Passage, Paragraph, and Prayer
“Passage, Paragraph, and Prayer” is a biweekly devotional podcast. Each episode consists of a passage from the Bible, a paragraph meditating on that passage, and a closing prayer. This podcast is produced by Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Winner, South Dakota.
Episodes
286 episodes
Languishing for God’s Salvation (Psalm 119:81)
Verse 81 begins the eleventh stanza of Psalm 119, a stanza that has a fairly well-defined theme of being worn out, tired, and on the brink of ruin as we wait for God to keep his word to us and to bring the wicked to justice.Music Credit...
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Season 5
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Episode 12
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3:04
Noah as Comfort (Genesis 5:28–29)
Just like with Eve and her firstborn, Cain, Lamech may have thought that his son Noah was the promised Messiah, and named him accordingly. Even though he was not, God does still continue to bring Christians comfort through Noah’s life and minis...
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Season 5
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Episode 11
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4:40
Blamelessness of Heart (Psalm 119:80)
In the closing verse of the tenth stanza of Psalm 119, the psalmist reminds us of the kind of blamelessness God is looking for—a blamelessness that should always prevent us from claiming we have the innate ability to keep God’s commandments.
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Season 5
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Episode 10
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3:48
Pre-Flood Names and Their Meanings (Genesis 5)
There isn’t a lot we can say about the meanings of the names in Genesis 5, because we don’t even know for sure if they are Hebrew names (was Hebrew around before the Tower of Babel?), and even if they are, we aren’t entirely sure what most of t...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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5:16
May Believers Have a Friend in Me (Psalm 119:79)
”You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” Randy Newman sang for the "Toy Story" movies. In Psalm 119:79, the psalmist leads us to pray that our fellow believers would see us as a friend they can turn to in need.Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, T...
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Season 5
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Episode 8
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3:20
Walking through the Cemetery (Genesis 5, select verses)
In Genesis 5, the refrain “and he died” repeatedly rings out like a funeral toll. We do well to figuratively walk past the graves of these deceased men, to ponder the consequences of sin, and to consider our own impending death. Are we ready fo...
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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5:00
Praying for Shame on the Insolent (Psalm 119:78)
In this devotion we cover the three predominant worldviews (guilt-innocence, fear-power, honor-shame), so that we can answer the question: What is the psalmist leading us to pray for when he says, “Let insolent people ashamed”?Music Cre...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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4:25
Longer Lifespans before the Flood (Genesis 5:1–5)
When people read in the Bible about early men routinely living over 900 years, they often can’t help but wonder if a different time scale isn’t being used. Pastor Biebert discusses this question in this devotion, but also reminds us that a 900-...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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4:22
Compassion and Life through God’s Word (Psalm 119:77)
In this devotion, we review the way this psalm uses various synonyms for God’s word. We then apply that to a verse might initially seem to be saying that God gives us compassion and life in exchange for our obedience to his law.Music Cr...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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3:23
The Image of God Lost (Genesis 5:1–5)
Many Christians will say that all humans are still made in the image of God. While that is true in a limited sense, such people have not sufficiently grappled with what Moses writes in Genesis 5:1–5.Music Credit: J. S. Bach, “Wir eilen ...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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5:01
Prayer for Comfort in Affliction (Psalm 119:76)
Last week we grappled with the uncomfortable thought that sometimes God decrees affliction for us. The psalmist immediately follows up that truth with a prayer for the comfort of God’s—a prayer that also assures us that God will give us what we...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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3:06
The Account of Adam (Genesis 5:1)
Genesis 5:1 begins the second of the ten “accounts” that make up the book of Genesis (2:4ff; 5:1ff; 6:9ff; 10:1ff; 11:10ff; 11:27ff; 25:12ff; 25:19ff; 36:1ff; 37:2ff). Its name, “the written account of Adam,” might initially appear to be poorly...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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4:13
God’s Decrees of Affliction (Psalm 119:75)
In this devotion we grapple with an uncomfortable thought, but one the psalmist makes believers come to grips with: Sometimes God decrees affliction for us.Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concerto, No. 1, Move...
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Season 4
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Episode 130
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3:22
The First Church Services (Genesis 4:25–26)
Have you ever wondered when the first church services were held? In this devotion, we not only look at the first church services, but also consider why they were not held until about 150 years after the creation of the world.Music Credi...
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Season 4
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Episode 129
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4:38
Support for the Godly (Psalm 119:74)
Those who are loyal to God and his Word above all don’t just have haters. They also have supporters, admirers, and cheerleaders, who derive great admiration and joy from their godliness.Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Bra...
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Season 4
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Episode 128
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3:04
Blame and Credit Where It Is Due (Genesis 4:25)
After losing a son to a violent murder, many mothers would shake their fist at God. Eve did not. She charged her son’s murder to her other son who committed it, but she ascribed to God the new life God gave her to help heal the wound of loss.
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Season 4
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Episode 127
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3:57
In Need of Restoration (Psalm 119:73)
God made us for himself, but we are no longer inclined to live for him and we do not naturally understand what he says. We need to be reprogrammed. We need to be restored.Music Credit: Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio from Brandenburg Concer...
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Season 4
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Episode 126
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2:55
Claiming Superiority to God (Genesis 4:19, 23, 24)
In Genesis 4:23–24, Lamech uses poetry and music to threaten abuse to his wives and to force them to “love” him. In this devotion, we look at the third (and final) couplet of his poem, where he basically tells his wives they should fear him mor...
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Season 4
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Episode 125
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4:16
God’s Word > Lots of Money (Psalm 119:72)
In the final verse of the ninth stanza of Psalm 119, the psalmist says that God’s word is better for him than lots of money. That statement both teaches a straightforward truth about God’s word and implies something about those who think little...
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Season 4
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Episode 124
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4:09
Vengeance Beyond Justice (Genesis 4:19, 23, 24)
In Genesis 4:23–24, Lamech uses poetry and music to threaten abuse to his wives and to force them to “love” him. In this devotion, we look at the second couplet of his poem, where he tells his wives why they had better listen to him.Mus...
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Season 4
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Episode 123
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4:43
Another of God’s Purposes with Affliction (Psalm 119:71)
We already saw how Psalm 119:67 was one of the most important and straightforward Bible passages about affliction. Psalm 119:71 qualifies too, in which the psalmist stresses how affliction prompts us to learn more of God’s word.Music Cr...
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Season 4
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Episode 122
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3:37
Abusing the Arts to Threaten Abuse (Genesis 4:19, 23, 24)
In Genesis 4:23–24, we learn where Jubal and Tubal-Cain got the inspiration to be pioneers in their various fields—from their father, who used poetry and music to threaten abuse to his wives and to force them to “love” him.Music Credit:...
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Season 4
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Episode 121
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4:32
Hearts as Thick as Fat (Psalm 119:70)
In Psalm 119:70, the psalmist uses a unique expression to describe the hearts of the insolent people who smear him with lies. It’s a comparison that could be used to describe our own hearts, were it not for the grace of God.Music Credit...
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Season 4
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Episode 120
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4:11
Man Corrupts God’s Institution (Genesis 4:17–22)
In the last two Genesis devotions, you may have caught the detail that Lamech, the great-great-great-grandson of Cain, took two wives. In this devotion, we take a closer look at this perversion of God’s institution of marriage.Music Cre...
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Season 4
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Episode 119
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4:23
Smeared with Lies (Psalm 119:69)
The psalmist talks a lot about affliction in this stanza. In verse 69, he identifies what seems to have been one of his special afflictions—being smeared with lies by insolent unbelievers. But with God’s word and promises in view, he is not dis...
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Season 4
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Episode 118
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3:37