Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 31 May 2018 OOOps!

thought this went out last evening.  Didn't.  My fault.  Been a weird week.

Last day in the blessed month of May, my favorite time of the year by far.
Off in a bit to the pharmacy to pick up a refill for Dear Wife.

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OK, there was a long break there.  Life sort of intruded on things
Back to some semblance of organized life.  Not known is how long that is supposed to last.  No idea whatever, but that's not real likely.




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Today, chapters 7 and 8 in the first epistle of the Kings.

1st Kings 7

1  But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

2  He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

3  And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.

4  And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks.

5  And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.

6  And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.

7  Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

8  And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.

9  All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.

10  And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

11  And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.

12  And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the Lord, and for the porch of the house.

13  And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.

14  He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.

15  For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.

16  And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:

17  And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.

18  And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter.

19  And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits.

20  And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.

21  And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.

22  And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

23  And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

24  And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.

25  It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

26  And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.

27  And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.

28  And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges:

29  And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work.

30  And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.

31  And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.

32  And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit

33  And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten.

34  And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself.

35  And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same.

36  For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.

37  After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size.

38  Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.

39  And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.

40  And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the Lord:

41  The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars;

42  And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars;

43  And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;

44  And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;

45  And the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the Lord, were of bright brass.bright: Heb. made bright or, scoured

46In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

47  And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.

48  And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was,

49  And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,

50  And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.

51  So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the Lord.

1st Kings 8

1  Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2  And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3  And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4  And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

5  And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

6  And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.

7  For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

8  And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.

9  There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10  And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,

11  So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

12  Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

13  I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

14  And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)

15  And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

16  Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

17  And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

18  And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

19  Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

20  And the Lord hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

21  And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

22  And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

23  And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:

24  Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

25  Therefore now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

26  And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

28  Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:

29  That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

30  And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.

31  If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:

32  Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33  When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:in: or, toward

34  Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

35  When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:

36  Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

37  If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;cities: or, jurisdiction

38  What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

39  Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

40  That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

41  Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;

42  (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;

43  Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.

44  If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:

45  Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.cause: or, right

46  If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

47  Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

48  And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:

49  Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,cause: or, right

50  And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:

51  For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

52  That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.

53  For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

54  And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

55  And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56  Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

57  The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:

58  That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

59  And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:

60  That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.

61  Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

62  And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord.

63  And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.

64  The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65  And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

66  On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

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Today, Psalm 109.  There are psalms often called the "imprecatory Psalms".  They are not praises to the Lord nor expressions of praise and thanksgiving.  Not "nice".  When I was a kid, growing up in one of the so-called "peace churches", these psalms were never, and I do mean never, even mentioned. Not ever.  I understand: some of this is not in keeping with the touchy-feely "God is our fairy godmother" easy-beliefism stuff that has overtaken much of the American church.  Yes, it can be unsettling.  Now, I do confess that I have from time to time recalled verse 8 and had some high profile person in mind.  Mentioning no names of course.

Psalm 109

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1  Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;

2  For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

3  They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.

4  For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.

5  And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

6  Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.

7  When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.

8  Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

9  Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

10  Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

11  Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.

12  Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

13  Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

14  Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15  Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

16  Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

17  As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.

18  As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.

19  Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.

20  Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

21  But do thou for me, O God the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.

22  For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

23  I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.

24  My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.

25  I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.

26  Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy:

27  That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Lord, hast done it.

28  Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.

29  Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.

30  I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.

31  For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.

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Today, chapter 20 in the Acts of the Apostles.  This is as good an example of how the Gospel spread.  Not through TV programs, tracts, any of that.  Believers, often on foot, often against cultural and legal barriers, spread the Good News.

Acts 20

1  And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.

2  And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,

3  And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.

4  And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.

5  These going before tarried for us at Troas.

6  And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.

7  And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

8  And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.

9  And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.

10  And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.

11  When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

12  And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.

13  And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.

14  And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.

15  And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus.

16  For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

17  And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.

18  And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,

19  Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:

20  And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,

21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

22  And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:

23  Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.

24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

25  And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.

26  Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.

27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

30Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

32  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

33  I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.

34  Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.

35  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

36  And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.

37  And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him,

38  Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.