Grains of Sand

How many times have I quoted Psalm 30:5b to myself or to someone else? “ Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning ” writes the psalmist. Sometimes those nights seem excruciatingly long, to the point of never-ending. We like to say that mornings come early, but oftentimes they don’t come soon enough. But this morning, my mind was engaged by the first part of the verse—the one I never quote! “ For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. ” The alternate reading for the last part of the phrase is “ …and his favor is life ” but I’m going to go with what the English Standard Version considers the best of the two options. I was interested in what other passages of Scripture had to say about God’s “anger.” The results of my foray into other verses was, oddly enough, encouraging. Psalm 103:8-14 is a beautiful reminder that while sin brings consequences it also invites grace. “ The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding i...

Google Images It’s the oddest encounter. Some men bring a paralyzed friend to Jesus (Matthew 9:1-8). We assume that they have brought him because they want Jesus to make him walk again. I say “assume” because, even though it turns out the Jesus does heal the paralytic, something else happens in between that might indicate that something other than physical healing was on their minds. “ Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven’ ” (vs. 2). From what we have recorded for us in Scripture, when the sick came to Jesus He simply healed them. But this case is different. It wasn’t until accused of blasphemy by the teachers of the law who were watching Him that Jesus physically healed the man on the mat. It seems that He did so to prove a point—that the One who could physically heal also had the authority to spiritually heal. The man on the mat is almost incidental! But what about the man...