God with reminders of God’s faithfulness to rescue the fathers of Israel who trusted in Him. 

Psalm 22—A Psalm of David—begins with a terrible outcry that is quoted by Jesus shortly before His death on the cross. In this section, the psalmist complains to God about how God does not seem to be answering his prayers despite his desperate and repeated prayers to be delivered.

Later that evening some people bring Jesus many who are demon-possessed. Jesus frees them from their spiritual bondage and commands the demons to be silent because they knew Him to be the Christ.

Mark records Jesus’s first miracle of physical healing in his Gospel. Jesus heals Simon Peter’s mother—in-law of a fever. 

Jesus begins to recruit His disciples. As Jesus walks along the shore of Galilee He sees two sets of brothers who are fishermen: Simon and Andrew and James and John. Jesus calls each pair to leave their livelihood and follow him. They do so immediately.

Jesus provides His disciples with an explanation for the Parable of the Sower. The first soil resembles a hardened heart, impenetrable from the start, unable to receive God’s word at all. The second soil is like a fearful heart, which loses its joy when faced with immediate trials. The third soil reflects a heart which cares more for the fleeting treasures of this world than the everlasting riches of God’s kingdom, thus yielding no fruit. However, the fourth soil stands apart in quality. It represents a heart that trusts, reveres, and loves God. It bears abundant fruit, yielding exponentially more in accordance with its faithfulness.

The disciples ask Jesus to explain the meaning of the Parable of the Sower. Rather than immediately giving them the desired explanation, Jesus first responds with why some are able to understand the parables, while others cannot.

Jesus shares a parable concerning a sower who disperses seed across four distinct types of soil. While the first three types of soil yield no crop, the fourth type, characterized as the good soil, produces an abundant harvest.

Paul and Barnabas return to their home church of Syrian Antioch. They tell the church about all that God had accomplished through them, the miracles and the many Jews and Gentiles who believed in Jesus. God is reaching the Gentiles. The gospel is for the entire world.

Leviticus 2:14-16 describes another variation of the grain offering, this time concerning the "early ripened things," also known as the first harvest.

The enemies of Paul and Barnabas have been coalescing and colluding. Jews from Pisidian Antioch have joined with Jews from Iconium. This mob arrives in Lystra, stirs up hatred in the crowds, and successfully stones Paul. The mob thinks he is dead and leaves his body outside of the city. But believers find his body, and Paul stands up, alive, and returns to the city. Barnabas and Paul preach in a neighboring city, Derbe, and then backtrack through the churches they have planted. They establish a group of men to lead as elders over each church, and encourage all the new believers to endure suffering by trusting in God.

Leviticus 2:11-13 provides further instructions on what must be excluded from the grain offering and introduces an essential element that must be present: salt.

Continuing the instructions for a grain offering, Leviticus 2:4-10 begins detailing the various forms this offering may take, emphasizing the care and reverence with which offerings are to be made to the LORD.