Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 17 July 2018

This has been a day.  I am still trying to shake loose from the creeping crud that hit me late last week and still is present though much reduced in severity.  But I had "stuff" to do.  So, you try to tough it out.
To start with, my month social security check hit the bank this morning, and none too soon, some utility bills were already overdue, etc.  So they got paid.
Next-door niece had to be at work "across the line" by 07:00,  and her husband (is "nephew-in-law" correct?  I really don't know).  began his new job this morning and had to be there for orientation at 09:00.  So Wife needed to be over next door by 07:15 or so.  So much running around here getting things ready and her over there.
I stood in the shower until there was no more hot water, which did me good.  Then ran some forgotten stuff to Wife.  And then, the errands.

• niece looks like a ballerina, but she's a much-certified mechanic, and works for one of the local auto parts stores.  We (her husband) had done a few things on our ancient chariot, enough to get it going.  So, upon her command, I drove to that store and they put some of their test equipment on it.  Gratis, in part because of her position there.  Battery is good.  But a constant though small drain upon the battery even when nothing running and key out and all that.  The precise point of that is yet unknown, but it appears to be in the radio/sound system / clock circuits.  So the fuse for them was pulled,drain seems no longer an issue.  So we shall see.  Be nice to have reliable transportation.
• Then to the Big Box store.  The pharmacy that carries my blood pressure pills and stuff is in it, and it's time to refill.  So I did.  Picked up some of the essentials like flour, sugar, tea bags for iced tea, etc. etc.  And finally back home.  
• to find Wife and the great niece (5 years old) and great - nephew ( 1 year old) outside  with Wife, playing and getting dirty, general "kid stuff".  We think kids need to run around and play outside, get a tan and do stuff.  Better than sitting in front of an idiot box.  But while that sounds good, Wife is really not well, so Yours Truly was "volunteered" to "help".  Particularly with a very active 1-year-old boy who wants to explore the world and do all that stuff.  Wife really doesn't get around very well, and while I am nowhere near 100 per cent right now, it's better than her, so I was playing the "uncle" role.  Not so bad.  But wearying.  Niece got off work at 4 pm, home by 4:30, and had to have the great-niece to the cheerleader practice (niece is the coach) by 5:30, so Wife was hanging around to "watch" the great-nephew until the nephew-in-law got home.  Meanwhile, Yours truly was busily putting away bags of flour, etc. etc. that will sustain us for the next month.  
• Quite a life, right?

Wife has headed off to bed and I am about to join her.  Alarm goes off early.  This retirement stuff can be very tiring.


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2nd Chronicles 23

1And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

2And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

3And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.

4This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;doors: Heb. thresholds

5And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord.

6But let none come into the house of the Lord, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord.

7And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.

8So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

9Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.

10And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.side: Heb. shouldertemple: Heb. house

11Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.God…: Heb. Let the king live

12Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the Lord:

13And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.Treason: Heb. Conspiracy

14Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord.

15So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there.

16And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the Lord's people.

17Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

18Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lordby the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.as it was…: Heb. by the hands of David

19And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the Lord, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

20And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the Lord: and they came through the high gate into the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

21And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

2nd Chronicles 24

1Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beer–sheba.

2And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

3And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

4And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord.to repair: Heb. to renew

5And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

6And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?

7For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim.

8And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the Lord.

9And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the Lord the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.a proclamation: Heb. a voice

10And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

11Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

12And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the Lord.

13So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.the work…: Heb. the healing went up upon the work

14And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the Lord, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.to offer…: or, pestils

15But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

16And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

17Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

18And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

19Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

20And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.came…: Heb. clothed

21And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.

22Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it.

23And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.at the…: Heb. in the revolution of the yearDamascus: Heb. Darmesek

24For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.

25And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

26And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.Zabad: or, JozacherShimrith: or, Shomer

27Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.repairing: Heb. founding

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Today's Psalm goes with the Song of the Day.
Yes, "My Help Cometh From the Lord".  This is a favorite, I've sung it in choral settings, and using this arrangement.  Means a great deal to me.

Psalm 121

A Song of degrees.

1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.I will…: or, Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? whence should my help come?

2My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

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1st Corinthians 9

1Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

2If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

3Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,

4Have we not power to eat and to drink?

5Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

6Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

7Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

8Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?

9For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

10Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

11If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

12If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

13Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

14Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

15But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

16For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

17For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

18What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

19For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

20And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

21To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

22To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

23And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

24Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

25And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

26I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

27But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.