Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 20 December 2020

 Still dealing with some heavy thoughts, some of which are not at all helped with the grim nature of those Old  Testament prophets we're going through, nor -- in at least some senses -- the sections in the Revelation.  Lots of doom and judgement.  As one commentator to Nahum pointed out, there are instances in which the Lord judges and condemns not just individuals, but whole nations and societies.  And, yes, it is inevitable that within those nations and societies, some of those affected and undergoing awful circumstances were innocent of wrongdoing, sort of a "splash effect" thing.  And it can happen again.

There are those who are, and have been, longing for an end to all the COVID-19 stuff, all the political wrangling, all the riots and unrest, all of that.  And longing for a return to "normal".  Hate to tell them, but "normal" not only wasn't all that great for many, but a return to the world of, say, 2018, isn't likely.

And that "normalcy", or at least some version of it, some sense of security, is not to be found in external conditions and events.  Our security, our confidence, our joy, is to be found in Christ alone.  Pointing the way to that is, after all, a duty of the body of believers, the church and the believers who are part of it.  One image that I've been seeing constantly reminds me of sailors in ships at the time of Christ.  Tossed and turned in darkness and storms, at the mercy of the wind and weather and the integrity of their ships.  No diesel engines, no GPS, no radar or sonar or even good charts and lights.  As they traversed those seas, some were (and are) pretty superstitious.  Some were lookouts topside, looking for signs of the safe harbor, perhaps a lighthouse.  And, at night, looking for the lights of towns, the so-called "harbor lights", the "lower lights" than the lighthouses up on a promontory.  Recognizing some similarities, some hymns came out of that.

Let The Lower Lights Be Burning, sometimes titled as Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy.  And, unfortunately, not in our hymnal.  (I looked).

CH-1) Brightly beams our Father’s mercy

From His lighthouse evermore,

But to us He gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning!

Send a gleam across the wave!

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

CH-3) Trim your feeble lamp, my brother,

Some poor sailor tempest tossed,

Trying now to make the harbour,

In the darkness may be lost.

and  Rescue The Perishing

1.Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,

snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;

weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen,

tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.

Refrain: Rescue the perishing, care for the dying; Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

2.Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,

waiting the penitent child to receive;

plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently,

He will forgive if they only believe.

3.Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,

feelings lie buried that grace can restore;

touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,

chords that are broken will vibrate once more.

4.Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;

Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;

back to the narrow way patiently win them,

tell the poor wanderer a Savior has died

I've had all of these running in my head for days.

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HABAKKUK 1

1The oracle  that Habakkuk the prophet saw. 

Habakkuk’s First Prayer

2How long,  Lord, must I call for help 

and You do not listen

or cry out to You about violence  

and You do not save?

3Why do You force me to look at injustice? 

Why do You tolerate  wrongdoing?

Oppression and violence are right in front of me.

Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

4This is why the law is ineffective

and justice never emerges.

For the wicked restrict  the righteous;

therefore, justice  comes out perverted.

God’s First Answer

5Look at the nations   and observe  —

be utterly astounded! 

For something is taking place in your days

that you will not believe 

when you hear about it. 

6Look! I am raising up  the Chaldeans, 

that bitter,  impetuous nation

that marches across the earth’s open spaces

to seize territories not its own.

7They are fierce  and terrifying;

their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves.

8Their horses are swifter  than leopards 

and more fierce  than wolves of the night.

Their horsemen charge ahead;

their horsemen come from distant lands.

They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour. 

9All of them come to do violence;

their faces  are set in determination. 

They gather  prisoners like sand. 

10They mock  kings,

and rulers are a joke to them.

They laugh  at every fortress

and build siege ramps to capture  it.

11Then they sweep  by like the wind

and pass through.

They are guilty;  their strength is their god.

Habakkuk’s Second Prayer

12Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God? 

My Holy One,  You  will not die.

Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment;

my Rock,  You destined them to punish us.

13Your eyes  are too pure  to look on evil,

and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous? 

Why are You silent

while one  who is wicked swallows up

one  who is more righteous than himself?

14You have made mankind

like the fish of the sea, 

like marine creatures that have no ruler.

15The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,

catch them in their dragnet, 

and gather them in their fishing net;

that is why they are glad and rejoice.

16That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet

and burn incense to their fishing net,

for by these things their portion is rich

and their food plentiful. 

17Will they therefore empty their net 

and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

HABAKKUK 2

Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response

1I will stand at my guard post

and station myself on the lookout tower. 

I will watch to see what He will say to me 

and what I should  reply about my complaint.

God’s Second Answer

2The Lord answered me:

Write down this vision; 

clearly inscribe it on tablets

so one may easily read it. 

3For the vision is yet for the appointed time; 

it testifies about the end and will not lie.

Though it delays, wait for it,

since it will certainly come and not be late. 

4Look, his ego is inflated; 

he is without integrity.

But the righteous one will live by his faith.  

5Moreover, wine  betrays;

an arrogant man is never at rest. 

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,

and like Death he is never satisfied. 

He gathers all the nations to himself; 

he collects all the peoples for himself.

The Five Woe Oracles

6Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him, 

with mockery and riddles about him?

They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his —

how much longer?  —

and loads himself with goods taken in pledge. 

7Won’t your creditors suddenly arise,

and those who disturb you wake up?

Then you will become spoil for them. 

8Since you have plundered many nations, 

all the peoples who remain will plunder you  —

because of human bloodshed

and violence  against lands, cities,

and all who live in them. 

9Woe to him who dishonestly makes

wealth for his house  

to place his nest on high,

to escape from the reach of disaster! 

10You have planned shame for your house

by wiping out many peoples

and sinning against your own self.

11For the stones will cry out  from the wall,

and the rafters will answer them

from the woodwork.

12Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

and founds a town with injustice! 

13Is it not from the Lord of Hosts

that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire

and countries exhaust themselves for nothing? 

14For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,

as the waters cover the sea. 

15Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,

pouring out your wrath 

and even making them drunk,

in order to look at their nakedness!

16You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.

You also — drink,

and expose your uncircumcision! 

The cup in the Lord’s right hand

will come around to you,

and utter disgrace will cover your glory. 

17For your violence against Lebanon

will overwhelm you;

the destruction of animals will terrify you 

because of your human bloodshed and violence

against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

18What use is a carved idol

after its craftsman carves it?

It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.

For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it

and makes idols that cannot speak.

19Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!

or to mute stone: Come alive!

Can it teach?

Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,

yet there is no breath  in it at all.

20But the Lord is in His holy temple; 

let everyone on earth

be silent in His presence. 

HABAKKUK 3

Habakkuk’s Third Prayer

1A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. According to Shigionoth.  

2Lord, I have heard the report about You;

Lord, I stand in awe of Your deeds. 

Revive Your work in these years;

make it known in these years.

In Your wrath remember mercy! 

3God comes from Teman,

the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah

His splendor covers the heavens,

and the earth is full of His praise. 

4His brilliance is like light;

rays are flashing from His hand.

This is where His power is hidden.

5Plague goes before Him,

and pestilence follows in His steps.

6He stands and shakes  the earth; 

He looks and startles the nations.

The age-old mountains break apart;

the ancient hills sink down. 

His pathways are ancient. 

7I see the tents of Cushan  in distress;

the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.

8Are You angry at the rivers, Lord?

Is Your wrath against the rivers?

Or is Your rage against the sea

when You ride on Your horses,

Your victorious chariot? 

9You took the sheath from Your bow;

the arrows are ready  to be used with an oath.  Selah

You split the earth with rivers.

10The mountains see You and shudder; 

a downpour of water sweeps by.

The deep roars with its voice 

and lifts its waves  high.

11Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence, 

at the flash of Your flying arrows,

at the brightness of Your shining spear.

12You march across the earth with indignation;

You trample down the nations in wrath. 

13You come out to save Your people, 

to save Your anointed. 

You crush the leader of the house of the wicked

and strip him from foot  to neck.Selah

14You pierce his head

with his own spears;

his warriors storm out to scatter us,

gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.

15You tread the sea with Your horses,

stirring up the great waters. 

Habakkuk’s Confidence in God Expressed

16I heard, and I trembled within; 

my lips quivered at the sound.

Rottenness entered my bones;

I trembled where I stood.

Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress 

to come against the people invading us.

17Though the fig tree does not bud

and there is no fruit on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

18yet I will triumph in Yahweh;

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 

19Yahweh my Lord is my strength; 

He makes my feet like those of a deer 

and enables me to walk on mountain heights!