A Psalm of David When Nathan the Prophet Went to Him, After He Had Gone in to Bathsheba. 1       Have this  evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And  blameless when You judge. 5        me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12       Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your  generous Spirit. 13       Then  I will teach transgressors Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 126 Q. What does the fifth request of the Lord's Prayer mean? A.

setting the stage for both the height of David’s reign and the challenges still to come. 2 Samuel 7:1– 17 (NKJV) 7   Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the L ORD  had given him   is  with you.” 4   But it happened that night that the word of the L ORD  came to Nathan, saying, 5     But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it  from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ” 17  According to all these words and according to all

You can find immense comfort in the fact that Jesus' dead body was buried. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 41 Q. Why was he “buried”? A. His burial testifies that he really died. Summary Following the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea was granted permission by Pilate to take the body of Jesus so that he may be put to rest. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, provided the myrrh and aloes that would be used as part of the burial process. This amount of burial spices, 75 lbs of myrrh and aloes, far exceeded the typical amount used for the burial custom. Using this many burial spices would have been considered a showing of respect towards Jesus; one that came at a very high price, since these ingredients were very expensive. Dig Deeper Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took great personal risk in ensuring Jesus received a proper burial. And while their actions are commendable, the most important aspect of this passage was not their bravery, but the fact that Jesus indeed had died and was buried. Jesus' body created from dust seemed like it was well on the way to becoming dust again. The miracle of the resurrection is that Jesus, who had died and was buried, became alive again. The logical order of events dictates that indeed, if Jesus was going to rise from the dead, that He first be dead. This simple act of the burial of Jesus plays an important part in the Biblical accounts of the resurrection. This importance can be seen in how the burial account is included in all four of the Gospels. The reality of Jesus’ death and burial can also be seen in the chief priests’ response to the burial. Fearing that the disciples might try to steal away Jesus’ body, they asked Pilate to lend them soldiers to secure and guard the tomb (Matthew 27:62-66). Certainly, part of securing the tomb was to ensure that Jesus’ deceased body remained inside. Between the witnesses of Jesus’ death on the cross, those who prepared his body for burial, and those who secured his body in the tomb; there are more than enough witnesses to verify that Jesus really had died. Because Jesus had died and was buried, we rejoice in the miracle that on the third day he rose again from the dead. Today's catechism question, emphasizing the fact that Jesus was indeed buried, seems out of place in a year long study of what your only comfort in life and in death is. But this little question, with its seemingly simplistic answer - that Jesus' burial indicates that He was in fact actually dead - will give you immense comfort the next time you're looking at the casket of a loved one that's about to be lowered into the ground. Just as Jesus' lifeless body was made to live again after it had already been sealed in a tomb, so too will that loved one whose faith was in the resurrected Savior rise from the grave when Christ returns. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who seemed so distant and far away from Joseph and Nicodemus as they placed Jesus' body in the ground; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Both Joseph & Nicodemus had followed Jesus in secret. Pray that you will have the courage to follow Christ in a way that's visible to all. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 9

God's expectations have been clear since day one: Obey Him and live. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 40 Q. Why did Christ have to go all the way to death? A. Because God’s justice and truth demand it: only the death of God’s Son could pay for our sin. Summary When Adam was placed into the Garden of Eden to work the land, God commanded him to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of all the fruit of the trees in the garden, only the fruit of this one tree was forbidden. This was a choice God did not have to give Adam. God could have hidden the tree of the knowledge of good and evil away from Adam, or created Adam without an ability to choose. Yet God did neither of these. Instead, God gave this command and Adam was given a choice between obedience and rebellion. The cost of rebellion was steep, for Adam and all whom he represented, disobedience meant that he would surely die. This consequence would not be an immediate physical death for Adam, but that death would become a certainty. Dig Deeper In Genesis 3 we find the account of the fall, where Adam and Eve as the first humans “fell” from grace through the first act of human disobedience. Despite God’s clear command that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was off-limits and the warning of the consequences of rebellion, they chose to partake of it. With this act of disobedience death began its reign in mankind. The only remedy for the fallen state of mankind is the supervening grace of God. This is why Jesus was born into this world and suffered death, to intervene in the fate of a fallen humanity. With this first act of rebellion came the certainty of death. God’s justice and truth require payment for our debt of sin. And nothing else could pay for our sins except the death of the Son of God. Because of Jesus, the fall is more than the origin story of the misery of mankind and how we came to be in a state of rebellion against God. The fall is part of God’s larger plan of redemption. God certainly didn't want Adam to fail, yet He knew that Adam and Eve would disobey in the garden. This is why a means of grace was already part of God's plan of redemption. Jesus is God’s intervention for a fallen humanity. Only the Son of God could pay our debt of sin. Thank God that Jesus intervenes in humanity’s state of misery, rescuing us from the consequences of our rebellion of sin. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our covenant God, the creator of all that is who has called us to a life of righteousness. ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that through Christ you've earned everlasting life, and pray for wisdom to fulfill your purpose of ensuring God's creation reflects His holiness. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 8

Faithlife.org Psalm 27 Of David. 1   The L ORD  is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? the L ORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the L ORD and to seek him in his temple. 5   Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. 10  Though my father and mother forsake me, the L ORD   will receive me. 11  Teach me your way, L ORD ; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. living. 14  Wait for the L ORD ; be strong and take heart and wait for the L ORD .

The Psalter-Hymnal, first published in 1934, marked the transition in the Christian Reformed Church from PSALM 98 A Psalm. 1 O sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and our God. 4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. 5 The Christian Reformed Church, in fact, held to a strict psalms-only songbook until 1932! The first combined Psalter-Hymnal, published in 1934, explained in its preface that until this time,

Be reminded why Jesus' death & resurrection were possible in the first place. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 36 Q. How does the holy conception and birth of Christ benefit you? A. He is our mediator, and with his innocence and perfect holiness he removes from God’s sight my sin—mine since I was conceived. Summary Old Testament worship was a bloody affair, because God wanted Israel to know what so many of us as Christians have forgotten: that forgiveness requires blood be spilled. Had we kept reading Hebrews 9 for just a bit longer, we would have been reminded that "the law requires that everything be cleansed by blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (v22). But not just any blood will do. The way that the Torah describes it over and over, the animals offered to atone for sin had to be without defect, or in other words, they had to be unblemished. This is a big reason why so many people missed the point when Jesus hung on the cross, and why so many Jewish Biblical scholars rejected the message of the gospel. They knew it would be impossible for any man to make payment even for his own sins, much less the sins of others, because every son and daughter of Adam has been born defective, being totally infected with sin. And they were right. But Jesus Christ is not just any man. Remember, "he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary," and so he didn't share the same defect every other person inherited from Adam. Not only was Jesus born unblemished, that is, sin-free, He remained so throughout his life. Because it conveys this concept, v14 is one of the most important of the entire Bible: The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, will cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death. Dig Deeper As you approach Resurrection Sunday, you've seen in this past week that the idea of Christ's virgin birth is so much more than an obscure doctrine that you can toss out if you don't like it. It is, in fact, the bedrock foundation that makes Christ's saving work on the cross and victory over death possible in the first place. As if that weren't important enough, knowing that Jesus was born, lived and died, and came to new life unblemished results in huge additional benefits for you. You've been put into a new covenant (v15). You were born into God's covenant with Adam in which you only gain ongoing life if you perfectly obey God (which you failed to do before you were even born). But Christ died as a ransom to set you free from that arrangement, and so as one who has been called to Christ, you will receive the promised eternal inheritance of the new covenant! But understand that all of these benefits come with strings attached. You obviously can't continue to live in the sins of the world, but just as importantly, you can't just sit and passively wait for the promised eternal inheritance to show up. Circle the words 'so that' near the end of v14, because they indicate why you've been cleansed and set free: "so that you may serve the living God." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our holy and perfectly righteous Father, who justly requires unblemished obedience ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for your mediator who had no defects and pray that you will serve the living God since you've been set free. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 2

BibleStudyTools.com BOOK IV Psalms 90–106 PSALM 90 A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. 1 Lord, You have For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. 5 Your presence. 9 For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. 10 12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. 13 Do return, O LORD And be sorry for Your servants. 14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may

Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Point 2 - Limited Atonement Point 3 - Total Depravity Point 4 - Irresistible Grace Article 12: Regeneration a Supernatural Work Regeneration, is the new creation Today: 2 Corinthians 5

Genesis 45:1-8, 50:20 (NIV) 45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, 5  And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it Belgic Confession Article 13 The doctrine of providence gives us unspeakable comfort since it teaches