John Mark Hicks

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks reflect on the meaning of Psalm 26 as an entrance liturgy for assembling with the people of God. Does the claim of blamelessness reflect a Jewish legalism? Should we enter the assembly to dwell in God’s glory with a kind of sinlessness? How might we appropriate this Psalm for […]

Psalm 24 was used in Second Temple Judaism every first day of the week. It began the week in temple assembly, and it recalls the first day of creation as well as the day of resurrection in the life of Jesus. It welcomes those who seek the face of God and who come with clean […]

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks describe the significance of Psalm 50. it is a prophetic song, the voice of the “preacher” (priest/prophet) in the assembly of Israel. God speaks through the Psalmist to address two groups of people assembled: (1) those who misunderstand the significance of worship, and (2) hypocrites who confess the covenant […]

Hebrews 12:18-29 You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, […]

Hebrews 10:19-25 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true […]

Texts: 1 Chronicles 29:29-30; Psalm 19:14 Days 20-22 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. Every people-group has a history; they tell stories about their journey. And every people-group has a liturgy; they worship someone or something.  Israel is no different. The Torah and subsequent histories (running from Judges through Kings and Chronicles to Ezra-Nehemiah) narrates […]

Texts: Romans 9:4-5; Psalm 19:7-10; Romans 3:1-2 Days 20-22 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. God chose Israel from among the nations as God’s own firstborn. As firstborn, Israel was tasked with blessing the nations through their obedience to God (as a light among the nations) and the promises made to Abraham. God equipped […]

Here is concluding counsel for a marginalized, victimized group. As exiles and aliens (1 Peter 2:11-12) within Roman society, Peter calls them to transcend their situation by living as an authentic community, which seeks only good for its surrounding culture. This section concludes the major exhortation section of 1 Peter. It opened with the vocative […]

There is always reason to weep. We don’t have to look too far into our world—whether through social media, television, or newsprint—to find reason to weep. Yet, too often we—especially the church—ignore, hide our eyes, or look past the pain in order to escape into fantasy, denial, or hope. We rarely sit in our grief […]

Who can stand on the days when the wrath of God and the Lamb are poured out on empires? That is the question asked when the sixth seal is opened in Revelation 6:12-17. The shaking of the Roman empire, as with all empires, will affect everyone from rich to poor, from free to slave. Who […]