Peace Reformed Presbyterian Church

09/14/2026

True forgiveness means the offense committed against us is gone. It is taken away, and we have no reason to bring it up again. Today, R.C. Sproul surveys some of the challenges we face when extending forgiveness.

09/11/2026

Daily Devotional.
Rev. B. Everett.
Ascension Lutheran Church.
Calgary, AB.
NALC Synod.

Daily Lessons—Psalm 56; Job 19:1-7, 14-27; Acts 13:13-25; John
9:18-41

_FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC. TO THE TUNE OF “A DOVE ON DISTANT
OAKS.” OF DAVID. A MIKTAM. WHEN THE PHILISTINES HAD SEIZED HIM
IN GATH.

_Be merciful to me, my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;
all day long they press their attack.
My adversaries pursue me all day long;
in their pride many are attacking me.

_When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?

_All day long they twist my words;
all their schemes are for my ruin.
They conspire, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
hoping to take my life.
Because of their wickedness do not let them escape;
in your anger, God, bring the nations down.

_Record my misery;
list my tears on your scroll
are they not in your record?
Then my enemies will turn back
when I call for help.
By this I will know that God is for me.

_In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can man do to me?

_I am under vows to you, my God;_
I will present my thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered me from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.

(Psalm 56)

The story of David in Gath is found in 1 Samuel 21:10-15. It’s very
brief, but knowing this psalm comes out of an event described in six
verses is a good reminder that Scripture doesn’t always capture the
depth of what all is going on. Sort of like if you were to condense your
most difficult three weeks into five sentences—you’d be giving an
accurate account but chances are much of the detail would be
generalized.

David is caught between a rock and a hard place. He can’t go back to
Israel because King Saul is actively looking to kill him. He can’t
stay with the Philistines because he has a history of killing hundreds
of them in battle—and there were plenty of them who saw this as a
prime chance for revenge.

Sound at all familiar? Times where it seems we are hemmed in from every
side? Where no matter which way we turn we face trial or trouble of some
kind. David knew this first hand, so this psalm isn’t written by
someone who is imagining what struggle might be, but someone who is in
the midst of it. Who knows about sleepless nights, fear, worry, anxiety,
not just for himself but for friends and family—as well as wondering
where God is in it all and how he is ever going to get through this.

The words here are honest reflections of the best and the worst that
life bestows. As you read/pray this psalm remember that neither the fear
nor the faith is perfect i.e. 100 per cent. If one were completely and
totally consumed with fear, one would cease to function—and the fact
that David wrote this and you are praying it is evidence that fear
hasn’t completely taken over. Likewise, neither is faith
perfect—which we know from our many and various weaknesses. But it is
present. Is David, are we, completely unafraid? Perhaps in some moments,
but not consistently. That doesn’t mean that God isn’t faithful or
we don’t have faith, just that as in every other instance of life our
faith is imperfect—and God knows and accepts this about us.

This psalm helps us find the words to declare not only our distress,
but to recall God’s faithfulness and find courage in the moment.

09/10/2026

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09/10/2026

Daily Devotioanl.
Rev. B. Everett.
Ascension Lutheran Church.
Calgary, AB.
NALC Synod

Daily Lessons—Psalm 44; Job 6:1;7:1-21; Acts 10:1-16; John 7:1-13

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.

_We have heard it with our ears, O God;
our ancestors have told us_
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
With your hand you drove out the nations
and planted our ancestors;
you crushed the peoples
and made our ancestors flourish.
It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.

_You are my King and my God,
who decrees victories for Jacob.
Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.
I put no trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;
but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.
In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.

_But now you have rejected and humbled us;
you no longer go out with our armies.
You made us retreat before the enemy,
and our adversaries have plundered us.
You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and have scattered us among the nations.
You sold your people for a pittance,
gaining nothing from their sale.

_You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
You have made us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
I live in disgrace all day long,
and my face is covered with shame
at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

All this came upon us,
though we had not forgotten you;
we had not been false to your covenant.
Our hearts had not turned back;
our feet had not strayed from your path.
But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;
you covered us over with deep darkness.

_If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would not God have discovered it,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?
Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

_Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?

_We are brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
Rise up and help us;
rescue us because of your unfailing love.

(Psalm 44)

Like many of the psalms, this one also has a heading stating it is
‘for the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A Maskil”. The
director of music would have been the person in charge the
singing/chanting of the psalms in worship. The sons of Korah were that
group of the Levites (the tribe of priests) who directed the music in
worship. And a _maskil_ is a musical term, but what it exactly refers to
has been lost to history.

Psalm 44 is divided into three parts. The first is praise of God,
recalling what He has done for Israel in the past, but also what He is
doing for them in the present and promised for the future. When the
psalms recount God’s faithfulness in the past, it isn’t just a
history lesson, or warm fuzzy memories, it is invoking God’s presence
here and now, that what He has done in the past, He will do now and
continue to do, encouraging the faith of Israel.

Then it transitions into the second part which accuses God of
abandoning Israel. The psalm declares their innocence of violating the
covenant, they have been doing everything they are supposed to. They
have been faithful, and yet everything is falling apart.

The concluding section is a cry for the Lord to respond to rise, and
help them. And it is worth noting that although in the middle part the
psalmist declares Israel’s innocence, this final appeal for God to act
isn’t based on anything Israel has done, but the appeal is to God’s
unfailing love.

Here is a great example of how we can pray the psalms. Who among us
can’t relate to the sentiments and struggles described here? We recall
all the wonderful things God has done for us and our families in the
past. How we have been so graciously blessed. But not everything is
going right. In fact, we find ourselves in the midst of all kinds of
trials and troubles, none of which we have caused (as far as we know).
We’re doing “everything right” and yet it’s all going sideways.
So, our prayer switches to the hard questions of God. ‘What’s going
on? Why are You allowing this? I’ve been faithful as best I can, how
do I deserve this?”

Note that the questions/accusations are directed towards God. Yes, the
psalmist is lashing out. Yes, one could answer these ramblings with an
explanation as to why ‘bad things happen to good people’. But the
psalmist doesn’t do that. He leaves the pain, confusion, and struggle
on the page as is, trusting God is more than able to handle such
outbursts—precisely because of His loving faithfulness.

The psalm concludes with a cry for God to act. Again, the cry is
directed to God. It may feel like God has abandoned or rejected the
psalmist (and us), but even so, there is still the hope and trust that
He will hear and respond—not because we have done the correct amount
of ‘good things’ or that our prayer has hit all the right points and
made a convincing argument, or even that our faith is ‘strong
enough’ (whatever that might look like)—but because of God’s
unfailing love for us. Even though all of life is going sideways, there
is still trust in God.

The words of Psalm 44 might not match up exactly with our circumstance,
but the essence, the sentiment lines up perfectly. When you aren’t
sure what to pray, or can’t find the right words, psalms like this one
can help us order our thoughts and feelings, and bring them to the Lord.

09/10/2026

“Sanctification always and ever flows automatically and necessarily out of justification.” —R.C. Sproul

From ‘John’

09/09/2026

Daily Devotional.
Rev. B. Everett.
Ascension Lutheran Church.
Calgary, AB.
NALC Synod.

Daily Lessons—Psalm 36; Job 4:1;5:1-11, 17-21,26-27; Acts 9:19b-31;
John 6:52-59
For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord.

I have a message from God in my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked,
There is no fear of God
before their eyes._

In their own eyes they flatter themselves
too much to detect or hate their sin.
The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;
they fail to act wisely or do good.
Even on their beds they plot evil;
they commit themselves to a sinful course
and do not reject what is wrong._

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
May the foot of the proud not come against me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
See how the evildoers lie fallen—
thrown down, not able to rise!_

(Psalm 36)

Here is a lovely psalm for the start of a week. It begins with a
description of the world that concerns us all at one time or
another—the sinfulness of the wicked. Perhaps it’s what we see in
the world around us, the violence, corruption, hatred which seems to
continue on unchecked by individuals who use their power and wealth for
their own selfish ends. Or maybe it’s closer to home with family,
co-workers, or acquaintances who act in ways that are hurtful and cruel
with little to no concern for anyone else. These situations can consume
an inordinate amount of our time and energy, as we fret and fume over
this sinful behaviour, which we are powerless to stop and any attempt to
convince the offenders to act differently is met with dismissal or even
outright hostility. The psalm takes this seriously but then abruptly
shifts gears to something it takes even more seriously—the love and
faithfulness of God.

Yes there is a lot wrong in the world, but we aren’t obligated to
fixate on it, or be overwhelmed by it. The psalmist calls our attention
to the goodness of God which for those who would follow Him, vastly
outweighs whatever else is going on. We have a choice as to what we
direct our attention and energy towards. Does the last half of the psalm
eradicate all that he first half recounts? No, of course not. But it
does give us a different perspective from which to view the world and
understand it.

09/07/2026

What does it mean to interpret the Bible literally? Today, R.C. Sproul communicates the importance of seeking after the plain meaning of God’s Word.

09/04/2026

Daily Devotional.
Rev. B. Everett.
Ascension Lutheran Church.
Calgary, AB.
NALC Synood.

Daily Lessons—Psalm 20; Job 2:1-13; Acts 9:1-9; John 6:27:40

_For the director of music. A psalm of David.

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God._

May the Lord grant all your requests._

Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!_

(Psalm 20)

Psalms were often part of corporate worship in ancient Israel. Trouble
for us is that the specific directions on how they were sung didn’t
get passed along as well. So, we work with our best assumptions. It
appears this was sung by the people, or perhaps the army interceding to
the Lord on behalf of the king, that he, and they, would enjoy victory
over their enemies.

It begins by asking the Lord to answer the king when he calls. That the
Lord would recall the monarch’s various acts of faithfulness to Him.
Throughout, the focus is on what God has done and will do for the sake
of the king and the people. It would be easy to have this slip into a
focus on what the king will do or could do but the attention of these
verses is always on the Lord. Even to the point of declaring “Some
trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the
Lord our God” i.e. their hope isn’t in the power of the king and the
various resources at his disposal, but their hope in in God. The psalm
concludes as it began, with a plea for God to answer.

This psalm is a good reminder for us to pray for our leaders, elected
and appointed. But also, to remember that they too are only human. They
aren’t going to save us—they can’t. To put our trust in them to
solve the various challenges facing our country is foolishness. Thus,
our trust is in the Lord.

09/03/2026

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Join us for this interactive webinar in which attendees can not only learn, but also directly engage with the Dr. Shaw (and Dr. Shaw can engage attendees!). This six week series works through Dr. Shaw's book Trustworthy! This will be an amazing time of learning, fun, and application! We will cover a...

09/01/2026

Daily Devotional.
Rev. B. Everett.
Ascension Lutheran Church,
Calgary, AB.
NALC Synod

Daily Lessons—Psalm 148; Judges 17:1-13; Acts 7:44—8:1a; John
5:19-29

_Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim said to
his mother, “The eleven hundred shekel of silver that were taken
from you and about which I heard you utter a curse I have that silver
with me; I took it.”

_Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”

_When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother,
she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my
son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to
you.”

_So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred
shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to
make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.

_Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some
household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest.
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

_A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living
within the clan of Judah, left that town in search of some other
place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country
of Ephraim.

_Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

_“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m
looking for a place to stay.”

_Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and
priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your
clothes and your food.” So the Levite agreed to live with him, and
the young man became like one of his sons to him. Then Micah
installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and
lived in his house. And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord
will be good to me, since this Levite has become my
priest.”

(Judges 17:1-13

Sometimes Scripture contains stories for no other reason than to
describe just how twisted, sinful and messed up people, and in this case
a nation (Israel) can be. Remember, back at Sinai and then again before
Israel entered the Promised Land, God gave this people very clear
instruction on what it meant for them to be the people of God. This
story about Micah shows how far from that God-given standard they had
strayed.

To begin with Micah steals eleven hundred shekels of silver from his
mother (a sin) but returns it for fear of a curse (placing curses being
another sin). The mother then consecrates the silver to the Lord i.e.
dedicates it to the Lord’s use and honor, but then takes two hundred
shekels and gives it to a silversmith to make an idol. Making an idol is
bad enough, but doing it with silver consecrated to the Lord is just
missing the point altogether. She’s having an idol of the Lord
made—the same Lord who forbade making such graven images.

Micah puts the idol in a shrine, a place of worship in his home, along
with other gods. He makes a ephod (a vestment for the priests of God),
and gives it to his son, whom he makes a priest. Priests were to come
from the tribe of Levi as God had instructed. But the next line explains
it all, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw
fit”. To be clear, Israel had a king, God, it’s that no one paid any
attention to their king but did as they saw fit, which problematic,
because clearly what people thought to be “fit” could be anything
but.

A young Levite comes wandering by looking for a place to stay. There
were particular cities appointed for the Levites to live, and Bethlehem
wasn’t one of them, not was Micah’s. It speaks to the decline in
worship of God that this young Levite was searching for somewhere to be.
Micah then offers to hire him to be his priest and pay him ten shekels
of silver a year, plus food and clothes. The offer is extravagant enough
the Levite accepts it, even though he had to know this set up was
contrary to God’s law. Finally, Micah is so lost and confused that he
thinks the Lord will bless him because he managed to hire a Levite to be
his priest and oversee this shrine of idols.

This is a warning. This is how confused and twisted in thinking and
worship people can become when they ignore God. To the extent that like
Micah, they can actually think this clear violation of God’s teaching
is somehow pleasing to Him.