As I've studied it over the years, it seems to have the idea of God's covenant, faithful, unconditional, never ending love for His covenant people. Few things have helped my walk with God over the years more than meditating on this concept in the Psalms.

“The West has lost Christ, and that is why it is dying; that is the only reason.”                        Fyodor Dostoevsky – Russian...

One of the ways we can get to know Him better is by studying and meditating on why He came to this earth. He spoke to this often in different ways.

Jesus fully expected His disciples to gladly and fully receive the Holy Spirit and embrace all of His wonderful ministries to them

Everything Jesus saw, knew, said and did while on earth was made possible by His relationship with the Holy Spirit

There is no higher pursuit, privilege or pleasure than to know God. Unlike all of the man made gods of all other religions, the God of the Bible is a living God, a relational and knowable God, who longs for we humans to know Him fully and completely as He is.

So you who are not born again by the Spirit of God and still in darkness can know just how dark your darkness is, how real your slavery to sin and Satan is, and that you will repent and cling to Christ while He still is giving you breath and time.

Speaking of work, did you know that we can actually make the doctrines of scripture more palatable to those around us who do not yet know God by the way we work? Did you know that the apostle Paul even instructed Titus as part of his church planting strategy to help the church members become God pleasing workers in their jobs?

"One of the most damaging doctrines of demons I have ever been exposed to is the teaching that God no longer speaks, now that we have the Bible. I readily agree that some have gone to harmful extremes with their claims of how God has spoken to them. But part of maturing as Jesus's disciples is being able to look past extremes and abuses...."

One of the motivations Paul and his associates had for living holy lives and being pleasing to the Lord was the expectation that they will each “appear before the judgment seat of Christ….”. The best way to be found pleasing to Him at the judgment, is by learning to be pleasing to Him in the now. This passage states that we will be recompensed for both our good deeds and bad ones.

People who thought they were captains of their own destiny, and who lived their lives all to themselves - - in times of revival - - shudder at the thought that the living God of the Universe knows their every thought, word, deed, attitude, etc.

Friends, if a man or woman says they asked Christ into their lives in their childhood, but managed their money and possessions as if He were not Lord and Master, and as if they were not provided by Him for His glory and purposes, their salvation is much in question. If their “repentance” did not touch their pocketbook, their repentance is suspect.

Please know that that “day that the Son of Man is revealed” is an appointed and fixed day wherein everyone will have either the joy or horror of facing the King of Kings and giving an account of their response to Him throughout their earthly lives.

Part of the “striving” to enter the narrow door is finding out everything Jesus ever taught about evil doing (and thinking), knowing that our society has greatly ignored or at least minimized what He has taught on this subject. Unless your parents and university professors and any other authorities in your life have given their lives to enter this narrow door, do not listen to them when it comes to who the real evil doers in society are.

One of the reasons people do not fear Him as they should is because they do not know the truth about how He promises to deal with those who rebel against Him. Another reason some do not fear Him as they should is because of false prophets and false teachers who teach false doctrine regarding the severe penalty of rebelling against Him.

The ongoing agony described here can only be that which is found in hell. And all those who refuse to bow their knee to Jesus and follow and obey Him as their Master will be sent there.

One thing you will notice as you study this subject in the four gospels is that Matthew chose to record far more of Jesus’s teaching and warnings and rebukes regarding Hell, Hades and or Eternal Punishment and Destruction than the other three. Also only Matthew includes this prophetic word from John the Baptist regarding how Jesus would deal with the lost and rebellious, “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather H

"....the natural reasonable response for a believer who has been saved from his sins and who has been adopted into Christ’s family, and who has been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3), etc., is to sing praises to the Lord. God has dealt wonderfully bountifully with each of His kids. One of the ways we should show our appreciation is by singing to Him."

There is nothing more important in God’s house in that day and in Christ’s church in our day than the facilitating of God honoring worship in song and with instruments. Even with a full time paid worship pastor, this can never be taken for granted. Please note that in vs. 31 Nehemiah himself “….appointed two great choirs”.

Corporate singing praises to God is almost always an integral part of times of spiritual renewal and revival in the Old Testament.