Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 14 May 2018

Happy Monday, all.

We've had several rounds of rain and storms through here today, with more expected all through the night, and perhaps tomorrow as well.  I saw a radar map a little bit ago, lots and lots of the yellow, orange, and bright red spots that indicate heavy weather, and they're heading this way.
We know more than a little bit about the storms of life.
And yet, two other things we know.
The first of these is that for many, and certainly for the people of Israel, then and now, rain was and is something to celebrate.  It's seen as a blessing, which is certainly true for those who live, precariously, on the edge of a desert.  That "land of milk and honey" is that for those who just came through the Negev, but it's certainly not like Iowa.  So we should not gripe about the rain.
The other thing is that, regardless of the moment, even in the rain, the sun is still shining on the other side of the clouds.  The circumstances of the moment, no matter what they are, are not the whole story.  We just see a small piece of that story. 
So, the song of the day is "It Won't Rain Always".  This is sung by Janet Paschal, who was just coming off cancer treatments.  I think that she knows the truth of it. 
I believe that, sometimes (not always) these bumps in the road, are put there by the devil, hoping that we'll take our attention from the Lord and focus instead on those issues.  Yes, I understand the "stone in the shoe" matters, but I've also been guilty of obsessing over the moments and, before I noticed, hours or days had passed and the truly important things, the eternal ones, had been cast aside.


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Today, chapters 29 and 30 of 1st Samuel.  There is a big change coming.
Note the location here, by the way.  Jezreel is right by Megiddo.  The valley  of Armageddon is sometimes referred to as the Valley of Jezreel.

1st Samuel 29

1  Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel.

2  And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish.

3  Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?

4  And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?

5  Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

6  Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not

7  Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.

8  And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

9  And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

10  Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart.

11  So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

1st Samuel 30

1  And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

2  And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

3  So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

4  Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

5  And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

6  And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

7  And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

8  And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

9  So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.

10  But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

11  And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;

12  And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

13  And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.

14  We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

15  And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

16  And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

17  And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.

18  And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.

19  And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

20  And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

21  And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.

22  Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.

23  Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.

24  For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.

25  And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

26  And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord;

27  To them which were in Beth–el, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,

28  And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,

29  And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites,

30  And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Bor–ashan, and to them which were in Athach,

31  And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.

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Today, Psalm 96
I got into one of those Internet disputes some years ago (OK, it was back around 1986 or so) with a big shot in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.  (No, I'd not heard of such an organization before.  I guess they're still around).  Between bouts  of him calling anyone with even a slightly different take on a matter as "false Christian scum", he held forth what I guess is some of their doctrines.  One of which is that the ONLY permitted songs are the Psalms.  I'm not sure quite how that is to line up with the words we see here about singing a new song. But according to "Rev. Steve ", nothing but the Psalms, and those in the King James version at that, are permitted.  All  others are wicked  or something.   I'm not sure that "Amazing Grace" is wicked, or several others. 

Psalm 96

1  O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

2  Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.

3  Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

4  For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

5  For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.

6  Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

8  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.

9  O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

10  Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

11  Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.the fulness

12  Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice

13  Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

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Today, chapter 7 in the Acts of the Apostles.
This is Steven, one of the first deacons of the church.  Steven is a name still used today:  both of my grandfathers bore that name.

Acts 7

1  Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

2  And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,

3  And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

4  Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

5  And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

6  And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.

7  And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

8  And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.

9  And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,

10  And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

11  Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

12  But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

13  And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.

14  Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

15  So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,

16  And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.

17  But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

18  Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.

19  The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

20  In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:

21  And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.

22  And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.

23  And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.

24  And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:

25  For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.

26  And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

27  But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

28  Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?

29  Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

30  And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

31  When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,

32  Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.

33  Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

34  I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.

35  This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.

36  He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

37  This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

38  This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

39  To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,

40  Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

41  And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

42  Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

43  Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

44  Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

45  Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

46  Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

47  But Solomon built him an house.

48  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

50  Hath not my hand made all these things?

51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

53  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

54  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

57  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

59  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.