Love that Leaps Mountains [Family Worship lesson in Song of Songs 2:8–17]

What can help a backslider? Song of Songs 2:8–17 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these ten verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord powerfully and eagerly overcomes His bride’s separation from Him. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The passage presents a portrait of Christ’s unwavering faithfulness amid the believer’s experience of spiritual distance, using the imagery of a Beloved Who, though seemingly hidden, is actively pursuing and restoring His bride. Central to the message is the assurance that Christ’s voice—revealed through Scripture, preaching, and the work of His church—is the primary means by which He overcomes every obstacle. Despite the believer’s perceived unworthiness or failure, Christ continues to call her 'My love, My fair one, My dove,' affirming her beauty and value in His eyes, not by her condition, but by His grace. The call to 'rise and come away' is both a command and a promise, rooted in Christ’s sovereign power to revive and restore, transforming the most barren season into springtime of renewal. The passage culminates in a heartfelt prayer for Christ to remain ever-present, overcoming all barriers until the final day when shadows flee and His presence is fully experienced.

2025.12.19 Hopewell @Home ▫ Song of Songs 2:8–17

Read Song of Songs 2:8–17

Questions from the Scripture text: Whose voice does she hear (v8a)? What is He doing (v8b)? In what manner (v8c–9a)? Who is able to see whom (v9b–d)? Whose speech does she recall in v10–15? What does He call her (v10, 13, 14)? What does He tell her to do (v10, 13)? What are the current conditions (v11–13)? How does He overcome her shyness (v14)? What does the Bridegroom tell others to do (v15a)? Even which ones (v15b)? What has the bride realized in v16? Whom does she ask to fulfill the truth that she has learned (v17, cf. v8–9)? 

What can help a backslider? Song of Songs 2:8–17 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these ten verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord powerfully and eagerly overcomes His bride’s separation from Him. 

The situation in these verses is very different from the situation in the passage immediately preceding it. The bridegroom and the bride had been in close fellowship. Here, He seems distant. And this is the experience of Christians in this world. We go through seasons of backsliding or of coldness towards Him, or where it seems that He is hidden or invisible or obscured.

Happily, the bulk of the passage is on what the Bridegroom is doing and what the Bridegroom is saying, so that we may know that, however inconsistent our behavior towards Jesus is, and however inconsistent our experience of the Lord Jesus is, the Lord Jesus's behavior towards us, and thoughts and affections towards us, are perfectly consistent and wonderful. 

Note then at the beginning of the passage, how the Lord makes himself known to us consistently, continually, especially by his voice. The way that she observes him leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills, overcoming the obstacles between him and her, between her and him, and coming to her is by means of his voice: “The voice of my beloved!” 

What this means for us is that, whereas we know that we always need to be hearing the voice of the Lord Jesus, especially we need it, when Christ seems distant, when Christ seems invisible to us. It is then that we most need to read our Bibles, and especially sit under faithful preaching.

Look at Who is the one doing all of the moving here (v8–9). The difficulty is in us and in our circumstances. But the solution is not in us. We have a responsibility (v10–13). We need to listen to Him and do what He says. But we see that the effectiveness of it is not by means of our rising and coming away. The effectiveness of overcoming the distance between us and Jesus is by His coming. “Behold, He comes!” And look at the way He comes. He has hills and mountains in the way, but it is not difficult for Him to overcome them. Look at His ability and even eagerness and delight. So the Lord Jesus is the One who overcomes especially by means of His voice.

And the next thing we see in v10–13 is the content of what he says. It is one thing for the Lord Jesus to call His bride fair and beautiful, or my love, or my dove, when things are well between her and Him. It is a much more amazing thing for the backslidden convert to hear the Lord Jesus still saying, "you are beautiful to Me with the beauty that I have given you."

Notice, also, what He tells her to do, "rise up and come" (v10, 13). His voice gave you life, made you alive from the dead, resurrected you, so that being alive for the first time, you were able to believe in Him. Now, if His voice said, "Rise and come," then, and you arose and were able to come, like Lazarus, then, mustn't it also be powerful enough to work when you're spiritually ill, asleep, or even in the spiritual equivalent of a coma? 

Furthermore, the Lord Jesus isn't just working in you and upon you. He is the sovereign Lord God over heaven and earth. And He says that He is overruling all of those things to take them from having a deadening effect like winter to the invigorating and reviving effect of spring. 

"The winter is past. The rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth. The time of singing has come. The voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs. The vines with the tender grapes give a good smell." The word picture being used here is one you are familiar with. When you go outside in the spring and everything is alive and everything is warming and everything is sweet and everything is fresh, it seems like every animal, every bird, every plant, every tree is crying out to you to be alive and invigorated and refreshed.

The last thing to overcome is our shyness, our skittishness about how He might think of us. We are hiding, skittish, like a dove that, as soon as you take a step in its direction, flies away and tucks itself into a nook or a cranny to hide. He says, "Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice. Your voice is sweet. Your face is lovely." The loveliness of our praying, and the loveliness of our praising, was never dependent upon how well we were doing spiritually. The repentant believer should know that she has a beauty that is derived from Him in His own eyes. He counts her face lovely. He counts her voice sweet. He finds pleasure in her praying and her praising.

The Lord has His ministers, His elders, whom He has given charge of being under shepherds and governors in His church for her protection from those who are spiritually dangerous, especially in the church. The phrase "catch us the foxes" contains a plural masculine verb. Foxes and wolves are two images that are used for false teachers and those who are deceptive, and then also persecutors. Even the little foxes. Every theological error causes us to misunderstand God, hinders us, hinders our faith in Christ, hinders the fruitfulness of our faith in Christ.

And she, having now recounted his words, returns to speaking herself. She affirms what she had said before: "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine; He feeds among the lilies." Now remember, "lily" here is a name for believers. Jesus has always been faithfully feeding His people. That theological truth (v16) gets turned over into prayer (v17).  We take the truth that He teaches us in the Bible and immediately turn that over into prayer: “Until the second coming, Lord, be that gazelle or young stag, and always be overcoming the mountains of division between me and You. Never let anything come between us. Overcome everything in me and everything in our circumstance. And raise me up and make me also to come to You.”

When has the Lord seemed distant or hidden from you? What was He doing at that time? How does He overcome the obstacles between you and Him? What does He tell you to do? What will make them effective?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You for this song. We thank You for how it turns our attention, in times of spiritual difficulty, away from ourselves and toward You. We pray that, just as You are constantly and continuously faithful, You would make Yourself known to us by Your voice, that summons us to renewed faithfulness. We thank You and praise You that Your voice, which resurrected us into spiritual life in the first place, has the power and the life to renew us in faithfulness in our walk with You. And, we pray that You would bring us into a new springtime in our relationship with You. Grant this, we pray, to each of us, in Jesus's Name. Amen.

Suggested songs: ARP130 “Lord, From the Depths to You I Cried” or TPH425 “How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place” 

The Sin by Which We Fell [Children's Catechism 31 Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Children's Catechism question 31—especially explaining how we fell by Adam’s eating the forbidden fruit. Q31. What was the sin of our first parents? Eating the forbidden fruit. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The lesson unpacks the profound theological significance of Adam's transgression, emphasizing that their fall was a catastrophic breach of the covenant of works It highlights that Adam’s sin was more severe because he knowingly and willfully rebelled against God’s design, failing in his role as head of the family and covenant representative. All humanity was personally and legally represented in him, so that every person inherits a sinful nature and fallen estate due to his transgression. Rooted in 1 Timothy 2:14, the lesson reveals how the fall was both a personal act of rebellion and a corporate event with eternal consequences, making the need for redemption through Christ both urgent and deeply personal.

2025.12.18 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ecclesiastes 9:10–12

Read Ecclesiastes 9:10–12

Questions from the Scripture text: What might our hand find (Ecclesiastes 9:10)? In what manner should we do it? Why—what four things are not employed where? What does Solomon return and do in Ecclesiastes 9:11a? Who doesn’t necessarily win the race (verse 11b)? Who does not necessarily win the battle (verse 11c)? Who does not necessarily obtain provision (verse 11d)? Who does not necessarily accumulate wealth (verse 11e)? Who does not necessarily gain favor (verse 11f)? What two things happen to whom in verse 11g? What doesn’t a man know (Ecclesiastes 9:12a)? In what two ways (verse 12b and 12c) are who caught, at what time (verse 12d)? How does it come upon them (verse 12e)?

How must we live? Ecclesiastes 9:10–12 prepares us for the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that we must live in devotion unto, and dependence upon, the Lord. 

God’s providence gives you your life (cf. Ecclesiastes 9:9), the time and place at which you live (cf. Acts 17:26), and the occupations into which you come (Ecclesiastes 9:10a). Therefore, you must do everything with diligence and zeal as unto the Lord (verse 10b; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17, Colossians 3:23). 

Two things, in this passage, are helps unto this diligence and zeal: what you do know, and what you do not know. You do know that you are about to go to your grave (Ecclesiastes 9:10c). There, the usefulness of your labor, technique/device, knowledge, and wisdom, will have expired. So, use them before their (and your!) expiration date. Since you do not know when that expiration date is (Ecclesiastes 9:12a), you need to use all that God gives you, diligently and zealously, now! Otherwise, you will find that, like a fish or a bird that thought you were going to get something that you desired (verse 12b–c), you will be snapped up in your falsely blissful ignorance (verse 12e) at what seems to you like an evil time (verse 12d).

To use language from later in the book, if you do not, right now, remember the Lord in everything that you do (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:1a), then the days to come will be difficult/evil for you, indeed (cf. verse 12:1b).

But not only must you be devoted to the Lord in all that you do, you must also be dependent upon the Lord in all that you do. As you use what speed He has given you, you must not trust your speed (Ecclesiastes 9:11b, cf. 2 Samuel 2:18–23). As you use what strength He has given you, you must not trust your strength (Ecclesiastes 9:11c, cf. Judges 16). As you use what wisdom, understanding, and skill He has given you, you must not trust your wisdom, understanding, or skill (Ecclesiastes 9:11d, e, f). Solomon himself is one of the greatest examples of how poor one’s behavior and outcomes may be, despite maximizing all of these. 

Ultimately, we must remember that the Lord’s sovereign providence is determining every outcome (Ecclesiastes 9:11g). So, the most effective attribute on man’s part is the fear of the Lord. It is He Who has given us all of our abilities, capacities, possessions, and opportunities. So, fearing Him translates into employing them all, zealously, for His glory. But fearing Him also necessarily means not trusting any of these, or presuming upon any particular earthly outcome. Our joy must ultimately be in Him, and only secondarily in what He enables us to do, or whatever temporal outcomes He grants us.

What have your hands found to do in the providence of God? What abilities, capacities, possessions, and opportunities has He given you? To what extent are you employing them? How can you tell, from your life, what you are trusting in as you do so?

Sample prayer:  Lord, forgive us for how we have not done all things heartily, as unto You, or for the glory of Christ. We have often wasted time, ability, possessions, or opportunity. And then, forgive us, also, for when we have used what You have given us, but with the idea that we would obtain the outcome by how well we did. Give us to live in the fear of the Lord, both in how devoted our lives are, and also in how dependent our lives are. We thank You that Christ always did this perfectly. For His sake, please both forgive us, and make us to be like unto Him, by His Spirit, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP23B “The Lord’s My Shepherd” or TPH131B “Not Haughty Is My Heart”

2025.12.17 Midweek Meeting Livestream (live at 6:30p)

To tune in for the Prayer Meeting, we recommend that you visit the livestream page.

2025.12.17 Hopewell @Home ▫ Deuteronomy 24:8–16

Read Deuteronomy 24:8–16

Questions from the Scripture text: What might happen to them (Deuteronomy 24:8)? Who will teach them what they must do? To whom else had it happened (Deuteronomy 24:9, cf. Numbers 12)? What might they do (Deuteronomy 24:10)? What mustn’t they do to their brother? What must they do (Deuteronomy 24:11)? In what case must they not do what (Deuteronomy 24:12)? With what result (Deuteronomy 24:13)? What mustn’t they do to whom (Deuteronomy 24:14)? Of what ethnicities? What must they do daily (Deuteronomy 24:15)? Lest what should happen? Who must not be put to death for what (Deuteronomy 24:16)?

How important is our use of the tongue? Deuteronomy 24:8–16 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these nine verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that in the tongue is the power of life and death.  

Deuteronomy 24:8-9 seem to intrude upon the flow of the text. Also, the priestly procedures referenced (cf. Leviticus 11–15) were rigorous. Thankfully, the Spirit’s reference to Miriam helps us understand the placement here. She was struck with leprosy for slandering Moses (cf. Numbers 12:2). This is a reminder of how seriously the Lord takes tongue sins.

Deuteronomy 24:10-15 remind us that the words of the poor are no less valuable for their poverty. They are to be taken weightily without violating their privacy to secure a pledge, or even retaining the pledge in any way that injures them. In taking their words weightily, we follow the Lord, Who listens to them whether thy bless (Deuteronomy 24:13) or curse (Deuteronomy 24:15).

Finally, Deuteronomy 24:16 reminds us of what is at stake in legal testimony (which is the context of the 9th commandment). The penalty is often death, and must be applied justly, only to him who is guilty. Speech is a great responsibility (cf. Proverbs 18:21). We must use it in service and obedience to God.

Against what authorities are you tempted to sin with your tongue? Whose words are you tempted to treat as unimportant? In what circumstances do you give testimony about others? How seriously do you take it?

Sample prayer:  Lord, forgive us for our carelessness with our tongues. Forgive us for speaking ill of those in authority. And forgive us for treating the words of others as unimportant. Forgive us for being careless about our testimony about others. Forgive us, and grant that we would use out mouths in service and obedience to You, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP15 “Within Your Tent, Who Will Reside” or TPH174 “The Ten Commandments” 

2025.12.16 Hopewell @Home ▫ Song of Songs 2:3–7

Read Song of Songs 2:3–7

Questions from the Scripture text: To what does the bride compare the Beloved (Song of Songs 2:3a)? Among what else? Among whom is He (verse 3b)? Where did she sit down (verse 3c)? With what experience? What did He provide her (verse 3d)? How did she find it (verse 3d)? Where did He bring her (Song of Songs 2:4a)? What did He fly over her (verse 4b)? What two things does she ask the daughters of Jerusalem to do (Song of Songs 2:5a–b)? With what two items? Why (verse 5c)? Whom does she find sustaining her in what way (Song of Songs 2:6)? Whom does she charge (Song of Songs 2:7a)? By what (verse 7b)? Not to what (verse 7c)? Until when (verse 7d)?

What can steady us under the overwhelming love of Christ? Song of Songs 2:3–7 prepares us for the opening portion of the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christ Himself sustains believers in the overwhelming experience of His love. 

As in Song of Songs 1:16–17, the bride once again commends her Beloved, both in Himself (“Like an apple tree,” Song of Songs 2:3a) and in her experience of Him (“in His shade with great delight,” verse 3c … and “His fruit was sweet to my taste,” verse 3d). 

And just as, before, the scene changed from His pasture (Song of Songs 1:7–8) to His table (Song of Songs 1:12); so, here also, it changes from under the apple tree (Song of Songs 2:3) to His house of wine (Song of Songs 2:4, more literally translated). He is her shade, her protection from the scorching sun of her own sin and guilt (Song of Songs 2:3c). And, while under His protection, she finds Him dropping sweet fruit (verse 3d). He Himself (“He brought me,” Song of Songs 2:4a) is how she came under His protection and provision. And, He brought her by display of His love. She knows where she belongs, because she is His beloved, and He flew that flag to summon her there (verse 4b). 

This love is literally overwhelming. In Song of Songs 2:5, she needs reviving. The plural verbs indicate that she is asking the daughters of Jerusalem, but the raisin cakes (verse 5a) come from the same place as the house of wine, and the apples (verse 5b) come from the apple tree. In other words, as she faints from the immensity of His love (verse 5c), she asks the church to revive and refresh her with that which comes from the Beloved. 

The wonderful thing about having the church revive you with the fruit of Christ is that you find that it is Christ Himself Who is reviving you. This is her realization in Song of Songs 2:6. She is not merely sustained by that which is of Christ; she is sustained by Christ Himself. His own left hand under her head (verse 6a), His own right hand embracing her (verse 6b). Isn’t this a wonderful realization, dear Christian? When you are overwhelmed by the experience of His love, and He steadies you under it with the sound theology of Who He is and what He has done, it is He Himself, Who is upholding you. As she comes-to from her swoon, she finds herself in the arms of Him Who caught her. What a beautiful image for when our spiritual emotions are fortified by sound doctrine in the church!

And genuine experience of His true, spiritual love comes only from Him, in His way. If we try to stir it up, or awaken it ourselves (Song of Songs 2:7c), it is like the gazelle or doe of the field (verse 7b), it runs away before we have begun to lay hold of it. It can only come on its own, proper, terms (verse 7d; the feminine verb indicates that it is love itself which is pleased to do the stirring up). Genuine experience of Christ’s true love does not come by our stirring it up, but from Him, by His Word, by which also He steadies and strengthens us under it.

Believers are steadied in the overwhelming love of Christ by the theological reality of their union with Him.

When have you been overwhelmed by Christ’s love? By what sturdy doctrines has He held you up under that love?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for making us to know Your reviving, sweet love. Uphold us by Your grace, we ask in Your Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP45AB “My Heart Is Greatly Stirred” or TPH425 “How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place”

2025.12.15 Hopewell @Home ▫ Proverbs 19:24–20:1

Read Proverbs 19:24–20:1

Questions from the Scripture text: What sort of man does what to his hand (Proverbs 19:24a)? Then, what doesn’t he do (verse 24b)? What action, with whom, has what result in Proverbs 19:25a? And what action, with whom else, has what result in verse 25b? What does the son in Proverbs 19:26 do? With what result? What might the son in Proverbs 19:27 stop doing? With what result? What kind of witness does what in Proverbs 19:28a? Whose mouth does what in verse 28b? What is prepared, for whom, in Proverbs 19:29a? And what, for whom, in verse 29b? What do win and strong drink do to whom (Proverbs 20:1)?

What happens without discipline and instruction? Proverbs 19:24–20:1 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that, without discipline and heeded instruction, a fool comes to harm himself, his household, and his society.  

While the one who fears the Lord abides in satisfaction (Proverbs 19:23b), the lazy man is not benefited by the availability of food. He even loses his hand, which comes to be hidden in the bowl (Proverbs 19:24). 

For the one who is a scoffer out of ignorance (Proverbs 19:25a), it is not yet too late. By flogging, he may gain awareness of his danger. And the one who has understanding can benefit even from just a word of rebuke (verse 25b). 

Apart from this effect of discipline, however, things get worse. In Proverbs 19:26, the laziness of the son has taken its full effect. He is described as plundering (more literal than “mistreats”) his father and chasing his mother. The idea is that the unchecked fool does harm to more than himself.

As with Proverbs 19:20, Proverbs 19:27 inserts  word directly to the son: always continue to listen to instruction, lest you end up on the path being described in the rest of this passage.

In Proverbs 19:28–20:1, the circle of harm broadens past the household into the society. The breakdown of justice (Proverbs 19:28a) and proliferation of crimes (verse 28b) comes to necessitate public civil punishment (Proverbs 19:29), and the chaos and destruction of one who loses all self-control, in this case, accelerated by drunkenness (Proverbs 20:1). 

How fools, and others, will suffer, if the fool is suffered to be foolish! How necessary is parental discipline, and the son’s receptiveness to it! 

How receptive are you to instruction? Whom are you responsible for discipling and instructing? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for warning us about the harm that our folly may do to ourselves and others. Forgive us our sins, and give us soft and repentant hearts. Make us a blessing to ourselves and to others through Christ, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP7B “God Is My Shield” or TPH141 “O LORD, to You I Call” 

2025.12.14 Lord's Day Livestreams (live at 10:10a, 11:10a, and 3p)

To tune in for the Lord's Day streams, we recommend that you visit the livestream page.

True, Overwhelming Love [Family Worship lesson in Song of Songs 2:3–7]

What can steady us under the overwhelming love of Christ? Song of Songs 2:3–7 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christ Himself sustains believers in the overwhelming experience of His love. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The Song of Songs 2:3–7 presents a rich theological portrait of Christ as the ultimate source of spiritual beauty, refreshment, and safety, depicted through vivid imagery of an apple tree in the woods, a sheltering shade, and a banquet of wine. The bride’s experience of Christ’s love is both deeply personal and profoundly restorative—she finds delight in His protection, sweetness in His provision, and overwhelming joy in His presence, which sustains her even when she is spiritually overwhelmed. Her plea for the daughters of Jerusalem to sustain her with raisins and apples symbolizes the need for the church to nourish one another with the truth of Christ, not merely emotional experiences, for it is through the reality that sound doctrine describes that Christ Himself catches and upholds the believer. The passage warns against seeking religious affections apart from the solid foundation of Christ’s identity and work, emphasizing that genuine intimacy with Him requires both theological truth and personal union through faith. Ultimately, the devotional calls believers to rest in Christ, not in fleeting emotional highs, but in the enduring reality of Him and that union with Him into which He Himself brings us.