Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 25 August 2020

Another "fun" day.  Wife's Disability check went in the account this morning, so I was able to put some gas into the aging chariot, then run across the Line and pick up some more stuff there, then come home.  Spent a little time with all the great nieces and nephews:  the ones who live next door and the other two who live on the state line.  The latter two were here because their dad had, after working a 12-hour night shift (with another such tonigh) taken their mom to have another bout of chemotherapy for her aggressive breast cancer.  Least we can do, truly, and it's good to be in their lives.  Perhaps we can accomplish something thereby, and we do love them.

We have a "tech" coming by first thing in the morning.  We're not big into TV, most of what's on isn't fit to watch anyway and we've always been more readers than watchers.  But Wife's advancing blindness (and deaf in one ear now) makes most of that pointless.  But we are, both of us, tech geeks and both were doing electronic communications of various sorts well before the Internet phenomenon made its way into general use.  So we so use internet stuff for all sorts of things, and it lets us keep in distant contact with people, lets her listen to audio books such as are at the library, and other stuff.  The connection quality and reliability afforded to us since the relocation has been abysmal, or worse.  So, once again, we have someone from the company coming out to troubleshoot the issue here.  We've not been overly impressed by what we've seen in the past, whether that reflects on the techs and their skill levels, or reflects on badly engineered and horribly badly installation and upkeep is not obvious.   But perhaps we'll strike it lucky.  It would be nice.

So, quiet.  No one's shooting at me right now and I've had something to eat.  Not so bad, I guess.

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Job

JOB 31

1I have made a covenant with my eyes. 

How then could I look at a young woman?  

2For what portion  would I have from God above,

or what inheritance from the Almighty on high?

3Doesn’t disaster come to the unjust

and misfortune to evildoers?

4Does He not see my ways

and number all my steps? 

5If I have walked in falsehood

or my foot has rushed to deceit,

6let God weigh me in accurate scales, 

and He will recognize my integrity. 

7If my step has turned from the way,

my heart has followed my eyes,

or impurity has stained my hands, 

8let someone else eat what I have sown,

and let my crops be uprooted. 

9If my heart has been seduced by my neighbor’s wife

or I have lurked at his door,

10let my own wife grind grain for another man,

and let other men sleep with  her.

11For that would be a disgrace;

it would be a crime deserving punishment.  

12For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon;

it would destroy my entire harvest. 

13If I have dismissed the case of my male or female servants

when they made a complaint against me,

14what could I do when God stands up to judge?

How should I answer Him when He calls me to account?

15Did not the One who made me in the womb also make them?

Did not the same God form us both in the womb? 

16If I have refused the wishes of the poor

or let the widow’s  eyes go blind,

17if I have eaten my few crumbs alone

without letting the fatherless eat any of it —

18for from my youth, I raised him as his father,

and since the day I was born  I guided the widow —

19if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing

or a needy person without a cloak, 

20if he  did not bless me

while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep,

21if I ever cast my vote  against a fatherless child

when I saw that I had support in the city gate, 

22then let my shoulder blade fall from my back,

and my arm be pulled from its socket.

23For disaster from God terrifies me,

and because of His majesty I could not do these things. 

24If I placed my confidence in gold

or called fine gold my trust, 

25if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great

or because my own hand has acquired so much,

26if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining

or at the moon moving in splendor, 

27so that my heart was secretly enticed

and I threw them a kiss, 

28this would also be a crime deserving punishment,

for I would have denied God above.

29Have I rejoiced over my enemy’s distress,

or become excited when trouble came his way?

30I have not allowed my mouth to sin

by asking for his life with a curse.

31Haven’t the members of my household said,

“Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job’s table? ”

32No stranger had to spend the night on the street,

for I opened my door to the traveler.

33Have I covered my transgressions  as others do 

by hiding my guilt in my heart, 

34because I greatly feared the crowds,

and the contempt of the clans terrified me,

so I grew silent and would not go outside?

35If only I had someone to hear my case! 

Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me.

Let my Opponent compose His indictment.

36I would surely carry it on my shoulder

and wear it like a crown. 

37I would give Him an account of all my steps;

I would approach Him like a prince.

38If my land cries out against me

and its furrows join in weeping,

39if I have consumed its produce without payment

or shown contempt for its tenants, 

40then let thorns  grow instead of wheat

and stinkweed  instead of barley.

The words of Job are concluded.

JOB 32

Elihu’s Angry Response

1So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.  2Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite  from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified  himself rather than God. 3He was also angry at Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute him and yet had condemned him. 

4Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were all older than he. 5But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry.

6So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite replied:

I am young in years,

while you are old;

therefore I was timid and afraid

to tell  you what I know.

7I thought that age should speak

and maturity should teach wisdom.

8But it is a spirit in man 

and the breath  of the Almighty

that give him understanding.

9It is not only the old who are wise

or the elderly who understand how to judge.

10Therefore I say, “Listen to me.

I too will declare what I know.”

11Look, I waited for your conclusions;

I listened to your insights

as you sought for words.

12I paid close attention to you.

Yet no one proved Job wrong;

not one of you refuted his arguments.

13So do not claim, “We have found wisdom;

let God deal with him, not man.”

14But Job has not directed his argument to me,

and I will not respond to him with your arguments.

15Job’s friends are dismayed and can no longer answer;

words have left them.

16Should I continue to wait now that they are silent,

now that they stand there and no longer answer?

17I too will answer; 

yes, I will tell what I know.

18For I am full of words,

and my spirit  compels me to speak. 

19My heart  is like unvented wine;

it is about to burst like new wineskins. 

20I must speak so that I can find relief;

I must open my lips and respond.

21I will be partial to no one, 

and I will not give anyone an undeserved title.

22For I do not know how to give such titles;

otherwise, my Maker would remove me in an instant.

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Psalm

PSALMS 149

Praise for God’s Triumph

1Hallelujah!

Sing to the Lord a new song, 

His praise in the assembly of the godly. 

2Let Israel celebrate its Maker;

let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. 

3Let them praise His name with dancing

and make music to Him with tambourine and lyre. 

4For Yahweh takes pleasure in His people; 

He adorns the humble with salvation. 

5Let the godly celebrate in triumphal glory;

let them shout for joy on their beds. 

6Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths 

and a double-edged sword in their hands, 

7inflicting vengeance on the nations

and punishment on the peoples, 

8binding their kings with chains

and their dignitaries with iron shackles, 

9carrying out the judgment decreed against them.

This honor is for all His godly people. 

Hallelujah!

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Ephesians

EPHESIANS 2

From Death to Life

1And you were dead  in your trespasses and sins 2in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world,  according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens,   the spirit  now working in the disobedient.  3We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly  desires, carrying out the inclinations  of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath  as the others were also. 4But God, who is rich in mercy,  because of His great love  that He had for us,  5made us alive  with the Messiah even though we were dead  in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens,  7so that in the coming ages  He might display the immeasurable riches  of His grace through His kindness  to us in Christ Jesus. 8For you are saved by grace  through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — 9not from works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are His creation, created  in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time  so that we should walk in them.

Unity in Christ

11So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh — called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,”  which is done in the flesh by human hands.  12At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise,  without hope  and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood  of the Messiah. 14For He is our peace, who made both groups one  and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh, 15He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create  in Himself one  new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body  through the cross and put the hostility to death by it.  17When the Messiah came, He proclaimed the good news  of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  18For through Him we both have access  by one Spirit to the Father.  19So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,  with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. 21The whole building, being put together  by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord.  22You also are being built together  for God’s dwelling  in the Spirit.