#i am deeply passionate about how much I despise some of Jordan's choices in these two books lol

[dfroza]

Today’s reading in the ancient book of Proverbs and Psalms

for Tuesday, September 1 of 2020 with Proverbs 1 and Psalm 1 accompanied by Psalm 74 for the 74th day of Summer and Psalm 95 for day 245 of the year

[Psalm 1]

Book 1

The Genesis Psalms

Psalms of man and creation

The Tree of Life

What delight comes to the one who follows God’s ways!

He won’t walk in step with the wicked,

nor share the sinner’s way,

nor be found sitting in the scorner’s seat.

His pleasure and passion is remaining true to the Word of “I Am,”

meditating day and night in the true revelation of light.

He will be standing firm like a flourishing tree

planted by God’s design,

deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss,

bearing fruit in every season of his life.

He is never dry, never fainting,

ever blessed, ever prosperous.

But how different are the wicked.

All they are is dust in the wind—

driven away to destruction!

The wicked will not endure the day of judgment,

for God will not defend them.

Nothing they do will succeed or endure for long,

for they have no part with those who walk in truth.

But how different it is for the righteous!

The Lord embraces their paths as they move forward

while the way of the wicked leads only to doom.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 1 (The Passion Translation)

and mirrored in The Voice:

[Psalm 1]

Book One

God’s blessings follow you and await you at every turn:

when you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes,

When you avoid sin’s highway,

when judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse.

For you, the Eternal’s Word is your happiness.

It is your focus—from dusk to dawn.

You are like a tree,

planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry.

Your fruit ripens in its time;

your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun.

No matter what you do, you prosper.

For those who focus on sin, the story is different.

They are like the fallen husk of wheat, tossed by an open wind, left deserted and alone.

In the end, the wicked will fall in judgment;

the guilty will be separated from the innocent.

Their road suddenly will end in death,

yet the journey of the righteous has been charted by the Eternal.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 1 (The Voice)

[Proverbs 1]

I, Solomon, David’s son and Israel’s king, pass on to you these proverbs—a treasury of wisdom—

So that you would recognize wisdom and value discipline;

that you would understand insightful teaching

And receive wise guidance to live a disciplined life;

that you would seek justice and have the ability to choose what is right and fair.

These proverbs teach the naive how to become clever;

they instruct the young in how to grow in knowledge and live with discretion.

The wise will pay attention to these words and will grow in learning,

and the discerning will receive divine guidance,

And they will be able to interpret the meaning of a proverb and a puzzle,

the twists and turns in the words of the wise and their riddles.

Let us begin. The worship of the Eternal One, the one True God, is the first step toward knowledge.

Fools, however, do not fear God and cannot stand wisdom or guidance.

So, my son, pay attention to your father’s guidance,

and do not ignore what your mother taught you—

Wear their wisdom as a badge of honor and maturity,

as fine jewelry around your neck.

My son, should your less honorable peers pressure you to do what is wrong,

you should be strong enough not to go along.

If they should say,

Evildoers: Come on! Everyone, hide and let’s wait to see whom we can beat to a pulp.

We’re going to jump some unsuspecting chumps for no reason at all.

We’ll have our way with them, and when we’re through, there will be nothing left,

as if their bodies were swallowed whole by the grave’s dark pit.

We’ll take whatever we want—all their wealth and their fancy clothes—

and when we’re through, we’ll have piles of their treasure for our own.

You have to join us; forget about God.

We’re going to rake in the goods, and we’ll share all we take!

My son, do not join them;

keep well away from their violent, destructive paths.

For they run right away, every time, to do wrong,

and they are thirsty for blood.

You see, it makes no sense to bait the net and set the trap

while the bird is watching,

But these hiding in the shadows and waiting to spill innocent blood

are really just hastening their own destruction!

By giving in to their sinful desires,

they set themselves up to be ambushed.

This is what happens to everyone who tries to profit by violence;

violence will eventually rob them of their very lives.

There’s another voice in town.

It belongs to Lady Wisdom, who calls out in the street.

She cries out in the town square,

At the city gates, in the noisy city streets,

you can hear her speaking over the racket.

Lady Wisdom: You simple, naive people, how long will you love your feeble ways?

You simpletons, how long will you enjoy making fun of what you don’t understand?

You fools, how long will you hate learning what truly matters?

Turn to me and receive my gentle correction;

Watch and I will pour out my spirit on you;

I will share with you my wise words in order to redirect your lives.

You hear, but you have refused to answer my call.

My hands reached out, but no one noticed.

All my advice, all my correction, all have been neglected—

you wanted nothing of them.

So I will be the laughter you hear when misfortune comes, and it will come.

I will be the mocking sound when panic grips you—

When panic comes like a stormy blast,

when misfortune sweeps in like a whirlwind,

when sorrow and anguish weigh you down.

This is when they will call on me, but I will not respond;

they will be frantic to find me, but they won’t be able.

Because they despised knowledge of my ways,

and they also refused to respect and honor the Eternal,

Because they rejected my advice

and turned down my correction,

They will surely get what’s coming to them:

they’ll be forced to eat the fruit of their wicked ways;

they’ll gorge themselves on the consequences of their choices.

You see, it’s turning away from me that brings death to the simple,

and it’s self-satisfaction that destroys the fools.

But those who listen to me now will live under divine protection;

they can rest knowing they are out of harm’s way.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 1 (The Voice)

[Psalm 74]

We Need You Now

Asaph’s poem of instruction

Are you really going to leave us, God?

Would you turn your back on us, rejecting your people?

We are yours, your very own.

Will your anger smolder against us forever?

Don’t forget that we are your beloved ones.

Wrap us back into your heart again, for you chose us.

You brought us out of our slavery and bondage

and made us your favored ones, your Zion-people,

your home on earth.

Turn your steps toward this devastation.

Come running to bring your restoring grace to these ruins,

to what the enemy has done to devastate your Holy Place.

They have come into the very midst of your dwelling place,

roaring like beasts, setting up their banners to flaunt their conquest.

Now everything is in shambles! They’ve totally destroyed it.

Like a forest chopped down to the ground,

there’s nothing’s left.

All of the beauty of the craftsmanship

of the inner place has been ruined,

smashed, broken, and shattered.

They’ve burned it all to the ground.

They’ve violated your sanctuary,

the very dwelling place of your glory and your name.

They boasted, “Let’s completely crush them!

Let’s wipe out every trace of this God.

Let’s burn up every sacred place where they worship this God.”

We don’t see any miraculous signs anymore.

There’s no longer a prophet among us

who can tell us how long this devastation will continue.

God, how much longer will you let this go on

and allow these barbarians to blaspheme your name?

Will you stand back and watch them get away with this forever?

Why don’t you do something?

You have the power to break in,

so why would you hide your great power from us?

Don’t hold back! Unleash your might and give them a final blow.

You have always been, and always will be, my King.

You are the mighty conqueror, working wonders all over the world.

It was you who split the sea in two by your glorious strength.

You smashed the power of Tannin, the sea monster.

You crushed the might of Leviathan, the great dragon,

then you took the crumbs and fed them to the sharks.

With your glory you opened up springs and fountains,

then you spoke and the ever-flowing springs of Jordan

dried up so we could cross over.

You own the day and the night.

Sunlight and starlight call you Creator.

The four corners of the earth were formed by your hands,

and every changing season owes its beauty to you.

O Jehovah, don’t ever forget how these arrogant enemies,

like fools, have mocked your name.

Lord, aren’t we your beloved dove that praises you?

Protect us from these wild beasts who want to harm us.

Don’t leave us as lambs among wolves!

You can’t abandon us after all we’ve been through!

Remember your promises to us,

for darkness covers the land,

giving the violent ones a hiding place.

Don’t let these insults continue.

Can’t you see that we are your downtrodden

and oppressed people?

Make the poor and needy into a choir of praise to you!

Don’t ignore these ignorant words, this continual mocking.

Rise up, God; it’s time to defend yourself from all of this.

Never forget what your adversaries are saying.

For their rage and uproar rise continually against you.

It’s time to stand up to them!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 74 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 95]

It’s Time to Sing

Come on, everyone! Let’s sing for joy to the Lord!

Let’s shout our loudest praises to our God who saved us!

Everyone come meet his face with a thankful heart.

Don’t hold back your praises;

make him great by your shouts of joy!

For the Lord is the greatest of all,

King-God over all other gods!

In one hand he holds the mysteries of the earth

and in the other he holds the highest mountain peaks.

He’s the owner of every ocean,

the engineer and sculptor of earth itself!

Come and kneel before this Creator-God;

come and bow before the mighty God, our majestic maker!

For we are the lovers he cares for and he is the God we worship.

So drop everything else and listen to his voice!

For this is what he’s saying:

“Today, when I speak,

don’t even think about turning a deaf ear to me

like they did when they tested me at Meribah and Massah,

the place where they argued with me, their Creator.

Your ancestors challenged me over and over with their complaining,

even though I had convinced them of my power and love.

They still doubted my care for them.

So for forty long years I was grieved and disgusted by them.

I described them as wicked wanderers

whose hearts would not follow my ways or keep my words.

So I made a vow in my anger and declared,

‘They will never enter the resting place I’ve planned for them!’

So don’t you ever be hard-hearted or stubborn like they were!”

The Book of Psalms, Poem 95 (The Passion Translation)