Shows
Love Local ChicagolandLove Local Chicagoland Podcast: Rest for Success with Karl FayJason sits down with Karl Fay, a local pastor and artist, on a topic
often overlooked - the importance of rest and its potential to amplify
our positive impact within communities.
In this conversation, Karl recounts the toll of burnout and the
transformative principles he embraced to re-prioritize rest in his life.
With consistent rest and reinvigorating hobbies, he shares how he
turned his mood around to become better and happier than ever.
Learn more about Prince of Peace:
https://www.pop.church/
2024-01-0231 min
Business Matters with Karl FitzpatrickTara Fay from Tara Fay Events discusses the booming wedding industry in IrelandRenowned wedding planner, Tara Fay, joins Karl Fitzpatrick to discuss how weddings have created a new industry for Ireland, her involvement in promoting Ireland as a wedding destination for international couples and why she believes couples will start to create their own websites for the special occasion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2023-02-1112 min
Jesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 150 PCE + MSG + CommentaryHallelujah! Let every breath praise the Lord! The finale of our psalms journey points toward eternity and invites us to practice for eternity even now! John Goldingay summarizes the sense of 150 in this way, “We have said a lot about God in all these psalms; in light of what we have said, you know all the reasons to praise God. Just do it!” I pray this ending is just a beginning for all of you of a lifetime pursuit of prayer and praise! Hallelujah Jesus!
2022-08-2310 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 149 ESV + CommentaryThe victory celebration! Psalm 149 is one part dancing and one part battle. “Gospel joy, knowing how honored and loved we are in Christ, makes us ready for this mission.” - Tim Keller. Live with great joy in the Lord and arm yourselves with God’s word and prayer!
2022-08-2307 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 148 NIV + CommentaryHallelujah from heaven! Hallelujah from earth! All creation is invited to join the choir! The great unifier between the extremes is a joyful preoccupation with God. Why are they/we praising? Because we exist! God created us all! Why else are we praising? Because God saves. He raised up a horn! He sent Jesus! He keeps us close to His heart! Hallelujah!
2022-08-2206 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 147 JG + CommentaryGod is in the details. Hallelujah! “Everything observable in the world is a cipher for discovering grace.” No detail is too small, no person is insignificant. God knows every star, sparrow, and snowflake. God wants a relationship with every single person. Hallelujah!
2022-08-1909 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 146 MSG + CommentaryA lifetime of praise is not enough! It’ll take every person, every generation, throughout eternity! God is eternally good and faithful, and unbroken blessing and delight are our future. In the meantime, beware the false hopes of hero worship, declare the praises of the One True God who saves, and care for the most vulnerable ones in your midst! Be Jesus to others. See Jesus in others!
2022-08-1810 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 145 NIV + CommentaryAnother alphabetic/acrostic psalm which has deep connections to themes from the Lord’s Prayer as well as God’s revelation to Moses in Exodus 34. Verses 15-16 have been used as a traditional meal prayer. Psalm 145 expresses very personal and intimate praise but is also “as wide as mankind and as unfading as eternity.”
2022-08-1606 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 144 ESV + CommentaryThis mosaic psalm drawn from material and imagery in other psalms puts things in perspective, remembers the pattern of rescue, prays urgently for it to happen now, and anticipates future praise and peace for all God’s people.
2022-08-1508 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 143 NLT + Commentary#7 of 7 penitential psalms, David teaches us about universal guilt and how to appeal to God for both grace and guidance. In the face of haunting past personal failures, David asks for and meditates on God’s unfailing love that surrounds his past, present, and future as he seeks to serve in God’s name.
2022-08-1509 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 142 VOICE + CommentaryDiscover how to get prayers answered, see an incredible before & after, and just watch how God responds to us when we pray lonely prayers!
2022-08-1105 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 141 EP + NIV + Commentary‘A prayer against insincerity and compromise, and a plea for survival under the savage attacks which such an attitude has invited.’ Derek Kidner
2022-08-1111 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 140 NIV + CommentaryLord, protect my heart and don’t let me get jaded. Psalm 140 helps you pray through losing your hope in humanity and losing your motivation to keep doing your bits of good where you are. Pray about all the bad things that are beyond your control, and get busy doing those good things that are within your reach. Change the world, friends!
2022-08-1011 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 139 MSG + CommentaryYou know all there is to know about me. There’s no place I can hide from you. You saw me and loved me even before I was born. Rid the world of evil, even the evil in me. A quick summery of the four six-verse sections of this David psalm. So many best-loved verses come from psalm 139, but we tend to fixate on sections 1-3 to the neglect of cringe-worthy #4. Let’s take a look at all 4 of the sections, complete with some inspiration from Bill Bryson’s “The Body: A Guide for Occupants.”
2022-08-0815 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 138 NLT + CommentaryI’m threatened and yet protected. My faith is so deeply personal, yet it is also universal. Your power, God, is made perfect in my weakness. Give me resilience to walk Your way when others around me don’t. Teach my soul to delight in giving thanks and praising Your name.
2022-08-0807 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 137 NIV + CommentaryPerhaps the most shocking of all the psalms because of its appalling ending. How can sentiments like this be in the Bible?! Prayer is the best place to pour out such raw and intense emotions, including anger and the desire for retaliation. Lay it all before the cross where God died for us at the hands of oppressors. Lord, May we never forget Jesus and the cross.
2022-08-0311 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 136 MSG + CommentaryHis love never quits! 26x we repeat this phrase. Each time drills into us the eternal consistency of God’s character, God’s strongest attribute, the “greatest of these.” Christ is hidden in the phrase. With each accompanying line the psalm elaborates and expands on this one trait and cultivates in us gratitude and delight and an expectation to discover mercies new every morning, God’s love around every corner.
2022-08-0308 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 135 NLT + CommentaryAn anthology of praise. Begins and ends with Hallelujah, with a lot of borrowed content in between. What if our days began and ended the same way? What if in our prayer life we were bold to “steal like artists” and pray others’ words sometimes? What joy and gratitude and freedom to be and breathe in God’s presence! Hallelujah!
2022-08-0208 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 134 ESV + JG + Commentary#15 of 15 songs of ascent: bless, bless, bless. Three short verses. The arrival of the pilgrims and the welcome into unceasing praise and a glorious exchange with God.
2022-08-0106 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 133 NIV + Commentary#14 of 15 songs of ascent: down, down, down, like oil on beards and robes, like dew on mountains tall and small, may Your blessings flow down on us and be shared generously among us. Create in us a beautiful unity that is a pleasing aroma to You and an inviting aroma to those on the outside.
2022-07-3109 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 132 ESV + Commentary#13 of 15 songs of ascent: David longs to draw near to God by building a house. God gives David great assurance by drawing near to build his house. “Church is not the building in which we congregate or a place we go, but rather a thing that we are.” “Arise O King of grace, arise, and enter to thy rest! We wait for you with longing eyes. Come and dwell with us.”
2022-07-2911 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 131 ESV + NLT + VOICE + MSG + Commentary#12 of 15 songs of ascent: avoiding temptations to pride and presumption and discovering dependence, contentment, and childlike faith.
2022-07-2810 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 130 NIV + JG + Commentary#11 of 15 songs of ascent: the penitential psalm is prayed from a place of drowning, not because of illness or homesickness or persecution, but drowning because of guilt. At the end of one’s rope. In need of help beyond self. And awed at God’s answer to that need, the clean slate offered, the lifeline, the rope lowered down to rescue! May we hope for Jesus like we hope for the dawning of a new day!
2022-07-2609 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 129 MSG + Commentary#10 of 15 songs of ascent: your story is not just about what you’ve achieved but also what you’ve survived. Here Israel remembers slavery and exodus and identifies as a scarred survivor, a suffering servant, a wounded healer and remembers that those who abuse, oppress, and resort to violence will wither and fade away unremembered, vanishing to the place of God’s enemies, which is locked in the inside.
2022-07-2406 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 128 NLT + JG + Commentary#9 of 15 songs of ascent: tracing the ripple effect of a life of personal devotion through family and church and out to society across generations. What joy and peace!
2022-07-2408 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 127 ESV + Commentary#8 of 15 songs of ascent: Solomon shares wisdom drenched with tragic irony, which is basically: “do as I say, not as I do.” The spiritual nature of domestic activities like building, saving, and raising a family is celebrated here.
2022-07-2011 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 126 DK + Commentary#7 of 15 songs of ascent: a shared memory of delirious happiness and relief at past restoration plants hope and prepares the ground for prayer that it can happen again, whether suddenly and miraculously or slowly and arduously. Either way from the Lord!
2022-07-2009 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 125 NLT + Commentary#6 of 15 songs of ascent: reveling in God’s panoramic protection forever. Holding fast to the promise of forever victory. Looking beyond the mountains to the Maker of the mountains. Praying for hearts to stay passionate and not grow cold in the face of the world’s evil now. Praying for perseverance to walk the Jesus Way now! May the one who wrestles with God have peace!
2022-07-1807 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 124 NIV + Commentary#5 of 15 songs of ascent: thank God I’m alive! Thank God, we’re alive! You’ve seen us through more than our fair share of close calls and narrow escapes, and here we are! Not eaten alive, not drowned in the floods, not torn apart, not caught in traps and temptations! You, Mighty Maker, are with us to the very end! Help us carry this news and sing your praise all our days to everyone, everywhere!
2022-07-1809 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 123 ESV + NIV + MSG + Commentary#4 of 15 songs of ascent: God, I am your servant. Give grace to all your faithful ones who suffer disgrace from others. Give me courage and compassion when facing contempt from others. Let me not become a “jerk for Jesus” but let me live more like Jesus. Amen.
2022-07-1710 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 122 NLT + Commentary#3 of 15 songs of ascent: considering the potency of gatherings like vacation Bible school, national youth gathering, and family reunions. The exhilaration of arrival, close connections and citizenship in Christ’s kingdom, and prayers for peace and prosperity, which are the fruit of justice. What Jerusalem is to the Israelite, the church is for the Christian!
2022-07-1410 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 121 NIV + MSG + Commentary#2 of 15 song of ascent: Look up, child! Lift your eyes to the hills! Look beyond the hills to the Maker of the mountains! Take heart on your tenuous pilgrimage and trust in God, who is the Guardian of the Galaxy, the Keeper of the Cosmos, your keeper, your shade, who never slips or sleeps. Threats may be great but God is Greater! God will guard your life now and through eternity!
2022-07-1308 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 120 VOICE + Commentary#1 of 15 Songs of Ascent: I’m trying to be a person of peace in a world that’s hungry for war and ready to pick a fight. I’m trying to hold the faith in a sea of unbelief. I’m trying to live the truth where hypocrisy is the norm. It’s one thing if I suffer when doing wrong or being a jerk. I deserve it then. Sometimes I suffer even when I’m trying to do good and seek peace, and it can be incredibly surprising. When I do, God, remind me I’m walking the Jesus way and I am n
2022-07-1209 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:161-176 PCE + CommentaryPart 11: delighting in and meditating on God’s words A-Z in the epic acrostic poem. God’s words are everyday words, but let’s not get too cozy with them and lose our sense of awe. These are living and active words, sharp like a surgeon’s knife, able to perform heart surgery. These are not just words on a page, these are a conversation with the Shepherd who walks with us and carries us back when we wander away. These words are priceless treasure, and we need to fight from keeping the treasure from being buried under other competing prioriti...
2022-07-1107 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:145-160 NIV + CommentaryPart 10: delighting in and meditating on God’s words A-Z in this epic acrostic poem. Urgency picks up and become more of a round the clock vigil. Matters of life and death. The trouble is not denied, but it is set within a broader context of faith.
2022-07-1103 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:129-144 ESV + CommentaryPart 9: delighting in and meditating on God’s words A-Z in this epic acrostic poem. Unfolding the word through meditation, panting after the promises, streams of tears over those who don’t share the faith, and testing the word in the crucible of your life.
2022-07-0805 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:113-128 MSG + CommentaryPart 8: delighting in and meditating on God’s words A-Z in this epic acrostic poem. Keeping distance from double-mindedness and half-heartedness. Awe at God and God’s word. Time for God to act! And how treasuring God’s word changes the way you hold the treasures of the world.
2022-07-0704 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:97-112 PCE + CommentaryPart 7: delighting in and meditating on God’s words A-Z in this epic acrostic poem. This other-worldly, heavenly wisdom gives light for the path and delight for the heart.
2022-07-0608 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:81-96 ESV + CommentaryPart 6: meditating on and delighting in God’s words A-Z in this epic acrostic poem. Do yourself a favor and linger a little longer in verses 89-96. Several gems there worth more extended contemplation.
2022-07-0408 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:65-80 PCE + CommentaryPart 5: delighting in and meditating on God’s word A-Z in this epic acrostic poem. Learning through suffering. Being grateful even for the setbacks that helped set you straight. Celebrating the beauty of God’s law not as words on a page but as lived and embodied in individuals and community. When you encounter such things, you know what it is to “delight in God’s law” and you cannot help but be moved and changed.
2022-07-0405 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:49-64 PCE + CommentaryPart 4: Meditating on and delighting in God’s Word A-Z in this epic acrostic poem. Struggles with the world pick up in this section of the Psalm. Not everyone values this Word the same way, even as the whole earth is full of God’s love. Why can’t they see the beauty? Why can’t they hear the song?
2022-07-0105 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:33-48 PCE + CommentaryPart 3: Delighting in and meditating on God’s words A-Z in this epic acrostic poem. Not only do we love God and love our neighbor as ourselves but we also love the Word that wisely commands us to center our lives in this way.
2022-06-3004 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:17-32 MSG + CommentaryPart 2: delighting in and meditating on God’s word A-Z in the epic acrostic prayer. Open my eyes to prize what I already have instead of pining for what I don’t.
2022-06-2803 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 119:1-16 PCE + CommentaryPart 1: Delighting in and meditating on God’s Word A-Z in this epic acrostic prayer. In the first 16 verses, we seek an undivided heart that treasures God’s word above worldly wealth!
2022-06-2707 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 118:15-29 MSG + CommentaryThe victory song & the victor’s welcome! The soundtrack of Palm Sunday that plays in all four gospels, the Acts, and Peter’s letters. Christ is the chief cornerstone which the builders rejected. Hosanna! Lord, save us! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
2022-06-2407 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 118:1-14 NIV + CommentaryPassover and Exodus echo throughout this psalm of sweetly shared victory and thanks to the God whose goodness follows us all the days of our lives. It all comes together in the life of Jesus and the events of Palm Sunday and Passion Week. Get caught up in the call and response and may God’s love for you be the reason you sing!
2022-06-2407 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 117 NIV + CommentarySmall, but mighty. Short and sweet. How to say a lot in a few words. “If you want to know how to praise God, then here is the answer. Summon people to do so, and then give the reasons.” John Goldingay. Psalm 117 is the tiniest of all psalms yet reaches to the farthest corners of the earth and invites every single person to join the ever-widening circle and sing praise to God.
2022-06-2202 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 116 CEB + CommentaryI love because Yahweh listens! I live a thankful life because God delivered me from death. I believed, and therefore I spoke up. Intensely personal and passionate faith is drawn into the public sphere that its testimony might invite others to trust God exclusively and sing God’s praises explicitly. Call on the name of the Lord!
2022-06-2209 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 115 NIV + CommentaryTrust > control. God’s will > whatever I want. Maker > made. Yahweh > idols. Life > death. We become what we worship. The choice is clear. The choice is yours. The truth is more wonderful than fiction, and it calls for endless praise. Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!
2022-06-2111 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 114 NLT + CommentaryShake, shake, shake it up! Tremble, earth! You’re in the Lord’s presence! We worship a God of great reversals! Isolated immigrants surrounded by an unfamiliar language find belonging and dignity and become a visible sign of God’s presence. The least promising places turn into places of plenty and fountains of joy. Expect the unexpected. Passover isn’t just past history, it is the pattern of how God continues to work in Jesus. God’s love for us shakes the world, and he won’t let anything come between us!
2022-06-1607 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 113 NLT + CommentaryWe worship a God of great reversals! Hallelujahs fly high above all all times and places and powers and human authorities! Who is like this Majestic Creator God, reaching down deeper than the dust, rescuing the forgotten, raising from the grave, setting the lonely in families? Expect the unexpected! Don’t get too comfortable! Passover isn’t just past history, it’s the pattern of how God continues to work! Hallelujah!
2022-06-1606 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 112 JG + CommentaryGod & image of God, Part 2: Start with wonder and delight! Make it your lifestyle from A to Z! Wonder and worship God and your words and works will ripple out to bless others, your relationship to “stuff” will change so you become more generous, and you’ll leave a generational blessing. Worship something other than the eternal God and you’ll have the same shelf life as your “stuff”. Your dreams and desires will shrink and shrivel and become obsolete with time. We resemble what we revere either for restoration or ruin!
2022-06-1509 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 111 JG + CommentaryGod & image of God, Part 1: Praise God’s works and word and character from A to Z in this acrostic poem. Land the plane on this: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The awe of Yahweh is the essence of insight. Wonder is the best place to start. Next, we’ll see how we become more like what we love most or how we become what we worship.
2022-06-1506 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 110 ESV + CommentaryThis one is a triptych, a three-fold prophetic image, of Jesus as King, Priest, and Warrior. The earliest followers of Jesus found it to be perhaps the most important of the psalms, so it stands as the most clicked hyperlink in the Bible taking us many to many destinations from Genesis to Revelation! Lord, Jesus you are exalted over all the earth and every enemy. Be exalted in my life!
2022-06-1411 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 109 NIV + CommentaryHow do you respond when someone you trust betrays you epically? How do you deal with a character assassin and a campaign of lies? Psalm 109 shows the way. Let’s explore prayers, curses, the cause of justice, the cross of Jesus, praying for those who persecute you, and empathy for those whose outrage you don’t understand.
2022-06-1314 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 108 VOICE + CommentaryA mashup, a power ballad, a cover of a pop song, a concert experience where the lead singer holds the mic out to the crowd. These are the dynamics of Psalm 108. Courage comes from leaning on a Power greater than yourself. With God we’ll gain the victory! Courage comes when you’re living for a cause greater than yourself! Let your glory be over all the earth. Courage comes in community. We need each other! We’re stronger together!
2022-06-1009 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 107 MSG + CommentaryLet the Redeemed of the Lord tell their story! Psalm 107 shows us and sings for us salvation in four scenes: 1) the homeless, 2) the prisoners, 3) the self-damaged, and 4) the storm-tossed all cry out to Yahweh and are saved. Let everyone wake up and wonder at Yahweh’s amazing steadfast love for us! So thank God for his marvelous love, his miracle mercy to the children he loves!
2022-06-0908 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 106 ESV + CommentaryMea culpa. My fault. I’m sorry. Sola gratia. Only by grace. Maranatha! O come! Hosanna! Lord, save us! There but for the grace of God go I. Psalm 106 rehearses the record of our faithlessness in order to elevate and magnify the rejoicing in God’s faithfulness. We need a Savior, a savior God provided in Jesus. And all the people said “Amen!” Hallelujah! And, just like that, we close Psalms Book IV.
2022-06-0810 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 105 ESV + CommentaryHistory is HIS story. All of it: past, present, and future! Psalm 105 praises God’s promise keeping and providence and points us beyond Israel and Joseph and Moses to Jesus, reminding us that behind everything God does, there is something unimaginable greater. That’s cause for a Hallelujah!
2022-06-0611 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 104 NLT + CommentaryFlowing from Psalm 103, this psalm elaborates and enumerates effusive praise for the almighty Creator and gratefulness for all the facets of the marvelous creation. Love the artist by admiring their art. Glory in not just what creation is now but what it will become when Christ comes again and makes all things new. That calls for a Hallelujah!
2022-06-0309 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 103 MSG + CommentarySometimes you just need to count your blessings lest you forget them or take them for granted. David shows us a way that is both inclusive and expansive, reveling in the interconnectedness of every created thing, and intimate exploring the miracle of life that pulses inside you. Bless the Lord, O my soul! Forget not all His benefits…
2022-06-0206 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 102 NIV + CommentaryCries of distress, prayers for future generations, contrasting the fleeting nature of life on earth with God’s eternal nature and permanence. Some of the gifts of Psalm 102, which runs parallel to Psalm 22 and comes into focus as you see the sufferer, the glorious king, the unchanging eternal Creator as distinct pictures of the same person: Jesus.
2022-06-0110 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 101 ESV + NLT + VOICE + CommentaryI will walk with integrity. Part personal prayer and part political platform, Psalm 101 rejoices with the Truth and accepts nothing less. It is painfully ironic as an overlay to David’s life, a powerfully compelling and inspiring picture of Jesus the Messiah, and a high, holy standard for Christians today and any who would seek to lead others. It starts with my heart and my house, then extends to my work and the world. Don’t just cast shade, shine Light!
2022-05-3109 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 100 ESV + MSG + Hymn Lyrics + CommentaryALL. ALL people make a joyful noise. ALL the earth, really. God did it ALL: made us, chose us, led us, fed us, protected us, saved us. Give to God ALL praise! Let songs echo throughout ALL generations. You can’t outsing God’s goodness, love, and faithfulness! They are threaded through all times and places, endless. ALL.
2022-05-3105 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 99 NIV + CommentaryHoly, holy, holy! It is good to tremble a bit as we reflect on the gap between us sinful creatures and our perfectly holy God. Even more so to be grateful for how God bridges that chasm and claims us as his own. And what’s more, it’s a contagious holiness that transforms us to be better people, more like Jesus! Welcome to the awestruck reverence of Psalm 99.
2022-05-2707 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 98 NIV + CommentarySing! Join the eruption of ecstatic and ever-increasing and all-encompassing joy that cannot be contained! Jesus the King worked the Victory! All is made right in this messed up world, all is made new in this weary world. Such wonderful news that every voice, every instrument, all creation together can’t help but join in! Each act of praise in the present links us to the future state until it’s fully and finally here!
2022-05-2608 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 97 NIV + CommentaryOur God is a consuming fire, full of fierce, holy love. Our God is the Most High, King above all gods. Shake a bit as this reality dawns on you. All of the highest goods in our hearts and in the world must step back and take second chair to this One. Then shadows will subside and light will break through in our lives. Then joy will erupt in our hearts and glorious praise flow from our lips.
2022-05-2508 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 96 MSG + CommentaryHow David danced the ark into Jerusalem and how the people waved palms and praised Jesus at his triumphal entry are dim and shadowy images, previews of what every person and all creation will do when Jesus comes again. Psalm 96 calls us to sing out in worship and look forward by faith and even now experience a taste of the all encompassing fullness of joy that will be eternally.
2022-05-2408 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 95 VENITE / ESV + CommentarySing praises to God like you’re singing in the shower uninhibited. Bow your body and spirit like you could fall through the floor or sink into the earth. Listen up and listen well like like it’s a matter of life and death. Psalm 95 warns against wandering and leads into worship. The Maker who formed the world and has it in hand is also our loving Shepherd.
2022-05-2309 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 94 NIV + CommentaryA protest psalm prayed by a patient sufferer to a punishing God. It is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable and call all back to God’s justice and unfailing love. These words show us a way to struggle through and overcome in an unjust world. The night is awfully long, but the Sun still rises!
2022-05-2009 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 93 ESV + CommentaryWaves are crashing. Floodwaters are rising. Look to the One who is mightier than the fiercest storms in your life! Yahweh, the King over all Creation, robed in majesty, sleeps through storms and commands wind and waves to “Be still!” This One can bring peace to your tumultuous heart as well!
2022-05-1904 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 92 NIV + CommentaryWhat depth of joy and delight can be discovered in stepping out of the rat race and experiencing Sabbath rest and worship! Yet many miss out on it and senselessly skim only the surface of life. What a shame! If only they knew that going slow is the way to go fast. And that long term flourishing is found in regularly stopping from your work in order to rejoice in God’s work.
2022-05-1807 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 91 NLT + CommentaryI will. You will. The Lord will. Psalm 91 provides a great model for mentoring and guiding. It is rich with imagery to reassure and comfort amid danger and uncertainty. God is a Mother Bird, a Fortress, and what’s more, God commands armies of guardian angels.
2022-05-1707 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 90 NLT + CommentaryThis too shall pass. Contemplate Eternity and the brevity of life as we try to live it apart from God. Rely on and relish God’s mercy new each morning. Overcome feelings of futility and find hope that God works through your work to leave a legacy.
2022-05-1609 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 89:38-52 MSG + Commentary“Where’s the poop?” This psalm didn’t at first appear to be a lament, a protest, but, BAM! There it is. There’s a lot to learn through this. You have full permission to give voice to your disappointments with God and the cards dealt to you in life. Don’t water that down or pretend. But surround yourself with God’s promises and keep them on your lips. Lament but leave room that there’s something you don’t see, something you don’t get, that the best just hasn’t happened yet. Praise anyways. A Double Amen! Yes! Yes! And with tha...
2022-05-1308 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 89:19-37 MSG + CommentaryGod doesn’t lie. God keeps His promises. It’s a sure thing. These verses dance in the words of the Davidic covenant and celebrate the peerless prince and endless kingdom. They also distinguish between outward appearance and heart, expectation and reality. They point to a greater reality in great David’s Greater Son!
2022-05-1203 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 89:1-18 MSG + CommentaryGod’s promises to David (2 Samuel 7) are celebrated in dancing lines of communal praise in these opening verses, recognizing the lower story of David’s house and line established forever leads one’s eyes to the Throne above the throne. What’s next?
2022-05-1105 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 88 NLT + CommentaryA prayer by the deeply depressed and for the deeply depressed. Pray it with empathy for people in your world or in the world who know the experiences of this psalm. Listen to it as though you’re hearing it from The Man of Sorrows, the one familiar with suffering, the one who hung in the most God-forsaken place in human history for you and me.
2022-05-1011 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 87 NIV + Commentary“All my fountains are in You.” In seven simple verses, Psalm 87 poetically prophesies the worldwide spread of the good news of Jesus. Quite a different way to envision the nasty, nuisance, neighboring nations than other psalms. This psalm gives us a window into what Paul says in Galatians 4:26 “But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.”
2022-05-0907 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 86 NIV + CommentaryWholehearted praise can burst forth from hairy, unresolved ordeals. Be deliberate when you know yourself, how distractible you are, how divided your heart can get, and how depressed you can become. Remember who God is, that God’s got this, and that God’s got you! Deliberate praise may not immediately change your situation, but it’ll certainly change you and how you cope with it.
2022-05-0609 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 85 ESV + CommentaryYou’re feeling spiritually dry, distant from God, and you witness a church and a land in decline. How do you pray for revival? Psalm 85 will show you the Way!
2022-05-0507 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 84 NIV + CommentaryHow do you pray when you are homesick for your happy place? This beautiful, pilgrimage psalm will take you on a journey through tears and hardship and show you the way home. May the fourth be with you!
2022-05-0410 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 83 ESV + CommentaryI’m surrounded by enemies, I’m desperate, and I’m angry. You are silent, and they make so much noise. Take center stage, and do what You do. Do what You’ve done before. They are Your enemies. This is Your fight. It’s Your ultimate outcome. All of it is Yours, God. I’m Yours, surrounded by Your protective love.
2022-05-0307 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 82 PCE + CommentaryHow do you pray in the gap between the way things are among the nations on earth now and God’s eternal, omnipotent rule in heaven? Enter the judgment scene and hear God Almighty render a sentence over the powers that be. Be bold in asking God to rise up like this now, and be amazed and grateful remembering how He came down and became poor, weak, and a victim of injustice.
2022-05-0206 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 81 VOICE + CommentaryA festival psalm that speaks to you from the Voice of God. Gather together and celebrate! Sing your heart out! Remember My love for you and My goodness toward you! Reset your life! Renew your commitment to My ways! Experience these rhythms and this relationship with Me. Walk with Me, talk with Me. You’ll finally find what you’re looking for and be satisfied! Even hard times will produce honey!
2022-04-2909 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 80 NIV + CommentaryA community prayer of desperation seeking restoration. The one being prayed to and the one praying converge again in this Psalm. The Shepherd, the Light, the Vine, the Face of God, the Son of Man, the One Seated at the Right Hand, the Firstborn, the Salvation (Yeshua). Israel + Israel’s God = Jesus. Keep praying for revival!
2022-04-2807 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 79 MSG + CommentaryHow do you pray through outrage and perplexity that sees bad people doing bad things, good people suffering, and wonders where the good God is in such an evil world? Psalm 79 shows us a way.
2022-04-2707 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 78:53-72 NLT + CommentaryHow paying too much attention to the wrong things and dwelling in dissatisfaction turns into idolatry. God’s glory departs. But In spite of all Israel’s fickleness and failings, God is faithful and leads them through a good shepherd, David, and ultimately The Good Shepherd, Jesus.
2022-04-2608 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 78:25-52 ESV + CommentaryWilderness provisions, plagues, and Passover are recounted in this section. God is described as a gracious parent whose patience is tested but who keeps teaching His kids, leading them, providing for them, forgiving them. They were ungrateful and quickly forgot. God rides this balance between “what am I going to do with you?” And “I’ll never stop loving you.”
2022-04-2506 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 78:1-24 NIV + CommentaryRetelling the past can hold up a mirror to the present. The words are doubled-edged: they will both warn and warm our hearts. These words also cause us to rethink our cravings and appetites and how we find satisfaction. In a bitter irony, often the more we get, the less satisfied we are. Little did we know all the while, God was giving us Bread from Heaven.
2022-04-2208 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 77 VOICE + CommentaryThe problem persists. The prayers don’t seem to be working. Either God changed or my faith did, and not for the good. What is to be done? Through meditating on, remembering, and speaking aloud God’s character and powerful works in the past on behalf of His people, this honest confession of doubt transforms into effusive praise. The focus on “I” and “me” gets enveloped in the Incomparable You and stands alongside the community of us.
2022-04-2109 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 76 CEB + CommentaryIn this Psalm we catch a glimpse of God as the Alpha among all the beasts, the protector, the Lion King, if you will. God fights for us and even turns others’ evil intentions for his good purposes. The roar starts small, centering on Zion and Israel, but echoes and expands as God rises to judge the world and all mankind.
2022-04-2007 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 75 MSG + CommentaryGet to know Yahweh as the Timekeeper over every moment of history, the Foundation of everything, the Judge of everyone, the Cup Bearer to those who crow arrogantly, the One who revels in great reversals and glorious exchanges and is always right on time. Remember God’s deeds in the past to give you courage in the present and anticipate future deliverance and praise.
2022-04-1907 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 74 NIV + CommentaryHow do you pray when evil is loud and God seems silent? How do you trust the King of everything when everything you hold sacred has been desecrated? Psalm 74 shows the way.
2022-04-1808 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 73 NIV + CommentaryEnvy can make even the Garden of Eden seem woefully inadequate! This psalm teaches you to interrogate your emotions and experience God’s presence as enough to satisfy the deepest longings on your heart.
2022-04-1509 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 72 MSG + CommentaryLong live the King! Let’s wrap up Psalms Book 2 with a bang! Justice for the poor, the end of violence and oppression, a multicolored, multiethnic, expanding, inclusive kingdom, characterized by compassion, lived through service and self-sacrifice, the high, holy standard to which all authorities and governments are ultimately judged but only One fully measures up. Long live the King!
2022-04-1411 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 71 ESV + CommentaryFrom birth to youth to middle age to old age, Psalm 71 takes you on a journey and offers a perspective that has witnessed God’s faithfulness across an entire lifetime. Lean in and listen up as this sage bears witness!
2022-04-1308 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 70 Kidner + CommentaryMake haste, remember, save, come quickly! These words may sound familiar to you. Be bold, direct, and audacious in asking God to act. Let your desperate plea also give rise to delighted praise inviting others to join.
2022-04-1205 minJesus' Songbook: Psalms CommentaryPsalm 69:19-36 NIV + CommentaryPart 2 “Lead me to the cross where your love poured out.” This psalm powerfully unites our suffering to the suffering of Christ with hope in God’s unfailing love and perfect timing. The New Testament writers quote and allude to this Psalm often, and in it we see a powerful before and after of how the cross transforms our attitude toward enemies.
2022-04-1108 min
PD and PDubs UnscriptedCommunity Connections - Pastor Karl Fay of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Palatine ILPDubs and PD joined are joined by Pastor Karl Fay of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, a neighbor church in Palatine. Pastor Fay comes on to join the guys to discuss Second Annual Community Art Show And Juried Competition at Prince of Peace. Pastor Fay shares about the reason behind why he started this art show last year. This year’s theme for the art show is “Stronger Together”, as we seek to elevate and celebrate the power of connections and relationships. There is power in people coming together. Let’s reconnect. We need each other. The “Stronger Together” will be happeni...
2022-02-2523 min