John Mark Hicks

Who may sojourn in God’s tent and live on God’s holy hill? Those who love their neighbor with integrity! Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss the significance of Psalm 15 as an entrance instruction. Like in Matthew 25 with its judgment scene, those who enter are those who have loved their neighbors–feeding the hungry, […]

Psalm 137 begins with a powerful lament but ends with what some have called the worst verse in the Bible. Its last three verses are excluded from most Western modern liturgies, and it is a source of embarrassment to many believers, especially disciples of Jesus. Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss both its lament […]

Psalm 134 concludes the Songs of Ascents (begun in Psalm 120) with a call to bless Yahweh standing in the courts with lifted hands. Standing in holy space, worshippers encounter God, and prayers are lifted that call upon God to bless each worshipper (“you” is singular in 134:3). The final Psalm of Ascents ends with […]

When family sit at the table together in unity, it is like Aaron receiving the blessing of ordination for the sake of the people of God and Zion receiving the blessing of moisture from Mt. Hermon. God has commanded that Zion is the place of blessing, and it brings everlasting life to those who receive […]

This is one of the most beautiful images of rest, calm, and peace. Our souls are like a nursing child resting in her mother’s arms after a feeding. This is the hope of Israel, and invites us to humble ourselves before the Lord, whose greatness we can never exhaust or fully comprehend. O Israel, hope […]

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 […]

In Psalm 129 Israel remembers its oppressive past (and perhaps present as well) as they journey to Zion to gather with the people of God for the praise and blessing of Yahweh. Those who hate Zion–the place where God dwells-have no part in the blessing, and Israel has been sustained in their history by God’s […]

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss the joy of several creation values in Psalm 128:1-3 (work, intimacy, and family) that are blessings from the Lord who dwells in Zion. Those who fear the Lord and walk in the ways of God are blessed from Zion and experience the peace and good of God’s creational […]

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks explore the reality Psalm 46 envisions. This Psalm of trust or confidence reminds us that God is with us despite all the chaos that surrounds us. God will help. God cause wars to cease. God is our protection, our refuge. The Psalm invites us to enter the sanctuary of […]