Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power
Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.
All the earth will worship You,
And will sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.”
Come and see the works of God,
Who is awesome in His deeds
Toward the sons of men.
He turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through the river on foot;
There let us rejoice in Him!
He rules by His might forever;
His eyes keep watch on the nations;
Let not the rebellious exalt themselves.
Bless our God, O peoples,
And sound His praise abroad,
Who keeps us in life
And does not allow our feet to slip.
For You have tried us, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.
You made men ride over our heads;
We went through fire and water,
Yet
You brought us out into a place of abundance.
I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings;
I shall pay You my vows,
Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke when I was in distress.
I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat beasts,
With the smoke of rams;
I shall make an offering of bulls with male goats.
Come and hear, all who fear God,
And I will tell of what He has done for my soul.
I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was extolled with my tongue.
If I regard wickedness in my heart,
The Lord will not hear;
But certainly God has heard;
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me.
Tag: scripture
Brooklyn
Evening all!! I’m just finishing up my post-workout yogurt, have done countless online errands(yay for getting my Needtobreathe tickets for tomorrow night! yay for replying to friends’ emails! yay for paying bills??)
Anyways, I’m super tired tonight. On a Monday. This does not bode well for the rest of the week. So I’ve decided I’m going to enjoy my leftover spaghetti and salad and then go to bed early. If I don’t get too distracted reading, that is…
So this entry seems a bit boring, so just gonna close and mention that I was listening to the new Nightwish album – Endless Forms Most Beautiful in my car this morning as I drove to work. I was heartily enjoying the gorgeous melodies and riffs contained therein but as I pondered the words in the songs(mostly involving the beauty and magnificence of this world and extolling the wonders of their god Evolution!!), I heard the plaintive plea of all those in this world who do not know God and I thought of the words I read this morning in Acts 17:
“The God who made the world and all things in it,
since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell
in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands,
as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to
all people life and breath and all things; and He made
from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the
face of the earth, having determined their appointed times
and the boundaries of their habitation,
that they would seek God,
if perhaps they might grope for Him
and Find Him,
though He is not far from each one of us;
for in Him we live and move and exist…”
So so true are these words. And so as I listened to the thundering guitar and chilling choir and soaring voices of Nightwish, I thought of how much God desires each one of us to know Him. The people in Nightwish(whom I will see in less than 2 weeks!) may think they know how the world works – of course there is no such thing as “a god”! They may think that this world and this universe – in all its grandeur – is all there is. And this grasping for beauty, this sighing for truth…it is but an echo of a cry of the heart that all men and women share as they feel the aching wound of the universe within their souls. Oh that they would seek God! If perhaps they might grope for Him. If perhaps they might find Him. He is not far from each one of us. Think on that this evening, I think I will. Pardon my slightly disjointed thoughts – but had to write them down now ere they flee! Peace, my friends. Peace and love.
Icing
Happy Saturday, friends!! I’m just going to write a few words….currently sitting on the floor at home, drinking my afternoon coffee(fifth cup of the day? Not bad for a Saturday!), snacking on pineapple and watching some Capitals/Islanders hockey playoff action(go Caps!!). Woke up a little earlier than normal, so have to confess I’m feeling a little sleepy now. Me and Ernie got breakfast and then went up to the Woodlands to check out the programs offered by Dallas Theological Seminary(they were having a special event there today). I may or may not be considering taking a few classes there in the fall…praying for wisdom on that, believe me. I sometimes feel it may be too much, trying to work full-time and take extra classes, but I would truly love to be in a place where I can be learning even more about our glorious God. So! We shall see where the Lord leads, and now it just comforts me to know that my future is in the hands of my God. I’ve been talking with an old friend that I haven’t spoken to in many many years, and she shared a verse that’s encouraged me deeply:
“For My thoughts are
not your thoughts,
nor are your ways
My ways,”
declares the LORD.
“For as the heavens
are higher
than the earth,
so are My ways
higher than your ways
and My thoughts
than your thoughts.
For as the rain and
the snow come down
from heaven,
and do not return there
without watering
the earth and
making it bear and sprout,
and furnishing seed to the sower
and bread to the eater;
so will My word be
which goes forth
from My mouth;
it will not return to Me empty,
without accomplishing what I desire,
and without succeeding
in the matter for which
I sent it.”
-Isaiah 55:8-11
Amen. And Amen. Have a most wonderful Saturday evening, dear friends!!!
Stradivari
Good morning, friends!! I’m about to head out for coffee times with Natalie, but thought I’d say hi, since it’s been a little while! And apparently I was trying to write a short story last time I was online – found the below excerpt saved as a draft. Really not much to it, but thought I’d leave it here for posterity(and in case it jump-starts my muse!).
I’ve had a delightful morning thus far…got to sleep in(to 7:30!!), then had my breakfast of coffee and toast while getting some solid reading done. Haggai is a very fascinating OT book, one that looks with grief into the past…and with bright hope for the future. Love it. Can’t wait for the day where the whole of the heavens and the earth acknowledge the name and glory of the Lord our God. Amen and Amen!! Next will be Zechariah. Almost done with Old Testament…so sad. Except not really, because that just means I get to start in Genesis again! Anyways, now I’m on my second cup of coffee, taking care of some online errands and listening to Itzhak Perlman playing Beethoven(on the big TV screen with good speakers!). Probably time to head out now though and…enjoy some more coffee with my dear friend Natalie. Peace, friends!! And enjoy below extremely random snippet.
The rain poured down, straining to be heard over the blare of the neon lights.
Rick risked a quick glance upward and was rewarded for his trouble with a splatter of water in his face from the inn’s overhang. He shook his head in annoyance and ducked back into the lobby. As he closed the door firmly, he heard the electronic chime from the front desk. The security officer masquerading as the receptionist raised her eyebrow at him in silent question. He shook his head in response. No sign yet.
As Rick walked back over the well-worn linoleum of the hotel’s foyer, he scanned the room, looking for anything out of place…
Lamb of God
Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He grew up before Him
like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
that we should look upon Him,
nor appearance that we should be
attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief;
and like one from whom men
hide their face
He was despised, and we
did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He himself bore,
and our sorrows He carried;
yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the chastening for our well-being
fell upon Him,
and by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
each of us have turned to his own way;
but the LORD has caused
the iniquity
of us all
to fall
on Him.
-Isaiah 53:1-6
My heart is saddened as I think of the suffering of Christ Jesus, yet I rejoice. Because truly – through the sacrifice of Jesus, God’s own Son and God Himself – I am counted as righteous in the sight of the Lord God. And the fact that I am righteous and pure before God…how can I not sing to the God who made it so? Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Slain for me. Filthy ungodly unworthy me. And so, some two thousand years ago, God the Father poured out the full and righteous cup of His wrath upon God the Son. And I am now a child of God – countless songs and boundless bliss – how can I not sing for this?? God loved me first, now I love Him – oh those glorious words – He loves me!!!
Rings
“I love You, O LORD, my strength.”
The LORD is my rock and my
fortress and my deliverer.
My God, my rock, in
whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn
of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who
is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved
from my enemies.
-Psalm 18:1-3
Grey Velvet
Quick early-morning-before-work post! Spent this morning having a lovely drive to work in the slowly falling rain…listening to my favorite music ever – Handel’s Messiah and sipping on my peppermint mocha…
Surely our griefs He himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
-Isaiah 53:4-6
Sons of Levi
Evening!! I realised I haven’t written in here…in quite some time. So considered that remedied! Besides that, I really don’t have too much to say. It’s been a long Wednesday at work…and I’ve now made my tomato salad and I’m waiting for my fish-fillet-and-french-fry dinner to come out of the oven. It will be delicious – I so declare. Also going to watch a little ’24’, because sadly, never got to finish Season 3 when I was home for Christmas! (Of course, the parents finished it long ago) Therefore, this is a simple night of supper and Jack Bauer. Can’t really complain there. Then I just might have some coffee and read as I contemplate the goodness of our Lord. Yes. Yes, I think that sounds totally lovely. Peace!!
They will not hurt or destroy in
all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full
of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
Then in that day
The nations will resort to
the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal
for the peoples;
And His resting place will be
glorious.
-Isaiah 11:9-10
First Fruits
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I
preached to you, which also you received, in which also you
stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the
word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas,
then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than
five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain
until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared
to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all,
as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am
the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God
I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain;
but I labored more than all of them, yet not I, but
the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they,
so we preach and so you believed…
…Now I say this brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does
the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet;
for the trumpet will sound, and the dead
will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
For this perishable must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal must put on immortality.
But when this perishable will have put on
the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on
immortality, then will come about the saying
that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.
O Death, where is your victory, O Death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
-1 Corinthians 15:1-11,50-58
Very tempted to write all of 1 Corinthians 15. I refrained. What glorious words. What beauty. What truth. Glory be to God, forever and ever. Amen.
A Psalm
O God, You are my God; I shall
seek you earnestly;
my soul thirsts for You, my flesh
yearns for You,
in a dry and weary land where
there is no water.
Thus I have seen You in
the sanctuary,
to see Your power and
Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is
better than life,
my lips shall praise You.
So I will bless You as long as
I live;
I will lift up my hands in
Your name.
My soul is satisfied as with
marrow and fatness,
and my mouth offers praises
with joyful lips.
When I remember You on
my bed,
I meditate on You in
the night watches,
for You have been my help,
and in the shadow of Your wings
I sing
for joy.
My soul clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek my life to destroy it,
will go into the depths of the earth.
They will be delivered over to the power
of the sword; they will be a prey for foxes.
But the king will rejoice
in God;
everyone who swears by Him
will glory,
for the mouths of those who speak lies
will be stopped.
Praise the Lord!
