John Mark Hicks

“Some nations boast of their chariots and horses but we boast in the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7. Israel prays for their king but trusts Yahweh to provide rather than military might. Israel does not boast about its military, but boasts about their covenant God who saves the Messiah, and through the […]

“Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”–it was #148 in my hymnbook growing up. I loved singing it because it called even “dragons” to praise the Lord (according to KJV). The hymn is based on Psalm 148. Psalm 148 invites all heaven and earth to praise God from their heights to their depths. Yahweh is praised as creator of […]

Psalm 144 prays for God’s rescue and salvation. The prayer depends on God’s steadfast love and past redemptive acts (Sinai and Exodus) for the victory of God’s king over the nations ruled by lies and evil. This is a prayer warrior Psalm that asks God to defeat the enemies of God’s kingdom. The Davidic king […]

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss what they call the “theological anchor” of the Songs of Ascents. The pilgrimage to Mt. Zion to assemble with the people of God is grounded in the Lord’s oath to David and his descendants in response to David’s oath to the Lord. As the people ascend the mountain […]

This is the “key and high point of the whole epistle” (Barth, Ephesians, 1:275). Though the gentiles were once foreigners and aliens from the commonwealth and strangers to the covenants of promise, through the cross the Messiah has made peace and killed the hostility between Jew and gentile by abolishing the law of commandments in […]

Abby Kaplan joins Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks to talk about Psalm 45. This royal wedding song has both an original significance in Israel and a messianic meaning. The Psalm, sung by Israel, desires a king of justice, humility, and truth, and celebrates the inclusion of a woman from outside of Israel. Ultimately, the […]

Hebrews 9:11-28 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own […]

Unlike Other High Priests Now if perfection had been attainable through the levitical priesthood—for the people received the law under this priesthood—what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek, rather than one according to the order of Aaron? For when there is a change […]

Texts: Luke 24:30-35; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 1:20-23; Galatians 6:14-16 Days 52-55 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. We can only imagine the despair of the disciples in the crushing darkness of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The Christian calendar calls it “Holy Saturday.” We can only imagine the joy of the disciples on […]

Texts: Luke 9:18-22, 28-36; 10:17-20; Mark 10:41-45 Days 40-43 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. At some point near the end of his ministry in Galilee and other northern regions, Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). This comes immediately after his announcement to his disciples that he is the Messiah […]