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David Mathis @davidcmathis

Doulos Christou. Husband. Father of four. Senior teacher & Executive editor @desiringGod. Pastor @CitiesChurch. New book: A Little Theology of Exercise

Joined April 2009
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The first chapter of Hebrews tells us of the coronation that even the most impressive on earth (times ten) can only faintly anticipate. desiringgod.org/messages/the…

The Story of the Greatest Coronation

When Christ ascended into heaven, an otherworldly ceremony commenced. Here was the long-awaited Son of David, the only man angels ever worshiped.

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7-min read / 15-min listen: What was “the joy set before him” on Good Friday? A meditation on the utter shame of the cross, and what joy and honor he sought to overcome it. desiringgod.org/articles/tre…

Tree of Shame: The Horror and Honor of Good Friday

Jesus endured the cross, Hebrews tells us, “for the joy that was set before him.” What joy did Jesus see on the other side of Good Friday’s shame?

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5-min/day: ‘Rich Wounds’ spring reading plan begins today and ends Easter Sunday. Here’s the plan: thegoodbook.co.uk/common/pro… And here’s the intro and first 8 readings: document.desiringgod.org/ric…

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5-min read / 11-min listen: Too many times, I’ve let Easter sneak up on me, and then pass me by way too fast. Easter is 31 days from today. Here are five resurrection aftermaths we often overlook, and one way to make the most of the next month. desiringgod.org/articles/thi…

Thirty Days of Easter: Invitation to Enjoy the Risen Christ

Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter — the best stories reward re-reading. And none matches the one we rehearse each spring as Easter approaches.

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5-min read / 10-min listen: The church is not responsible to make its pastors happy; nor is it called to make them miserable. desiringgod.org/articles/a-h…

A Holy Conspiracy of Joy: The Heart of Healthy Pastors and Churches

In the healthiest churches, we find a holy conspiracy between pastors who gladly care for the sheep, and sheep who do what they can so that the pastors might serve joyfully.

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Friends in the Twins Cities, they had me at Narnia, Tolkien, and Hamilton. But dessert reception to follow? Come join us Feb 23, March 30, and/or April 20.
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5-min read / 11-min listen: Our hope for every Christian — and requirement for every pastor — is that he be “a lover of good.” desiringgod.org/articles/lov…

Lovers of Good: Eyes of Hope in a World Gone Bad

Christians believe in good. They look for good. And they do good because, at bottom, they are lovers of good.

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15-min read: The United States was not a Christian republic at its start, so how in the name of Thomas Jefferson did it seem to become one by 1850? Two reasons, both of which we can pray for and work toward today: revivals and Christian virtue. desiringgod.org/articles/was…

Was America Ever Christian? Founding, Awakening, and a Common Myth

A careful history of the United States reveals a kind of “Christian nation,” but not the one many expect: not a political faith, enshrined from above, but a cultural one, spread from below.

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31-min listen: What is Christian meditation? Quick new-year primer on what it is, and what it adds to Bible reading and study. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

Recover the Lost Art of Bible Meditation in 2023 (David Mathis)

Podcast Episode · The Crossway Podcast · January 2, 2023 · 32m

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5-min read for a new year: “Our flesh keeps us on the couch, waiting for opportunities that appear to promise instant and immense impact. Those who constantly dream of the big victory often overlook the small decisions required to get there.” –Matt Bradner desiringgod.org/articles/sta…

Start the Year Small: Wisdom for Setting New Goals

Many dreamers begin a new year with fresh resolves to do more and bigger, but the pathway to something greater almost always begins small.

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5-min read / 10-min listen: Silly as it may sound, when I stopped checking the boxes in morning devotions, something started to change in my attitude toward God’s word. desiringgod.org/articles/don…

Don’t Check the Boxes: My Breakthrough in Morning Devotions

For some, checking the boxes in Bible reading could put the focus and emphasis in the wrong place. Daily devotions are not about completing a task, but encountering the risen Christ.

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5-min read / 11-min listen for Christmas 2022: To refuse to be ruled is to refuse the Messiah. He did not come to fit into our pockets. He came to win, protect, and own a people who are very happy — even thrilled — to be in his pocket. desiringgod.org/articles/we-…

We Long to Be Ruled: The Messianic Hopes in Every Heart

Christmas still enchants our unbelieving society because even as democratic as we may pretend to be, deep down we cannot shake our longings to be ruled — by the supremely benevolent King.

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8-min read: new Christmas meditation from Sinclair Ferguson on the Isaiah 9 titles of Jesus, including “Everlasting Father”: “in Christ, we find a new father, a true father, and what is more, an everlasting father.” desiringgod.org/articles/bel…

Beloved Roads to Bethlehem: Tracing Names of Jesus to Christmas

Long before Jesus came, the prophet Isaiah told us who this glorious child would be: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

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40-min listen: sermon on Psalm 8, and the often overlooked attribute of divine majesty, preached this fall in Gatineau, Quebec. desiringgod.org/messages/how…

How Majestic Is Our Lord?

When speaking of God, we grope for fresh language to name the greatness of God. Might we learn to reach more often for the word “majesty”?

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56-min listen: whatever your perspective on video games, this story is almost certainly not what you’re expecting. As a father of boys I found this especially fascinating. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

Gaming Alone

Podcast Episode · Recorded · December 14, 2022 · 56m

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6-min read: “I *love* the chair.” And I loved Piper’s tribute to R.C. Sproul, who died five years ago today. desiringgod.org/articles/una…

Unashamed Allegiance: My Tribute to R.C. Sproul

R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) spent his ministry in the service of the holiness of God and the humility of man.

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23-min listen: Will the vision of leadership in ‘Workers for Your Joy’ translate into missionary and church-planting contexts? My conversation with #TheSentLife podcast begins at the 7-min mark: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
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23-min listen (radio interview): my effort to answer 7 questions on the Christian faith, to prepare us for holiday conversations that really matter. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

New Friends, same 7 questions – David Mathis | What do we do with our why questions? – Mike Novotny

Podcast Episode · The Bill Arnold Show · December 8, 2022 · 50m

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6-min read / 11-min listen: Perhaps recovering an often-overlooked attribute of God — his majesty — could help us unsettle sinners and freshly settle true saints. desiringgod.org/articles/awe…

Awesome and Fearsome: God’s Majesty in the Eyes of His Friends and Foes

When God flashes the glory of his great size and strength, his people stand in awe and declare his majesty, while his foes cower in fear and feel terror.

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57-min listen: Godward Life conference message from end of September on the pleasures of God in the gospel — and in particular in the astounding divine *pleasure* in Isaiah 53 to crush his one Son to win for him the many. desiringgod.org/messages/he-…

He Delighted to Crush His Son: The Pleasure of God in the Gospel

The Father not only planned for his Son to die, but was pleased to crush him. And for those in Christ, this can be as comforting as it is astonishing.

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