Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 23 January 2018

My Help Cometh From The Lord 
 Another of those "came to me in the middle of the night" pieces.  Hard to argue, isn't it?
(Ref Psalm 121)

I will lift up mine eyes to the hills
from whence cometh my help,
my help cometh from the Lord,  
the Lord which made Heaven and Earth. 
He said He will not suffer thy foot,  
thy foot to be moved, 
Lord which keepeth thee,  
He will not slumber nor sleep. 

(Bridge)

For the Lord is thy keeper,  
the Lord is thy shade  
upon thy right hand,  
upon thy right hand. 
Nor the sun shall not smite thee by day,  
nor the moon by night,  
He shall preserve thy soul  
even forever more.


[Chorus:]
My help, my help, my help,  all of my help cometh from the Lord. 
[Verse]
[Bridge]
[Chorus]

[Bridge]

[Chorus]
[Vamp:]
     [Altos:]  Lift up mine eyes... 
     [Sopranos:]  lift up mine eyes... 
     [Altos:]  unto the hills...
     [Tenors:]  He is my strength...
    [All:]  All of my help cometh from the Lord.

Yes, we should have such a song in our hearts, no matter what.  No matter what.


Following the Lord, surrendering to His will instead of our own, changes us.  It should, after, all, He has a whole lot to do to conform us to His will and His way.
Sometimes, normally perhaps, that comes through our day-to-day walk with Him, something that we must fix on even before leaving our beds.  Otherwise, the events of the day, good, bad, or indifferent, will occupy our attention and divert the focus.  True?
But sometimes that change comes about as a result of BIG events.  Sometimes, and it's frequently the case, they come about when our own strength and resources are exhausted, when all seems hopeless and futile, and doom and gloom and despair are all around.  Some of us can testify to that, and how meeting Him there in our times of greatest need changed us.
But there are other situations.  I think all of us secretly yearn for a "mountain top moment", a personal equivalent of being present at the Transfiguration.  I've not had quite that, but yes, there have been times when He was so close that I could almost hear Him speak out loud.  That changes a person, believe me!
There have been other "mountain top experiences".  I am minded of the account in Genesis 22, when Abraham took his son Isaac up to the mountain, built an altar, and proceeded to undertake the sacrifice of his own son upon that altar.  As we know, the Lord stepped in.  I promise to you this day that neither of them came down that mountain unchanged.  They both offered what was most precious to them, and the Lord honored that commitment.

Would we do as well??  I fear to ask that even of myself.

Which led to the second 'song of the day'.  I Have Decided To Follow Jesus.   Like so many others of our hymns, there is a story, a very moving story, behind the song or hymn.  Would I do as well??  The question shames me.

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We had a brief thaw yesterday.  Actually made it into the 50's!!  A good bit of snow melt.  But, of course, "the rest of the story".  Heavy rain bands last night and rain today.  And a temperature tonight of 24°.  Can  you pronounce "black ice"?  Oh, and tomorrow's "high" of 29°.
But we are up to 9 hours 46 minutes of "day", and pick up another 1 minute 56 seconds tomorrow, so we are still picking up speed en route to the Equinox, and to the mile markers along the way, the 10 hour mark fast approaching and the 11 hour mark a bit behind that.

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Our Old Testament passage today is chapters 45 and 46 of the Genesis.

Genesis 45

45:1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

45:2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

45:9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

45:10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:

45:11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

45:12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.

45:13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.

45:14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

45:15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

45:16 And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

45:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;

45:18 And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.

45:19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

45:20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.

45:21 And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

45:23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.

45:24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.

45:25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,

45:26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not.

45:27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:

45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Genesis 46

46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

46:5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

46:6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

46:7 His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

46:8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.

46:9 And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

46:10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.

46:11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

46:12 And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.

46:13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.

46:14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.

46:15 These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.

46:16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

46:17 And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.

46:18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.

46:19 The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.

46:20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

46:21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

46:22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

46:23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.

46:24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

46:25 These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.

46:26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

46:27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

46:28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

46:30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

46:31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;

46:32 And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.

46:33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?

46:34 That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.




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Psalm 17

17:1 Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

17:2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

17:3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

17:5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

17:7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

17:10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

17:11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;

17:12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

17:14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.



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The New Testament passage is chapter 17 in the Gospel of Matthew.

Quite a contrast here!  We begin with a true "mountaintop experience", the Transfiguration.  We'd like to think "I Wish I could have been there".  OK.  Me too..  But don't forget that of those present, when the soldiers came, they ran away like scared rabbits, and one denied knowing Him.
We end with Jesus en route to His crucifixion in Jerusalem, something He knew in advance.

Matthew 17

17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

17:4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

17:6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

17:7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

17:8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

17:9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

17:10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

17:12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

17:13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

17:14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

17:16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

17:22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

17:23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?

17:25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

17:26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

17:27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.