Deuteronomy 9:4 “Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them...

2 Chronicles 26:15b “…his fame spread afar for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.” Observation:  Uzziah was one of Israel’s very good kings. Just a lad of 16 when he ascended the throne, this chapter tells the story of his 52-year reign. He was faithful to...

Deuteronomy 14:29b  “…in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands which you may do.” Observation:  This ends the 14th chapter of Deuteronomy, a large part of which is devoted to commands regarding tithing. God expected two tithes from...

Deuteronomy 1:6, 8 “…you have stayed long enough at this mountain...go in and possess the land….” Observation:  Verse 2 says that it is an eleven-day journey from Horeb, where the Israelites were camped, to Kadesh-Barnea. Kadesh-Barnea was the place where the Hebrews...

Psalm 49: 12, 20 “Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beasts that perish.” Observation: This verse is presented twice in Psalm 49. In both places it references those who are rich in the things of this world: “Their inner thought is that their...

Luke 1:29 “But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be.” Observation:  In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy with John, the angel Gabriel made another prenatal appearance, this time to her...

Deuteronomy 8:5 “Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.” Observation: Forty years have passed since the Hebrews began their odyssey through the wilderness. Instigated by their intransigence...

Acts 3:10 “And they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms.” Observation: The setting is the gate called Beautiful. Peter and John were heading to morning prayers when they came upon a beggar who asked...

Isaiah 37:14b “…and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.” Observation: The King of Assyria was on a rampage to conquer every tribe within reach, and he was about to bring his intimidating tactics against Judah’s good King Hezekiah....

Deuteronomy 2:3 “You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north…” Observation: Israel was near the end of their 40-year exile, and Moses was recounting important passages from their journey. Early on they had licked their wounds from defeat at the hands of...