Meditation Upon the PSALMS Series: Psalm 45

"Psalm 45:

This royal psalm was written on the occasion of a royal wedding, though the identity of the king is not known.
Some portions of Psalm 45 convey a secular emphasis, while others suggest a sacred extension. Upon the occasion of a royal wedding, the psalmist offers a 3-part song of celebration.
(I) Poetic Preface (45:1).
(II) Song of Celebration (45:2-16).
A. The King-Groom (45:2-9).
1. Endowments of the king-groom (45:2);
2. Exploits of the king-groom (45:3-5);
3. Elevation of the king-groom (45:6-7);
4. Eminence of the king-groom (45:8-9).
B. The Princess-Bride (45:10-15).
1. A challenge to the princess-bride (45:10-12);
2. The procession of the princess-bride (45:13-15);
C. Future Children from This Union (45:16).
(III) Poetic Postscript (45:17).

“Title”:
Two new notations are found, “according to the Shoshannim” and “A Song of Love”.

Psalm 45:1 My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue [is] the pen of a ready writer.
This his heart was inditing; which shows that it was under the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, and denotes the fervor of it.

Psalm 45:2 Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into Thy lips: therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever.
The Psalmist is looking with the eyes of his heart, and he sees the LORD in all His splendor.
The eyes of a true heart see more than the eyes of the head. Moreover, Jesus reveals Himself when we are pouring forth our affections towards Him. It is usually the case that when we are ready Christ appears. If our heart is warm it is an index that the sun is shining, and when we enjoy His heat we shall soon behold His light. Thou art fairer than the children of men. In person, but especially in mind and character, the King of saints is peerless in beauty.

Psalm 45:3 Gird Thy sword upon [Thy] thigh, O [most] mighty, with Thy glory and Thy majesty.
Revelation 19:11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on His head [were] many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies [which were] in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on [His] vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Psalm 45:5 Thine arrows [are] sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; [whereby] the people fall under Thee.
The heart of man is where the arrows can do the good.
Jesus never misses.
He pierces the heart of man with His beautiful message.

Psalm 45:6 Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: the scepter of Thy kingdom [is] a right scepter.
Psalm 45:8 All Thy garments [smell] of myrrh, and aloes, [and] cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made Thee glad.
“Myrrh, and aloes, and cassia” were burial spices, similar to what the women took to the tomb, in order to wrap Jesus’ body to preserve it.

Psalm 45:9

Kings' daughters [were] among Thy honorable
women: upon Thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
We are all King's daughters.

The place of honor is on the Right hand of our groom the Lord Jesus Christ.
Church, we are clothed in the white robe of righteousness, washed in the blood of the Lamb.
“Gold of Ophir”:
Although its geographical location is not known, “Ophir” was well known as the location of the purest gold.

Psalm 45:11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for He [is] thy Lord; and worship thou Him.
Psalm 45:13 The king's daughter [is] all glorious within: her clothing [is] of wrought gold.
Psalm 45:14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto Thee.
"In raiment of needlework":

The image of God, 

the divine nature, 

the robe of righteousnes.

The day comes when the celestial marriage shall be openlycelebrated, and these words describe the nuptial procession wherein the queen is brought to her royal Husband attended by her handmaidens.

Psalm 45:15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace."
BooksOfTheBible/Charles Spurgeon

Creation Moment 3/25/2026 - Evolution consistently fails to bridge even a two-mutation gap

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools... 

Romans 1:22 NIV

"Stadler explains how to apply a set of rigorous criteria to the claims of neo-Darwinism to better evaluate its explanatory power. He argues that many cornerstone proofs for evolution, such as homology and the fossil record, actually represent low-confidence science. 

Rather than providing direct, repeatable evidence of a causal event, these claims often rely on circular reasoning and unproven

assumptions that extrapolate far beyond the actual data available.

Stadler highlights three high-confidence laboratory studies that put the mechanisms of evolution to the test, revealing its stark biological limitations. 

Across experiments involving bacteria and yeast, researchers found that while evolution can occasionally fix a single point mutation, it consistently fails to bridge even a two-mutation gap — even when provided with billions of organisms and thousands of generations. These sobering results suggest that the evolutionary process is highly constrained. That means it often favors the breaking or deleting of genes for short-term survival instead of the innovative construction of the complex biochemical pathways often taught in textbooks.

The takeaway? We shouldn’t be so quick to credit neo-Darwinism with the origin and development of life if it’s clear that the mechanism struggles to cause anything but negligible, low-level change in organisms." 

Science&Culture

Meditation Upon the PSALMS Series: Psalm 44

"Psalm 44 is a national lament following some but really great and historically and unidentifiable defeat in battle.
By employing 3 historical centers in Psalm 44, the psalmist tries to understand and deal with a national tragedy.

I. Focus on Past History: The Shock of This National Tragedy (44:1-

8).
II. Focus on Current History: The Inscrutability of This National Tragedy (44:9-22).
III. Focus on Future History; A Prayer for an End to This National Tragedy (44:23-26).

Psalm 44:1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, [what] work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
We know that by hearing the Word of God, many people are saved.
Hearing about the miracles then, is very important to believing.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Psalm 44:5 Through Thee will we push down our enemies: through Thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
The Chaldee paraphrase renders it, "through the Word".

Psalm 44:9 But Thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
But now thy countenance and course is quite changed to us.
"And put us to shame":
Made us ashamed of our boasting, and trust in Thee, which we have oft professed to the face of our enemies.

Psalm 44:11 Thou hast given us like sheep [appointed] for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
To be butchered, and then eaten as sheep are.
And therefore, are called "the flock of slaughter" (Zech. 11:4).

Psalm 44:19 Though Thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
The wilderness is the habitation of dragons.
And this is the name of the place where the church is said to be in the times of the Papacy.
And where she is fed and preserved for a time, and times, and half a time (Rev. 12:6).
"And covered us with the shadow of death":
As the former phrase denotes the cruelty of the enemies of Christ's church and people.

Psalm 44:20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
As antichrist, and the antichristian party did in those times (Dan. 11:36).

Psalm 44:21 Shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the

secrets of the heart.
Whether the heart is turned back, or there is any inclination to apostatize from God.

Psalm 44:22 Yea, for Thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Psalm 44:23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast [us] not off for ever.
Psalm 44:25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth."
BooksOfTheBible

Ministry of Christ vs. Mission of Antichrist

Ministry of Christ:

1) Rises from the water to begin ministry (Baptism)

And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: 

Matthew 3:16

2) Resembles Father

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 

Hebrews 1:2,3

3) Crowns

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.
Revelation 19:12

4) Receives authority from the Father

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. 

Matthew 28:18

5) Ministry lasts 3.5 years

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week (3.5 years as a year = a day in Prophecy / the "one week" would be 7 years---half, or "midst" of it would be 3.5) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Daniel 9:27

6) Wounded to death on the cross and then resurrected

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost....And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen;
John 19:30/Mark 16:6

7) Placed the Sabbath on the Seventh day of the week

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:11

8) God has His SEAL

And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Revelation 9:4

Mission of Antichrist:

1) Rises from the water to begin mission

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 

Revelation 13:1

2) Resembles Satan

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon,...And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea,....and upon his heads the name of blasphemy..Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Revelation 12:9/13:1/2 Thessalonians 2:3

3) Crowns

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns....
Revelation 13:1

4) Receives authority from the Dragon (Satan)

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Revelation 13:2

5) Mission lasts prophetic 3.5 years

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. (42 months = 3.5 years)
Revelation 13:5

6) Wounded to death then deadly wound healed

And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Revelation 13:12

7) Changed the Sabbath to the First day of the week

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws:...The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Daniel 7:25/Isaiah 24:5

8) The beast has its own MARK

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark.... 

Revelation 13:16

Creation Moment 3/23/2026 - The "Gap Theory" --- what’s inside the gap?

"Gap theorists insert millions of years between the first two verses of Genesis. 

Q: But what really lurks in that gap?

Often when encountering two conflicting views, our first instinct is to find middle ground.
The gap theory is often offered as an idea that would build a bridge between the historical record of Scripture and the evolutionary time frame of billions of years by inserting millions of years in the creation account.

The gap theory not only adds to Scripture,

 it also contradicts what God says elsewhere in his Word. 

It even destroys the scarlet thread of the gospel that runs throughout the Bible’s interwoven narrative.

The gap theory tucks them between Genesis 1:1 (“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”) and Genesis 1:2 (“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”).

While a minority of scholars held long-age interpretations before the gap theory, long ages weren’t perceived as necessary to explain

Genesis until about 200 years ago, when a group of geologists began arguing that the way the earth looks now can be entirely explained by processes that we see happening today, an idea called uniformitarianism. However, without considering the earth-changing catastrophe of the global flood (Genesis 6–8), these geologists appealed to slow and gradual processes that would take millions of years to shape the planet—hence the need for millions of years of history.

Uniformitarian geologists, such as James Hutton in the late 1700s and Charles Lyell in the 1800s, began to study the earth’s different landforms and argued that geological evidence pointed to an earth much older than a plain reading of Scripture would allow. Lyell was not a dispassionate scientist following the evidence wherever it led—he had an agenda. He wanted to “free the science of geology from Moses.”

The gap theory makes no sense when we examine the grammar of Genesis 1. Gap theorists claim that Genesis 1:2, “The earth was without form and void,” should read “and the earth became without form and void.” However, the Hebrew word waw (and) in this passage can be used in various ways, telling us what the author means in a specific instance and how it should be translated into English. The use of this waw does not indicate a chronological progression, such as the next event in a series. Rather, the word describes the state of things at the beginning of God’s creation of the heavens and earth.

The gap theory becomes even more problematic when we look at what’s inside the gap. To explain why the earth became without form and void, gap theorists normally place the fall of Satan and the other angels who rebelled with him (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28) between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.

When Satan appeared in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3, he was clearly already a fallen creature, though still splendid (as described in Ezekiel), which is probably why he easily persuaded Eve.

The Bible doesn’t allow for a gap in Genesis, and we don’t need one. The Bible’s clear history of creation in six days, the introduction of death and suffering into creation after Adam’s fall, and the global flood in Noah’s day explain the evidence we find in the geological record." AIG

Meditation Upon the PSALMS Series: Psalm 43

"Psalm 43:

Psalm 43 might be conceived of as an epilogue to Psalm 42. The psalmist moves away for introspection toward invocation. However, as verse 5 will indicate, the psalmist’s problems had not ended, at least not fully and finally. 

I. Prayers to God (43:1-4).
A. Righting Wrongs (43:1-2).
B. Restoring Rights i.e., proper, or appropriate things: (43:3-4).
II. Pep-talks to Oneself (43:5).
A. Exhortation (43:5a-b).
B. Encouragement (43:5c-d).

Psalm 43:1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
"Judge me, O God": This does not mean, pronounce sentence upon me. But, undertake my cause; interpose in my behalf; do justice in the case.

Psalm 43:3 O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead

me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles.
Psalm 43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise Him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God.

Worship blesses God. 

It is also one of the healthiest things people can do when they are sad, fearful, or distraught."
BooksOfTheBible

Papal Notes - Leo XIV vs. 4th Commandment

"On Sunday, March 15, 2026, during Mass at the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome, Pope Leo XIV explicitly identified Sunday as “the Lord’s Day” in his homily, linking it with worship, gratitude, and the mystery of life. 

This language is significant because it reflects Rome’s longstanding effort to attach sacred authority to Sunday while obscuring the Biblical Sabbath, thereby openly demonstrating that it still regards itself as having the authority to redefine worship in defiance of the commandments of God.

• “Our Eucharistic celebration today, more than ever, is filled with joy. Indeed, the beauty of our gathering today is set against the backdrop of the Sunday known as ‘Laetare,’ meaning ‘rejoice‘.” 

• “Not only that: in the interrogation to which the blind man who can now see is subjected, it is above all Jesus who is put on trial, accused of having violated the Sabbath in order to heal him. Thus, another form of blindness is revealed in those present, one that is different and even more serious: that of failing to see, right before their eyes, the face of God, for which they trade the possibility of a saving encounter for the sterile security afforded by the legalistic observance of a formal discipline. Faced with such obtuseness, Jesus does not stop, showing that no “Sabbath” can stand in the way of an act of love. After all, the meaning of the Sabbath rest for the people of Israel – and for us on Sunday, the Lord’s Day – is precisely to celebrate the mystery of life as a gift, in the face of which no one can ignore the cry for help from a brother or sister who is suffering.” 

The continued elevation of Sunday as “the Lord’s Day” instead of the seventh-day Sabbath shows that the papal system still claims the very authority prophecy warned about—the authority to think it can change God’s moral law (Daniel 7:25). Rather than submitting to the plain commandment of Scripture, Rome continues to exalt human tradition above divine revelation, proving that the system of apostasy foreseen in prophecy is still alive and active before our eyes.

The Bible teaches that the Sabbath is still binding because it was established by God at Creation, long before there was a Jewish nation, when “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it” (Genesis 2:2–3). In the heart of God’s moral law, the Lord commands, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy… the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God” (Exodus 20:8–11), and Scripture never records God changing this command.

Finally, the Bible points forward to the new earth, where “from one

sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 66:22–23). 

These texts show plainly that the seventh-day Sabbath, or Saturday, remains God’s holy day, unchanged and still binding upon His people." 

AdventMessenger

Creation Moment 3/22/2026 - Foolishness of “evolutionary creativity”

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 

Romans 1:22

"Fewer Darwinian papers would get published if peer reviewers would do their job. You can’t make up a word or phrase to cover ignorance.

Paleontology: A diverse biota in the shadow of a mass extinction?

(Douglas Erwin, Current Biology, 9 March 2026). Douglas Erwin is a leading expert on the Cambrian explosion. In this Dispatch, he comments on the spectacular new fossil site in China called the Huayuan Biota, which rivals the famous Burgess Shale in species richness and the detail of fossil preservation.

Dr Erwin knows that the Cambrian explosion has been a major embarrassment to evolutionary theory since Darwin’s day. Instead of slow, gradual progress, the first layers of the Cambrian show spectacular diversity and disparity of animal body plans. Some two dozen new phyla appear abruptly in the Cambrian strata, without the evolutionary precursors Darwin said should be there.

Erwin undoubtedly knows that intelligent design advocates have been making hay of this fact in books, videos, and debates. But could he acknowledge this controversy in 2026? Never! Emperor Charlie does have new clothes! Where is your faith?

Watch Erwin follow the example of Molière’s doctor:

"The explosion of skeletonized animals in the early Cambrian (about 530 million years ago), known as the Cambrian radiation, was evident in the 19th Century, but only the discovery of fossil assemblages exhibiting extraordinary preservation of soft parts with fine anatomical detail in the Chengjiang and Burgess Sale faunas revealed the degree of evolutionary creativity at the base of animal evolution."

There is no such thing as “evolutionary creativity” because creativity requires a mind, foresight and talent.

When comparing deep-water and shallow-water abundances of Cambrian fossils, Erwin throws in additional magic words:

"Moreover, these similarities support the notion that deeper water environments may have facilitated evolutionary novelty. Morphological innovation often occurred after mass extinctions linked to shallow-water anoxic events. It is possible that evolutionary novelties arose in deep waters and then spread into shallow waters during post-extinction recoveries. In many cases, soft-bodied clades from deep waters acquired skeletons in the shallows."

Professor Erwin is not alone. With shameless frequency, other Darwinists commit this fallacy of making up empty phrases in pretense of explaining the origins of things. Regarding “notions” in science." CEH

Meditation Upon the PSALMS Series: Psalm 42

"Psalm 42:
The occasion and situation of Psalm 42 are historically unspecified; however, what is obvious is that the psalmist’s situation was intense and greatly aggravated by his surrounding mockers.
Consequently, Psalm 42 is a dirge of two stanzas.
I. Stanza One: The Psalmist Sings of His Drought (42:1-5).

A. The Content of This Stanza (42:1-4);
B. The Chorus of This Dirge (42:5).
II. Stanza Two: The Psalmist Sings of His Drowning (42:6-11).
A. The Content of This Stanza (42:6-10);
B. The Chorus of This Dirge (42:11).

“Title”:
The references to “the choir director”, i.e., the worship director, and Maschil, a “contemplation” or lesson, are not new, but the reference to “the sons of Korah”.

Psalm 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.
The word is strong, and expresses that eagerness and fervency of desire, which extreme thirst may be supposed to raise in an animal almost spent in its flight from the pursuing dogs.

Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

My soul. 

All my nature, my inmost self. 

Thirsteth.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Psalm 42:3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where [is] thy God?

Psalm 42:4 When I remember these [things], I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude

that kept holyday.

Psalm 42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and [why] art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him [for] the help of His countenance.

Psalm 42:8 [Yet] the LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song [shall be] with me, [and] my prayer unto the God of my life.
In seasons of affliction the servants of God will be distinguished from others by their ready perception and acknowledgment of the hand of God in their trials."
BooksOfTheBible/Charles Spurgeon

IN the NEWS - Brazil: Ordinance No. 3,665/2023

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 

Revelation 18:3

"A new labor law in Brazil, MTE nº 3.665/2023, goes into effect in March 2026, which will change how retailers can operate on Sunday. The law effectively closes retail stores on Sunday and requires approval from trade unions in order for businesses to open their doors on that day. If a business wants to operate on Sunday, it must get express authorization through collective bargaining.

Pinto & Fernando Pinto Law Firm published the following explaining how the new law works:
• “MTE Ordinance No. 3,665/2023 has introduced significant changes to the rules authorizing work on Sundays and holidays

within the retail sector. The regulation will come into full effect in March 2026 and significantly alters how establishments may organize their work schedules on these days.”
• “Under the new regulation, provisions of MTP Ordinance No. 671/2021—which previously allowed commercial establishments to operate automatically on Sundays and holidays—have been revoked.”
• “Under the new rule, working on these dates now requires express authorization via a collective bargaining agreement negotiated between companies and the relevant trade unions.”

The new ordinance revokes earlier rules that allowed retail stores to operate automatically on Sundays and holidays. Work on those days now requires explicit authorization negotiated between companies and trade unions—a process that is so restrictive and bureaucratically burdensome that obtaining approval becomes exceedingly difficult, effectively limiting or preventing Sunday operations." AdventMessenger

Creation Moment 3/21/2026 - They admit their "models" are Wrong

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Hebrews 11:3 NLT

"For decades, researchers thought they had the recipe for a solar system figured out. You put a star in the middle, scatter some rocky crumbs nearby for things like Earth, and let the gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn sweep up the leftovers in the cold, dark suburbs. It was neat, tidy, and, as it turns out, probably wrong — or at least very incomplete.

Exhibit A: HR 8799. This young star, just 130 light-years away, is

home to four behemoths that shouldn’t exist. These gas giants are 5 to 10 times the mass of Jupiter, sitting at distances far greater than Pluto is from our Sun.

Ever since these planets were discovered nearly two decades ago, they’ve stood as a middle finger to our best theories of how planets are born. They were too big and too far away to exist by the rules.

The main problem with HR 8799 is called core accretion. This is the standard model for building a giant planet. Imagine a dusty disk around a young star. Inside this disk, ice and rock collide to form a solid core. Once that core gets to about ten times the mass of Earth, its gravity becomes so hungry that it starts inhaling gas from the surrounding disk. This is the accretion.

But the farther you go from the star, the less material you have to work with. So, you’d expect these planets which are farther from their star to be smaller. That’s why it’s so striking for planets to be huge and very far away from their star.

For starters, they found that all planets have a relatively similar chemistry. In other words, they formed in pretty much the same way. This likely means no collisions or extreme events.

They then found that the planets are metal-rich. In astronomy, anything heavier than hydrogen or helium is a “metal.”

 ZME

Commentary/Response: Oops....

Meditation Upon the PSALMS Series: Psalm 41

"Psalm 41:

At the heart of this psalm is the sad reality of being forsaken by one’s friend.
The words of this psalm are general and apply to anyone who might be considered “down”.
While the form and structure of Psalm 41 are quite complex, “blessed” serves as bookends (in verses 1, 13).
Within these, other elements include:
(1) Confidence (verses 1b-3, 11-12);
(2) Prayers (verses 4, 10); and
(3) Lament (verses 5-9), with moments of wisdom and praise.

David’s message in Psalm 41 speaks of God’s tender, loving care in the critical care unit of life.
I. Recognizes Human Compassion (41:1a);
II. Revels in God’s Care for the Compassionate (41:1b-3);
III. Requests Grace, Health, and Forgiveness (41:4);
IV. Rehearses the Meanness that He Has Experienced (41:5-9);
V. Requests Grace, Health, and Retribution (41:10); 

VI. Revels in God’s Care for Him Personally 41:11-12); 

VII. Recognizes Divine Compassion (41:13).

Psalm 41:1 Blessed [is] he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Blessed is he that considereth the poor. Not the poor of the world in common, nor poor saints in particular, but some single poor man; for the word is in the singular number, and designs our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the last verse of the preceding Psalm, is said to be poor and needy.

Psalm 41:3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

This pictures God as a Physician dispensing 

His tender, loving care.

Psalm 41:4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee.
God is the strength of a Christian's heart, by healing and restoring him when the infused habits of grace fail, and sin grows strong and vigorous.

Psalm 41:5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
Psalm 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up [his] heel against me.
We are indeed, wretched when our quondam friend becomes our

relentless foe, when confidence is betrayed, when all the rites of hospitality are perverted, and ingratitude is the only return for kindness; yet in so deplorable a case we may cast ourselves upon the faithfulness of God.
Psalm 41:12 And as for me, Thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before Thy face for ever.
BooksOfTheBible/Charles Spurgeon

Creation Moment 3/20/2026 - Darwinian circular reasoning on the Appendix

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, Romans 1:22

"What does the appendix do? Biologists explain the complicated evolution of this inconvenient organ (The Conversation, 9 March 2026). In this story (NOT scientific article), Phil Starks and Lilia Goncharova use the adjective evolutionary a dozen times. Try “dormitive” for “evolutionary” in the following examples without falling asleep:

The evolutionary story of the appendix
…is supported by evolutionary analyses
A broader evolutionary survey found that the appendix evolved

Scientist entering trance to meditate on his idol
and on 747s emerging from tornadoes in junkyards.

separately at least 32 times across 361 mammalian species.
Evolutionary importance and modern life
the evolutionary pressures that once favored the appendix have largely disappeared.
A structure that was once a global evolutionary advantage is now more of a medical liability.

This mismatch between past adaptations and present environments illustrates a core principle in evolutionary medicine

If evolutionists didn’t have circular reasoning, they wouldn’t have any reasoning at all.

These phrases are all vacuous, empty, deceptive: pretending to explain something, they merely reinforce the evolutionary bias of the authors. (Evolutionary bias, you notice, is real. Never would they consider anything other than evolution to explain something.)

When a trait evolves repeatedly and independently, biologists call this convergent evolution. Convergence does not mean a structure is indispensable. But it does suggest that, under certain environmental conditions, having that structure provided a consistent enough advantage for evolution to favor it again and again.

In other words, the appendix is unlikely to be a useless evolutionary accident.

It is still an evolutionary accident, they are saying, but it is a “useful” accident. It has a dormitive virtue that helps put their readers to sleep, where dreams of emergence dance like sugar plums in their heads." 

CEH

Meditation Upon the PSALMS Series: Psalm 40

"Psalm 40:
The poles of thanksgiving and lament are so distinct in this psalm that some divide it into two separate psalms.
Two situations constitute the framework for the psalmist’s publicized expressions of worship in Psalm 40.
I. Precedent from a Past Situation (40:1-10).
A. The Merciful Rescue by God (40:1-3);
B. The Multiple Resources in God (40:4-5);
C. The Motivational Responses to God (40:6-10).
II. Prayers for a Present Situation (40:11-17).

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined

unto me, and heard my cry.
Psalm 40:2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings.
First, resurrection as the act of God, He brought me up, etc.

Secondly, the justification of the name and title of the Sufferer, and set my feet upon a rock. Jesus is set up, as alive from the dead, upon the basis of accomplished truth. 

Thirdly, there is his ascension, He establisheth my goings. The Son of God having trodden, in gracious and self renouncing obedience the passage to the grave, now enters finally as Man the path of life.

Psalm 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [it is] written of me, Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law [is] within my heart.

If Christ liveth in us, then the Law of God is in our heart.

It is a pleasure, not a chore, to do the will of the Lord.

What a privilege to find our names written in the book of life, and what an honor, since the name of Jesus heads the page!

Psalm 40:9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, Thou knowest.
Psalm 40:10 I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation: I have not

concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.
Psalm 40:11 Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth continually preserve me.
Psalm 40:12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
Psalm 40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: Thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God."
BooksOfTheBible/Charles Spurgeon

Creation Moment 3/19/2026 - Grasping at Clarke's 3rd Law to Reject clear cut visible DESIGN

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? 2 Peter 3:3,4

"Dawkins believes that complicated things, such as DNA, only appear to be designed. 

Q: Why does it only appear designed? 

A: Well, because if it is designed then the obvious question is, who designed it? 

--The reality of the matter is that the double-helix structure of DNA could not form by chance as we know that it carries complex coded information that can only be generated by intelligence sources (not mindless natural processes). Since Dawkins sees design as an allusion, the possibility of a designer is also seen as delusional (i.e. the title of his 2006 book The God Delusion).

Peter Boghossian: Given that the hosts of arguments [for the existence of God] don’t work, what would it take for you to believe in God?
Richard Dawkins: "I use to say, it would be very simple, it would be the second coming of Jesus or a great big, deep, booming, base voice saying: “I am God and I created.” But I was persuaded mostly by

Steve Zaro . . . he more or less persuaded me, even if there was this booming voice or the second coming in clouds of glory, the more probable explanation is that it is a hallucination or a conjuring trick by David Copperfield or something. He made the point that a supernatural explanation for anything is incoherent, that it just doesn’t add up to an explanation for anything . . . Clarke’s third law “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” magic being supernatural. If you were to fly a Boeing 747 back to the middle ages, you would be greeted as god, and similarly an alien visitation would be so far beyond us in their technology that they probably could manipulate the stars to spell out words or geometric forms or something of that sort." AIG