Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Psalm 9:1-10.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 9.

This psalm, together with next week’s Psalm 10, forms an acrostic: the first word of each two verse stanza begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This literary style provides a thread of unity in the absence of a more developed sequence of thought. Some early Bibles counted these two psalms as one.

When taken individually, each letter of an alphabet stands on its own. Do the same with each group of verses that make a stanza or strophe. Imagine each one printed or engraved upon your soul. The psalms are prayers of strong expression.

From the deep, inward experience of David and other psalmists, let each stanza make a powerful impression. You might engrave and shape every hour of your day by each one.

Psalm 9

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: I thank You with my whole heart. v. 1

We read the Psalms in numerical order.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Joshua 20:1-6.

The final allotment of lands is decided with special provisions for the priestly house of Levi. Ponder the issue of the separate altar, which those tribes and half-tribes who settled on the eastern side of the Jordan had constructed. Find out why the rest of God’s people were so concerned about this and how the issue was resolved.

Once again, it is the dilemma of “The One and the Many.” The one sacrifice of Christ upon the cross irradiates across the globe, blending with the ongoing suffering of others.

Do you have a special place of prayer in your house that is a sanctuary for you? If not, create one. May it be for you what the eastern altar was—place of the rising sun. As each new day dawns, may God come more fully into your life.

Joshua 20—22

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…
Example: Serving You with all my heart 22:5

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Joshua and Proverbs 1—3

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Isaiah 9:2-7.

Every year at Christmastime, this passage is proclaimed. Perhaps you will hear the familiar ecstatic music of Handel’s “Messiah” echoing within you. Sway with joy as these verses forever imbed themselves against every dark and malicious enemy. Meditate upon the five names given to the Messiah. Say and sing them repeatedly during the course of this day, which the Lord has made.

Verse 8 begins to describe the judgment against Israel, referred to at the beginning of this section as “Jacob.” Israel, the northern kingdom with its ten tribes, has sinfully conspired against Judah in the south. Samaria, the capital of the key tribe of Ephraim, would be destroyed.

It is said that Handel wrote the entire Messiah in three weeks, with times of ecstasy lifting him throughout. The Holy Spirit will do something wonderful for you as well, as the “Wonderful Counselor,” Christ, is born in you.

Isaiah 9

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Isaiah 1-13.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Waiting and hoping in You v. 17

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.