November 1997 New Horizons

Horse and Rider

by Thomas E. Tyson

The theme of our 1997 Thank Offering is "Praise Him for His mighty acts" (Ps. 150:2 NKJV). This command is indeed laid upon the church of the ages, but it came first to God's elect nation Israel. She was called to extol the Lord for the deeds of power by which he separated her from the nations and saved her as the apple of his eye. In obeying this exhortation, no Israelite would have failed to think of one event in particular, namely, the incident at the Red Sea. For it was on that occasion that the Lord dealt a crushing blow to the Egyptian oppressors of Israel and poured out his grace upon that unlikely, but greatly blessed people whom he had chosen to be his own. The Song of Moses What the Lord did for his people was not lost on them, for we read: "Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: 'I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea' " (Ex. 15:1). With these words, Moses and the Israelites, and in particular ... Read more

The Way of True Happiness: A Meditation on the First Psalm (Part I)

by Geoffrey C. Smith

Psalm 1 1. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. All rational people, at the heart of their being, desire to be happy. This desire quietly shapes our thinking, our decision making, and our overall approach to our world. Our own happiness is often the most influential factor in the choices we make throughout life, whether small or great. True, we may not consciously articulate this desire moment by moment. Yet it is there ... Read more