Rev. Zachary Keele grew up on a ranch in a small town named Crawford, Colorado. He attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and received his Master of Divinity from Westminster Seminary California. He has served as the pastor of Escondido OPC since 2006.
Psalm 31 laid bare in all its ugliness the suffering of the psalmist, and yet amid this soul-wrecking agony, he confessed his trust in the Lord. And his good profession was not shallow, like some cheap Hallmark card, but it was rich . . . Continue reading →
You have most likely noticed a new warning that is out there. On certain movies, video games, and shorts, there is a photosensitivity warning which alerts of flashing lights that might induce an epileptic seizure in some people. Now, Lord willing, this . . . Continue reading →
In our pilot episode on Psalm 30, the poetry of its verses disclosed David’s close brush with death. Due to the infection of his affluence, his faith stumbled, and God disciplined him. From this ordeal, the psalmist learns a lesson that he . . . Continue reading →
Time is a funny thing. For one, it is the constant we all live under. Time moves at the same rate. The second hand on the atomic clock does not speed up or slow down. Hours cannot be lost or added. We . . . Continue reading →
Psalm 29 has lifted up our eyes to the heavens to behold not weather but the glory of God in the storm and the ear-bleeding thunders of Yahweh’s voice. But you cannot really have thunder without lightning. The one necessarily comes with . . . Continue reading →
There is a basic assumption many of us share about our modern age, and this is that we have it better than any other age. We live in the best period of history. Strictly speaking, such an estimation is unprovable; it is . . . Continue reading →
In the first segment on Psalm 28, we saw the psalmist lay out for us the urgency of his plight, as he has been lumped in with the society of wicked lawbreakers. This need aches for a solution, so with the depravity . . . Continue reading →
Do you like to stick out or to fit in? The teacher tells your class to dress in black, but this is not you, so you come in red—the red umbrella amid a sea of black ones. Or maybe you decide to . . . Continue reading →
In the first part of Psalm 26, David confirmed his upright disdain for the perversity of idolatry and its overflowing evils. This godly contempt, though, was not alone, for it had an opposing pair, a sacred love. The psalmist loves the habitation . . . Continue reading →
Hatred, is this a virtue or a vice? This is a no brainer, of course—hatred is an evil, as we hear about all the time. The trending morality of the day is to be nice, accepting, tolerant, and respectful to all. There . . . Continue reading →
In the first installment on Psalm 25, we identified the agony for which the psalmist was praying for relief. The community around him shamed and ridiculed him as beyond the reach of forgiveness. Even his own memory tormented him that the sins . . . Continue reading →
Oh, to be a kid again! It is pretty safe to say that nearly everyone makes this wish at least once. You are full of adulting; the bills keep coming in, the diapers do not end; your body hurts for no discernible . . . Continue reading →
In our first piece on Psalm 24, we heard the acclamation of the Lord, creator of all, to whom everything belongs, and to whom all owe reverence and obedience. Then, by the righteous inquiries of the priest, the people swore their oath . . . Continue reading →
How do you greet a champion? What is a fitting celebration for the hero returning home? In the present season, we have seen several such festivities. DC adorned itself with pomp and galas for the inauguration. Columbus spilled into the streets for . . . Continue reading →
Life is littered with passages. These are the milestones and the ordeals that transition us from one stage to another. Waiting at the DMV for your driver’s test, sitting for the Bar, getting married, becoming a parent, retirement—these are just a few . . . Continue reading →
There come those times in life when you want to express your sincere thoughts and deep emotions to someone special: a birthday, a love letter, a major milestone. The words have to be just right, so what do you do? You can . . . Continue reading →
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, God save the King? Many of us think of some BBC show or a period piece on the British monarchy, as we know this cry entirely from history, literature, or entertainment. Indeed, it . . . Continue reading →
Within the bookstore of biblical studies, an alarming variety of works rest upon the shelves. Erudite tomes of philology and archeology, collections of sermons, thematic monographs, devotional series, and popular commentaries intermingle like diverse species in a rainforest. Arguably, each type has . . . Continue reading →
And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid, Still first to fly where sensual joys invade; Unfit in these degenerate times of shame, To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame; 1 In general, it is accurate to notice that poetry has . . . Continue reading →
In the first section of this survey of Psalm 51, we were rocked by the foul stains of our sin. As sinners, conceived and born iniquity, sin corrodes and tarnishes every last fiber of the inner person. Our hearts are rotten with . . . Continue reading →