Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 28 August 2020

 Winding down the month of August.  September, the first of the --brrr! months is only a few days hence.  Not a positive in my own view of things, but whatever.  We've been enduring heavy rain and storms since yesterday.  A fair amount of damage in the region, as well as some power outages that are not fully repaired and at least on electrical surge that caused a small fire.  But our friends along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Lousiana had much worse, and areas in the states to their north and east are being hit with nasty stuff even now.  So I guess the heavy rain isn't so bad, and it's been a pretty dry summer anyway.  It'll do.  

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We're into the last few days in the book of Job.  It's tough reading, in no small part because it resonates with many of us.  Job's wife had recommended that he curse God and die.  That is what he did NOT do.  Ever.  Cry out, sure.  Try to understand, yes.  But he continued to seek the Lord, not to curse nor to reject Him.  To confess that he did not understand.  Most of us like to "judge" the circumstances, and the Lord's provisions, by our own standards.  That's a mistake.  At least a mistake.  But he did not reject God, and the Lord did not reject him.  As we will be seeing in the next few days.

JOB 37

1At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.

2Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.

3He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

4After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.

5God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

6For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.

7He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.

8Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.

9Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.

10By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.

11Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:

12And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.

13He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

14Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

15Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?

16Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?

17How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?

18Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?

19Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.

20Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.

21And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.

22Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty.

23Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

24Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.

JOB 38

1Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

3Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

5Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

6Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

9When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

10And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

11And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

12Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

13That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?

14It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.

15And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.

16Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

17Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

18Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

19Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

20That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

21Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?

22Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

23Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

24By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

25Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

26To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

27To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

28Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

29Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

30The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

33Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

34Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

35Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

36Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

37Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

38When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

39Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,

40When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

41Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

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PROVERBS 2

1My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

2So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

3Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

4If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

6For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

7He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

8He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

9Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

10When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

11Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

12To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

13Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

14Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

15Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

17Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

18For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

19None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

20That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

21For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

22But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

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EPHESIANS 5

1Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. 2And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us,  a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. 3But sexual immorality  and any impurity  or greed  should not even be heard of  among you, as is proper for saints. 4Coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. 5For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral  or impure  or greedy  person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom  of the Messiah and of God.

Light versus Darkness

6Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath  is coming on the disobedient because of these things.  7Therefore, do not become their partners. 8For you were once darkness, but now you are light  in the Lord. Walk as children of light  — 9for the fruit of the light  results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth  — 10discerning  what is pleasing  to the Lord. 11Don’t participate in the fruitless  works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. 13Everything exposed by the light is made clear,  14for what makes everything clear is light. Therefore it is said:

Get up, sleeper,  and rise up from the dead, 

and the Messiah will shine on you.  

Consistency in the Christian Life

15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk — not as unwise people but as wise — 16making the most of the time,   because the days are evil. 17So don’t be foolish, but understand  what the Lord’s will  is. 18And don’t get drunk  with wine,  which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: 

19speaking to one another

in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,

singing and making music

from your heart to the Lord,

20giving thanks always for everything

to God the Father

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

21submitting to one another

in the fear of Christ. 

Wives and Husbands

22Wives,  submit   to your own husbands  as to the Lord, 23for the husband is the head of the wife  as Christ is the head  of the church. He is the Savior of the body.  24Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives,  just as Christ loved  the church and gave Himself  for her 26to make her holy, cleansing  her with the washing of water by the word. 27He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.  28In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30since we are members of His body. 

31For this reason a man will leave

his father and mother

and be joined to his wife, 

and the two will become one flesh.  

32This mystery  is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

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.