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Jesus teaches the crowds and his disciples not only by means of beatitudes that illumine the heart of the First Gospel’s theology (Matthew 5:1–12), but by woes that strike at the core of self-aggrandizing religiosity (...)

Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm that serves as the preface to the Psalter, sharing literary and theological relationship with the Torah.1 Torah—the first five books of the Hebrew Bible—is traditionally translated as the “law” (...)

This passage is part of an arc that begins in the previous chapter with the golden calf, whose worship voided the covenant document which Moses brought down the mountain and smashed in fury at the (...)

Who do you say that I am? Jesus asks Peter this question in Matthew 16, and it still challenges preachers today. Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders unpack Peter’s confession and explore what testimony (...)

Across the street from the university where my wife attended graduate school was a church whose sign included that famous quote from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: “If you don’t know where you are going, (...)

Although the central section of this psalm is composed of hymnic praise of God, the psalm as a whole suggests that the prayer exemplifies what Walter Brueggemann categorized as psalms of reorientation.1 Psalms of reorientation (...)

This is a commentary on the middle section of Psalm 50—Psalm 50:7–15. The psalm can be divided into three sections: Psalm 50:1–6—Introduction (See my 2021 commentary on these verses) Psalm 50:7–15—God speaks to his people (...)

While Psalm 68 is fraught with interpretive difficulties—several one-of-a-kind words, obscure allusions, unknown geographical locations, and a less-than-clear structure—its general character and movement are clear enough.1 As Konrad Schaefer helpfully suggests, Psalm 68 “is a (...)

Since ancient times Psalm 47 has been used for worship.1 It is plain to see why Christians have used it on Ascension Day. “God has gone up with a shout” (verse 5) brings to mind (...)

Psalm 66 is a hymn of thanksgiving in which the voices of the community of faith (verses 1–12) mingle with the voice of an individual psalm singer (verses 13–20).1 Verses 1–5 of the psalm echo (...)