The Praise of His Glorious Grace [Family Worship lesson in Psalm 103]

For what do our souls exist? Psalm 103 looks forward to the morning sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that our souls exist for praising the God Who makes us objects of His steadfast love and tender mercy. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: This devotional unfolds Psalm 103 as a profound meditation on God’s boundless mercy, structured as a 'praise sandwich' with worshipful declarations framing two central themes: divine forgiveness for human wickedness and steadfast compassion in human weakness. Pastor emphasizes that God’s mercy, revealed most fully in His character as 'merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love,' is not based on human merit but on His eternal nature, as vast as the heavens above the earth. It is a mercy that removes sins as far as the east is from the west, redeeming believers from destruction and crowning them with lovingkindness, even as they are frail as grass and fleeting as a field flower. The devotional underscores that this mercy is both a present reality and an eternal covenant, extending to those who fear God, keep His commandments, and are adopted as His children, prompting all of creation—angels, saints, and the redeemed—to join in perpetual praise of His salvation and sustaining grace.

2025.11.15 Hopewell @Home ▫ Psalm 103

Read Psalm 103

Questions from the Scripture text: What or whom is the Psalmist commanding to bless the Lord (Psalm 103:1)? With how much of what is within him is he to obey this command? How many times does he give himself this command (Psalm 103:2a)? What is he not to forget (verse 2b)? What is the first benefit not to forgive (Psalm 103:3a)? What is the second (verse 3b)? The third (Psalm 103:4a)? The fourth (verse 4b)? What is one of the tender mercies of God (Psalm 103:5a)? What effect does it have (verse 5b)? What does the Lord do for the oppressed (Psalm 103:6)? What has He done for His people (Psalm 103:7)? What four aspects of His character does He highlight in Psalm 103:8? Of what does this make the Psalmist confident, with respect to the Lord’s anger (Psalm 103:9)? With respect to our sins and punishment (Psalm 103:10)? What point is Psalm 103:11 making about the greatness of God’s mercy? What point is Psalm 103:12 making about the completeness of His forgiveness? How does the Lord pity those who fear Him (Psalm 103:13)? What does He remember about us (Psalm 103:14)? What is the length and effect of a man’s life like (Psalm 103:15-16)? What two things in Psalm 103:17 have exactly the opposite length and effect? What are three characteristics of those who are recipients of this mercy and righteousness (Psalm 103:17-18)? Where is the Lord’s throne (Psalm 103:19), and how does this relate to man’s composition (cf. Psalm 103:14)? Upon whom does Psalm 103:20 call to praise Him? What does Psalm 103:21 call them? What do they have in common with the people from Psalm 103:17-18? Upon whom does Psalm 103:22a-b call to praise Him? Upon whom does the last line of the Psalm call to praise Him?

For what do our souls exist? Psalm 103 looks forward to the morning sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that our souls exist for praising the God Who makes us objects of His steadfast love and tender mercy.  

The Psalm teaches us, at its beginning (Psalm 103:1, Psalm 103:2a) and end (Psalm 103:22c), to command our own souls to bless the LORD. And, to that purpose, it calls upon us to remember all of His benefits (Psalm 103:2b). These benefits include the healing of all of our diseases (Psalm 103:3b), the redeeming of our lives from destruction (Psalm 103:4a), crowning us with steadfast love and compassion (Psalm 103:4b), satisfying our mouths with good things (Psalm 103:5a), and renewing our youth (verse 5b). How the Lord has loved us! And loving Him comes in response to His loving us (cf. 1 John 4:19). 

Ultimately, however, every other blessing of His love must come to us by way of the forgiveness of our sins (Psalm 103:3a). We are unworthy of the least benefit. But this unworthiness is overcome by the fact that the Lord loves to display the greatness of His compassion, His grace, His patience, and His mercy (Psalm 103:9). Believers are prime occasions for the display of these characteristics. Weak creatures, such as we are, need deliverance (Psalm 103:6). And sinners, such as we are, have need of higher-than-heavens unthwartable love (Psalm 103:11) and geographically immeasurable guilt removal (Psalm 103:12).

Every single blessing we receive shouts that God has not dealt with us according to our sins but according to His salvation—not according to our character but according to His. And so, let us not fail to praise and thank Him for even the least blessing. Unto people such as we are, the least blessing is an extension of the greatest grace!

So, He shows His gracious character not only in the fact/reality of our forgiveness, but in accommodating our great weakness (Psalm 103:14-16), in His great patience, long-suffering, mercy, and compassion (Psalm 103:13).

But man isn’t the only creature dwarfed by the God Whose praise is their purpose. Despite their comparative strength to us (Psalm 103:20a), the angels acknowledge that God is God and they are not, for they do His Word (verse 20b), heed His Word (verse 20c), comprise armies of servants (Psalm 103:21a-b), and do His pleasure (verse 21b). Indeed, all His works, everywhere, know that God is God, that it is His dominion, and so they praise Him (Psalm 103:22a-b).

So, it is the height of arrogance and wickedness whenever man, who is but dust—and who must return to that dust for his sin!—thinks that he is something. But our merciful God is a Forgiver of sinners (Psalm 103:8-12), even to the extent that when He forgives us, He transforms us—His mercy and righteousness produce in us our fear of Him (Psalm 103:17b), our living as those who are bound to Him by covenant (Psalm 103:18a), and our focus upon both understanding and doing whatever He commands (verse 18b). 

Praise be to God, Who exercises almighty power and bottomless mercy in bringing us back to the place where we live in hearty acknowledgement of the fact that He is God and we are not! And when He has done—and is doing—that work in us, we join the chorus of all creation from the mightiest angel to the lowliest creature. Do I have an eternal soul that He has redeemed? Then let me bless Him with it!

What ‘small’ blessings of yours could be frequent reminders of infinite grace? What evidences of God’s forgiving, transforming work do you see in your life? Under what circumstances, and how often, are you admonishing your own soul to give Him His due praise? When/how do you do so?

Sample prayer:  O Lord, we bless You with our very souls. You, Who forgive all our iniquities. You, Who heal all our diseases. You, Who redeem our life from destruction. You, Who crown us with steadfast love and tender mercies. You are merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is Your mercy to us who fear You. Come, and be praised in the assembly of Your servants, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP103B “Bless the LORD, My Soul” or TPH103C “Come, My Soul, and Bless the LORD”

The Divine Love of Christ [Family Worship lesson in Romans 8:35–39]

Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:35–39 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, because Christ is God, and all things are for His sake. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2025.11.14 Hopewell @Home ▫ Romans 8:35–39

Read Romans 8:35–39

Questions from the Scripture text: What new question does Romans 8:35a ask (that Romans 8:36-39 proceed to answer)? What seven more things does Romans 8:35b ask about? Upon which of these does Romans 8:36 focus? What does Psalm 44 teach believers to expect in this life? For Whose sake? In light of what things from Romans 8:35 (and Romans 7:15–24, and Romans 8:17–25) does Romans 8:37 make its declaration? What is love making us to be in all these things? What nine great realities do Romans 8:38-39 name? To what category do they belong (Romans 8:39)? From what can’t things from this category separate us? Whose love? In Whom is this love? What is His title? What is His Name? What is His relation to us?

Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:35–39 looks forward to the public reading of Scripture in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, because Christ is God, and all things are for His sake. 

The love of Christ is the love of God. Romans 8:34 had focused upon the powerful case that Jesus makes for us (His death! His resurrection!) and the powerful position from which Jesus intercedes for us (the right hand of God!). Now, Romans 8:35 continues with the powerful motive from which Jesus intercedes for us: His love. 

Jesus is God. Romans 8:39c says more than that God’s love for us is through Christ. It says that Jesus Himself is the Lord God, and He loves us not only with human love in accord with His human nature, but with divine love in accord with His divine nature. “The love of Christ” (Romans 8:35) is “the love of God” (Romans 8:39c), which is in Him. It is essential to His being. It is not merely a part of Him (there are no “parts” of God).

Since Christ is God, everything is for His sake. Created things (Romans 8:39b) are for the sake of the Creator (cf. Romans 11:36). If the reason for everything is that the Son of God would be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29), then whatever happens in this groaning creation (Romans 8:22) is participating in bringing for that hope in which it was subjected (Romans 8:20). The hope in which we were saved (Romans 8:24). The hope for which the Spirit prays (Romans 8:26), and according to which God works (Romans 8:27).

So, in every circumstance, we have something to say to “these things.” None of “these things” can stop God from being God, or can be for anything other than His sake. “These things” includes trouble, distress, famine, nakedness, and danger (Romans 8:35). 

But what about persecution and the sword? Just as we were thinking last week, from Genesis 50:20, even the actions of the wicked are “for us.” And now the apostle quotes Psalm 44:22 to remind us that this is because we are “for the Lord”: “for Your sake.” If I live, it is for the Lord’s sake. If I die, it is for the Lord’s sake. There is great power in living for Christ, because it is then that dying is gain (cf. Philippians 1:21). This verse reminds us that it is also gain for Christ—not only for our good but for His glory.

Since we are Christ’s, we super-conquer in everything. Christ’s love, which has been determined to see us glorified since before the world began, is behind everything that happens. The believer cannot be ultimately defeated by his circumstances, because they are being employed in sanctifying love. And what great love that is! The second half of Romans 8:37 uses a participle to describe Christ as “the One having loved us.” It takes into its scope the foreknowing love from before the world began (Romans 8:29a), the sacrificial love unto death of the cross (Romans 8:34b), and the perpetual love of His intercession (end of verse 34).  

We must be careful here. We cannot employ the wicked logic that has already been condemned in Romans 3:8 and Romans 6:1. Sinning is not a victory; part of the super-conquering here is conquering against sin. Indeed, many of the “these things” in this passage are chastenings by which the Lord helps us turn ever-more against our sin rather than for it (cf. Hebrews 12:1–15). 

Never may we heal ourselves lightly, when defeated by sin, saying, “that’s ok: I’m super-conquering it.” No, we must HATE it. Let the sinning believer feel the pain, see the damage, and be helped along in his sanctification. And thus let him feel the defeat from himself and yet the super-conquering from his Lord—driving him all the more to live by the Spirit Who conquers, rather than by the flesh that is conquered. Whenever a believer sins, let him see again the great hatefulness of his sin and hate it more. And let him see again the great worthiness of his Redeemer and love Him more.

And so the truth about the “these things” of Romans 8:31 and the “all these things” of Romans 8:37 stands. However we may be conquered—even if we be killed by a being of great authority (principality) and ability (power), we super-conquer whoever and whatever did that. A love that had no beginning can have no end. And this almighty love will achieve its goal for us and in us: glorification. To be conformed to the image of the Son. All things serve the purpose of Christ’s divine love for us, and that purpose is to glorify us sinless and resurrected with Himself.

How does Christ’s two natures inform how you see His love? For Whose (and whose!) sake are all things happening? What is the most difficult thing in your life to believe that about right now? How will you bring the truth of this text to bear upon how you think about that thing? When did Christ’s divine love for you begin? When will it end? What things will serve its purposes? What is that purpose?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for loving us so much that You have purposed all things to glorify You by doing us good. Grant that we, too, would love You by pursuing Your glory in all things—especially since that means putting off the things that hinder and the sin that remains. Remove all fear and defeat from us by the certainty that Your love is determined to make us super-conquer in all things. For, we ask it in Your glorious Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH515 “More Than Conquerors”

What to Say in Our Suffering [Family Worship lesson in Romans 8:31–34]

What should a Christian say about his life? Romans 8:31–34 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that a Christian is someone who should say that everything in time and space is coalescing for his good. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2025.11.13 Hopewell @Home ▫ Romans 8:31–34

Read Romans 8:31–34

Questions from the Scripture text: With what question does Romans 8:31 begin this series of questions? What do believers know about God’s relation to them? What rhetorical question expects what answer in verse 31? What (Whom!) hasn’t God spared (Romans 8:32)? What has God done with His Son? What else will He give? In what way? What question does Romans 8:33 ask? About Whom, specifically, is it asking this; and, what is He doing rather than bringing charges? What question does Romans 8:34 ask? About Whom specifically is it asking this? What two things has He already done? Where is He now? What is He doing there? For whom?

What should a Christian say about his life? Romans 8:31–34 looks forward to the public reading of Scripture in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that a Christian is someone who should say that everything in time and space is coalescing for his good. 

Nothing is against us, Romans 8:31. This isn’t just that nothing can succeed against us. It is that nothing is fundamentally against us. Even people who intend to be against us cannot help but fulfill whatever God intends for us. God is for us, and He works all things according to the counsel of His own will (cf. Ephesians 1:11). Even if someone close to us betrayed us and intended evil against us, God was intending it for good. THAT’s what “we shall say to these things”!

All things are ours, Romans 8:32. All things must be ours by comparison of love. God already gave that which is infinitely more than everything else together: His Son! OF COURSE the love that gave us Jesus is giving us all other things! All things must be ours by obligation of justice. God has given us His Son, and in His Son, His righteousness. OF COURSE the justice that is satisfied with us in Jesus will demand that He and we would be rewarded with all things! 

God is our Justifier, Romans 8:33. Romans 8:31 already said that “God is for us,” summarizing what God has been doing throughout the entire history of the creation (cf. Romans 8:15-25). Now Romans 8:33 says that God is for us in another way: He is our advocate. In God’s court, there is no other judge. God is Judge. And God is Prosecutor. He lays the charges. But He is also the expert Witness Who has examined all of the evidence, then takes His seat as Judge and declares, “righteous!” There will be no charges against those whom God has justified.

Christ is our Intercessor, Romans 8:34. He is our defense Attorney. And He doesn’t just make a case on our behalf. He offers Himself as the case on our behalf. He has died, taking our guilt in full seriousness and satisfying the punishment accordingly. He has risen again, demonstrating that the payment has been received. And now, He has approached the bench—ascending to the right hand of God, where He presents Himself as our case, interceding for us.

These are the things that we say to our current life in this groaning creation: nothing is against us, all things are ours, God is our Justifier, and Christ is our Intercessor. What a joyous life ours will be, if we learn to speak according to the reality of what God is doing in history, and what relationship God has given us to Himself.

Who is for you? What things does this mean are for you? On the last day, who will be laying charges against the wicked? What will He be doing for those who believe in Christ? What will Christ be doing? For His own?

Sample prayer:  Father, thank You for giving us Your Son, our Lord Jesus, so that we may know that Your love and Your justice both demand that every possible good be done unto us. Help us believe this by Your Spirit, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH457 “Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness”

All Things Working for Glory [Family Worship lesson in Romans 8:28–30]

What does God know about the mind with which the Spirit intercedes for the saints? Romans 8:28–30 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God’s plan to glorify them in and with His Son. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2025.11.12 Hopewell @Home ▫ Romans 8:28–30

Read Romans 8:28–30

Questions from the Scripture text: Which things do we know work together for good (Romans 8:28)? To whom do they work together for good? What did God also do to those whom He foreknew (Romans 8:29a)? To what did He predestine them (verse 29b)? For what reason (verse 29c)? What did He do for those whom He predestined (Romans 8:30a)? What did He do for those whom He called (verse 30b)? What did He do for those whom He justified (verse 30c)?

What does God know about the mind with which the Spirit intercedes for the saints? Romans 8:28–30 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God’s plan to glorify them in and with His Son. 

We know, Romans 8:28. All things working together for good isn’t even the main idea of verse 28. The main idea is that we know. How do we know? We know that the Spirit helps us to pray for it (Romans 8:26a), because He Himself prays for it (verse 26b), because He Himself has purposed it (Romans 8:27). What evidence is there that He purposed it? Because He called us according to that purpose (Romans 8:28c). 

That’s the only way that sinners such as we are could ever come to love Him (Romans 8:28b). Here the love of God summarizes the keeping of the whole law (cf. Matthew 22:37–40). The one who was a slave under sin is now a lover of God? How did THAT happen?! God purposed it. God called him. God turned him into a lover of God.

God foreknew, Romans 8:29a. Why would God do this for someone who was going to be such a sinner? God did foreknow that we would be sinners. But that’s not the foreknowing that this verse is talking about. Some have thought that it’s talking about God foreknowing that we would choose Him, but that’s a rubbish idea. Apart from converting grace there would only be sin. But this is not foreknowing about a person; this is foreknowing the person himself. Predestination unto glory is the consequence of God determining to have an eternal relationship with a person. 

God knows, Romans 8:29-30. What is the mind of the Spirit as He prays for us in Romans 8:27? It is the mind that belongs to God from all eternity. The mind that treasures the glory of the Son. The mind that predestined those whom God foreknow to be conformed to that glory (Romans 8:29b). The mind that has shaped the history of every foreknown saint from predestination, through calling, to justification (Romans 8:30). And this glorification, that was determined from all eternity, is so sure to come (and to last into all eternity) that the apostle puts it in the past tense. For, it was determined in the knowledge of God—determined in that knowledge which is not a reactive knowledge, but the knowledge that has decreed whatsoever comes to pass (cf. Ephesians 1:11). 

The saint can know that all things are working together for his good, because the way that he came to be a lover of God is because God has determined to work all things together for that saint’s glory with Jesus Christ.

What’s the only way a sinner like you can become a lover of God? When would that have been determined? What had God unstoppably planned to do to such as love God? Why did He predestine them to that?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for loving us and planning a relationship with us from all eternity. Grant unto us to know the fellowship of Your Spirit, Who works in us and prays for us, that we may be sure that all things are working together for our good—working together to conform us to Christ, which we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the Lord” or TPH469 “Who Are These Like Stars Appearing”

Dying, You Shall Die [Children's Catechism 26—Theology Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Children's Catechism question 26—especially explaining how God threatened Adam with spiritual, physical, and eternal death. Q26. What did God threaten in the covenant of works? To punish Adam with death if he disobeyed. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) The Covenant of Works threatened Adam with death as the penalty for disobedience, not merely physical demise but the immediate severance of his intimate fellowship with God, which was the very essence of his life. Though Adam was created as a living being, animated by an eternal soul and sustained in divine communion, his sin instantly severed his fellowship with God, resulting in spiritual death and the beginning of physical decay. This death was not deferred but began immediately, marking the collapse of his original state of divine intimacy and the onset of mortality. The threat encompassed both the temporary separation of soul and body and the everlasting consequence of eternal condemnation, though redemption through the Gospel ultimately reversed this fate. The lesson underscores that the penalty of disobedience was not just biological death but the loss of the life-giving relationship with God that defined Adam’s existence.

The Spirit's Ministry in Prayer [Family Worship lesson in Romans 8:26–27]

How does the Spirit help, when our perseverance is weak? Romans 8:26–27 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Spirit of God, Who has the mind of God, teaches us to pray for glory with certainty, even as He perfectly prays the same. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)