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Hosea 6:3—“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”

It sets before God’s people a hopeful summons that follows repentance, exposing the danger of shallow commitment. Israel had been inconsistent: quick to speak of returning to the LORD, yet slow to pursue Him with perseverance. Against such superficial repentance, this verse calls God’s people to something wholehearted and steadier: not merely to know about the LORD, but to “follow on to know” Him.

It also teaches that true knowledge of God is both relational and progressive. “Then shall we know” points to the certainty of knowing God personally, but only along the path of continued pursuit. Knowing God is not achieved through momentary religious impulse, but through sustained, obedient seeking. 

The repenting and returning people are assured that God Himself will take the lead, His “going forth is prepared as the morning.” Just as dawn comes unfailingly after night, God’s self-disclosure to repentant seekers is sure and dependable. He is not reluctant to be known.

The imagery of rain deepens this assurance. God comes to His people “as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” In an agrarian context, these rains were essential for life, growth, and fruitfulness. Theologically, this portrays God as the One who revives, nourishes, and sustains spiritual life. Without His gracious coming, hearts remain dry and barren.

A great encouragement is given to believers who long for renewal. It reminds us that spiritual dryness is not resolved by emotional bursts, but by faithful pursuit of the Lord. As we persist in seeking Him, He assures us that He will meet us with gentleness and refreshing grace, not with harshness. Those who persevere in knowing the LORD will discover Him to be faithful, life-giving, and richly sufficient, like rain falling upon parched ground.

Hosea 6:1—“Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.”

From the midst of judgment comes a merciful invitation, summoning a wandering people to return to their God. These words emerge from a nation that has experienced the painful consequences of covenant unfaithfulness. Israel had pursued idols and trusted in political alliances rather than the LORD, and divine discipline had followed. Even in chastening, He aims to restore His people.

The same LORD who “hath torn” is also the One who “will heal.” The tearing speaks of righteous discipline. God wounds not as an enemy, but as a faithful Father who disciplines those He loves. His smiting is purposeful, intended to awaken repentance and draw His people back into covenant fellowship. 

Crucially, healing is not found by escaping God’s hand but by returning to Him, for restoration comes only through renewed fellowship with the LORD who both disciplines and heals. The people are not told to seek relief elsewhere, but to come back to the very LORD who struck them. The same God who “tore” and “smote” is the only One who can “heal” and “bind up,” teaching that restoration lies in a renewed relationship with Him alone.

This verse speaks tenderly to wounded and wandering hearts. It assures us that chastisement is not evidence of abandonment, but of a continued relationship. The call, “Come,” invites repentance without despair. No matter how deep the wound or how painful the discipline, God promises to “bind us up.” His hands that strike in justice are the same hands that heal in mercy.

It reminds us that genuine repentance is marked by turning toward God, trusting that the One who disciplines us is also the God who delights in restoring, healing, and renewing His people.

Hosea 2:19–20—“And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.”

Hosea 2:19–20 stands as one of the most tender and theologically rich promises in all Scripture. Contextually, these words are spoken to a people who had been unfaithful to the LORD, likened throughout the book to an adulterous spouse. Israel had broken the covenant, pursued idols, and provoked divine judgment. Yet astonishingly, God responds not with final rejection, but with a promise of restored relationship expressed in the language of marriage.

The repeated phrase “I will betroth thee unto me” emphasises that restoration is entirely God’s initiative. A betrothal in the ancient world was a binding covenant. Here, God promises not a temporary reconciliation, but a union that is “for ever.” This renewed relationship is grounded in God’s own character: righteousness and judgment, which denote His moral integrity, lovingkindness and mercies, which denote His covenant love and compassion, and faithfulness, which denotes His unwavering reliability. What Israel failed to be, God Himself supplies.

The promise reaches its height in relationship: “and thou shalt know the LORD.” This knowledge is not merely intellectual, but personal and covenantal, born out of restored fellowship rather than external religious practice. True knowledge of God arises from a restored relationship and lived communion with Him.

The words of this passage speak hope to broken and wandering hearts. It assures us that sin, though grievous, is not stronger than God’s grace. For believers today, this promise finds its fullest expression in Christ, through whom God betroths His people to Himself in an everlasting covenant. We are urged to rejoice in a God who restores our broken relationship with Him, guarantees it by His own faithfulness, and leads us into a rich and lasting knowledge of Himself.

Sermon Text: Psalm 122
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 25th January 2026

Proverbs 18:2—“A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.”

In the framework of the Book of Proverbs, a “fool” is not merely ignorant but morally resistant to truth. Proverbs 18:2 exposes the inward posture of such a fool. He is not interested in learning, discerning, or submitting to godly wisdom. His goal is self-expression rather than gaining and applying understanding. The phrase “that his heart may discover itself” describes a heart that uncovers its own lack of understanding, revealing itself through speech marked by ego, impulse, and self-assertion. Words become a mirror of the heart, not a means of growth.

This verse confronts our habits of constant opinion-sharing, quick replies, and defensive speech, urging us to first apply our hearts to biblical wisdom in our conversations with others. How often is our listening shaped more by what we want to say next than by a desire to understand what is being said? The fool speaks to be known, but the wise listens and responds with godly understanding. What often feels like honest self-expression, when left unchecked, reveals a heart still learning the way of wisdom.

In relationships—at home, in the church, and among friends—this kind of speech quietly erodes good relationships. When words flow from the heart without discernment, understanding withers soon.

Ask yourself: Do I delight in understanding, or only in being heard? As His followers, we are called to speech shaped by humility, patience, and love. Let your words arise not from the need to display your heart, but from the desire to grow in wisdom and build others up.

Beloved in Christ,

I warmly exhort you to make every effort to attend the upcoming seminar, “Zechariah: The LORD Remembers”, organised by Gethsemane Adults’ Fellowship this Saturday. This study of an ancient prophetic book will help us to behold the faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God, who never forgets His people nor abandons His promises.

The Book of Zechariah was given to a discouraged remnant who were small in number, weak in strength, and surrounded by opposition. To awaken them from discouragement and lethargy, the LORD spoke words of comfort, correction, and glorious hope. As the prophet’s name itself declares, “The LORD remembers”, which is the meaning of the Hebrew name Zechariah. He remembers His covenant, His city, His people, and His redemptive plan for the nations.

In this seminar, you can expect a clear and reverent overview, coupled with a brief exposition of Zechariah’s visions, symbols, promises, and eschatological prophecies. We will explore how God calls His people to repentance, assures them of His presence, and points them forward to the coming Messiah, who is portrayed as the Branch, the Stone with seven eyes, the humble King, and the pierced Shepherd. From a premillennial perspective, we will also consider how Zechariah unfolds God’s future purposes for Israel, Jerusalem, and the nations, culminating in the visible reign of Christ over the earth. These prophecies strengthen our confidence that history is moving steadily towards God’s appointed end, even as it passes through seasons of natural catastrophes and human chaos.

Why is learning Zechariah so important for the church today? Because we, too, live in days of weariness, moral confusion, and spiritual opposition. Zechariah teaches us that God’s work is accomplished “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD”. It lifts our eyes from present struggles to future glory, and anchors our hope in the certainty of Christ’s coming kingdom.

Come, then, with a teachable heart. Come to be comforted, corrected, and encouraged. May the LORD use this seminar to deepen our faith, renew our hope, and stir us to faithful service until He comes.

Testimony of Penitence

“And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20). By God’s sovereign mercy, Noah and his family found favour in His sight and were preserved. In like manner, as I reflect on the year 2025, and my past years as a Christian, I stand before my Creator and Redeemer, with deep thanksgiving for His longsuffering and enduring mercies towards me, which I do not deserve.

For quite some time in my years of confusion and fear in the past, I had lacked full trust in His saving work, and relied on my own strength and failed grievously. Like Lot, I sought to serve, yet stumbled through my own folly, disobedience, and unbelief. My sins were heinous and hateful in the sight of God, rightly deserving both His displeasure and the reproach of men. The shame and sense of unworthiness that accompanied returning to the LORD for restoration are not easy to endure. I blame no one but myself. To all brethren who have loved me in the LORD, and whom I have stumbled, disappointed, or grieved by my errant ways, I offer my sincere apology. In particular, I’m thankful for my beloved wife, in whom there still abides a gracious trust in Christ and a spirit of forgiveness towards me.

Truly, once breath ceases, there is no second chance. Though a wretched soul as I am, the LORD has mercifully chosen to forgive and save me, therefore I cannot remain unchanged. I need to be transformed by the living Word, and be prepared to go through continual and just chastening, be it through painful correction, pruning, or cleansing, that the filth of the world and besetting sins may be removed. The spiritual battle is real and intense. Despite my misguided concern for my family’s needs (enticed by worldly temptation and a desire for quick solutions), yet I thank God that, through the timely preaching of His faithful servants, He graciously exposed my sin and led me to forsake it—to flee again to His mercy seat, seeking forgiveness and restoration. My Lord knows my frailty and failures; my life is in His hands. His loving chastening assures me that I am His—mercy upon mercy, utterly undeserved (cf. Hebrews 12:6–8). May the divine Potter mercifully placed me again upon His wheel to shape me according to His will.

The year 2025 was marked by painful and discouraging trials, as well as moments of grace. It was sadly a season of repeated failure and repentance—I lost count of how many times I cried out to God for forgiveness. Satan knows my weaknesses and relentlessly attacks my faith and trust in Christ. Yet I thank God that He did not pass me by. I do not presume upon His mercy, but trust that when I came in sincere repentance, He would forgive me and hold me fast in His gracious and mighty hands.

O, how I wish I had listened more carefully, and obeyed my dear Pastor’s godly counsel, and be guided wholly by the Word of God! Had I done so, my path would have been far more firmly established in the Lord. Though I do not deserve it, I thank God for opening doors for me to serve at the Lions Home For The Elders, at St Luke’s ElderCare and within our Gethsemane Seniors’ Ministry. These are solemn responsibilities (particularly sharing God’s Word or assisting through interpretation), which I can fulfil only with God’s help. Even as I press on in service, may God continue to teach, correct, and humble me, through the loving encouragement and fellowship of Pastor, the elders, and preachers, for the battle against sin remains real and intense.

I thank God for placing me in this church, a true “spiritual hospital”, where His Word is faithfully preached, and where the deeply rooted sins and corruptions that so easily entangle me are continually exposed and purged for the good of my soul. I thank God for the Watchnight Service—a time to pause, to examine myself, to consecrate and re-dedicate my life, and to be soberly reminded of the wrath that is to come. Just like in Noah’s time, where Noah witnessed firsthand God’s righteous judgment on the people of his generation (who persisted in unbelief and disobedience), my heart is burdened for my children and my newborn grandchild, who remain outside God’s Ark, even Christ. May God, in His sovereign mercy, bring them to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 17:13—“Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.”

This proverb addresses everyday conduct, especially within close relationships. It assumes a setting of received kindness, good freely given, and also exposes the moral disorder of responding with harm. Such ingratitude is not merely discourteous; it tears apart the fabric of faithful relationships.

At heart, this proverb reflects God’s own moral order. God Himself is the supreme giver of good, and to repay good with evil is to act contrary to His character. Scripture consistently portrays such behaviour as a mark of deep moral corruption (cf. Psalm 35:12; Romans 1:31). The warning is judicial: evil is not random but retributive. When goodness is met with evil, God permits that evil to become a persistent presence—“it shall not depart from his house.” Sin, once welcomed, it can become a resident with all its malice.

This verse speaks soberly to homes, churches, and communities. Gratitude nurtures peace; ingratitude breeds unrest. Those who habitually repay kindness with suspicion, resentment, or harm should not be surprised when relational fracture follows them. Yet for the wounded believer, this proverb also offers comfort: God sees unjust treatment and does not ignore moral wrongs.

Examine your responses to the grace received. Where God has shown you good, especially in Christ, let gratitude govern your actions, lest evil gain an unwelcome foothold in your life. Let that same gratitude shape the way you respond to others, returning kindness for kindness, and good for good, as those who live under God’s gracious rule.

Numbers 23:19—“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

This declaration comes from the mouth of Balaam, a reluctant prophet hired by the Moabite king, Balak, to curse Israel. In a striking display of divine sovereignty, God speaks one of Scripture’s clearest affirmations of His unchangeable faithfulness through the mouth of a man marked by covetousness, spiritual treachery, and deliberate malice against His people. At the same time, Israel stood in the plains of Moab equally exposed—unfaithful, murmuring, and wholly undeserving—yet the LORD, faithful to His own Word, refused to reverse the covenantal blessing He had graciously spoken over them.

The verse contrasts human fickleness with divine faithfulness. Humans lie, regret, and revise; God does not. His purposes and promises are never compromised. What God says He will do, He does. His covenant is not governed by emotion or manipulation but by His holy and truthful nature.

This does not deny that God responds relationally in history. God’s responses in history do not mean that He changes His mind in the way humans do, or revises His eternal plan. Instead, His relational actions are the outworking in time of what He has eternally purposed.

For weary believers, this verse is a strong consolation. When conscience trembles over personal failure, this text reminds us that salvation rests on God’s Word, not ours. In seasons when prayer feels unanswered or promises delayed, faith clings to this truth: God has not changed His mind.  When circumstances accuse God of forgetfulness, Numbers 23:19 declares to us His reliability.

Let us rest today in the God who cannot lie. Every promise spoken over His people in Christ will be made good, fully and faithfully.

Mark 5:19—“Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.”

Jesus’ compassion does not end with restoration; it extends to the calling and future of the restored life. He turns a delivered man into a commissioned witness, showing that restoration is never an end in itself. The man who had been possessed by a legion of demons is now clothed, in his right mind, and sitting at Jesus’ feet (vv. 1-16). Naturally, he desires to remain with the One who delivered him (v.18). Yet Jesus gently but firmly redirected that desire, for “Jesus suffered (permitted) him not.” True discipleship is expressed not only in closeness to Christ but in obedience to His sending.

This man came from the region of the Decapolis (v.20), predominantly Gentile territory. Jesus sent him back, not to the synagogue or temple, but “home to thy friends.” The mission field begins with those who know our former condition. The command is simple and personal: “tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.” He is commissioned simply to recount the great works of the Lord and the compassion he has received, bearing witness to Christ’s gracious deliverance rather than offering explanation or argument.

Jesus frames the deliverance in covenant language: “the Lord hath done” and “hath had compassion on thee.” Salvation is the work of the Lord alone, flowing from divine compassion. This compassion does not merely relieve suffering; it restores dignity, identity, and purpose. Grace transforms the delivered man into a witness (see v. 20).

This verse reassures believers who feel unqualified to speak. Christ does not demand eloquence, but faithful narration of His work of deliverance and restoration. Our calling is to talk honestly of God’s mercy in our lives. True discipleship listens for Christ’s direction and trusts that compassion received is meant to become compassion proclaimed. The gospel and glory of Christ advance as transformed lives bear witness to His mercies.

Mark 1:38—“And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.”

Here, Mark records a decisive moment early in Jesus’ ministry. After a day of intense activity—teaching, healing, and casting out demons—the crowds sought Him eagerly. His disciples pointed to the growing demand, saying, “All men seek for thee,” subtly urging Him to remain where His ministry was already attracting attention. Yet Jesus responds with resolute clarity: “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also.” Popularity, visible success, and pressing need did not determine His course; His God-given mission did.

Significantly, this resolve follows a time of solitary prayer (v. 35). Jesus’ decision to move on was not impulsive, but the fruit of deliberate communion with the Father. In prayer, His purpose was clarified, and His path confirmed. The will of the Father, not the expectations of the crowd, governed the direction of the Son. His example reveals a life ordered by obedience rather than convenience. Jesus sought not what was easiest or most affirming, but what was most faithful to the mission for which He had come.

His priority was unmistakable: preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Although His many miracles (v. 34) authenticated His divine nature and the God-given authority of His message, they were never intended to replace the proclamation of the message in other towns. Jesus affirmed, “for therefore came I forth.” His preaching is not incidental but essential to His incarnation. He has come to announce God’s saving reign, calling sinners to repentance and faith.

As followers of Christ, let us share His perspective of ministry—to value proclamation over popularity and to move forward wherever God calls us, confident that we walk in the footsteps of the One who came forth to preach. Obedience to God’s purpose, not human expectation, defines faithfulness.