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dfroza · 4 years

Text

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

for Tuesday, may 5 of 2020 with Proverbs 5 and Psalm 5 accompanied by Psalm 48 for the 48th day of Spring and Psalm 126 for day 126 of the year

[Proverbs 5]

Listen to me, my son,

for I know what I’m talking about.

Listen carefully to my advice

so that wisdom and discernment will enter your heart,

and then the words you speak will express what you’ve learned.

Remember this:

The lips of a seductress seem sweet like honey,

and her smooth words are like music in your ears.

But I promise you this:

In the end all you’ll be left with is a bitter conscience.

For the sting of your sin will pierce your soul like a sword.

She will ruin your life, drag you down to death,

and lead you straight to hell.

She has prevented many from considering the paths of life.

Yes, she will take you with her where you don’t want to go,

sliding down a slippery road

and not even realizing where the two of you will end up!

Listen to me, young men,

and don’t forget this one thing I’m telling you—

run away from her as fast as you can!

Don’t even go near the door of her house

unless you want to fall into her seduction.

In disgrace you will relinquish your honor to another,

and all your remaining years will be squandered—

given over to the cruel one.

Why would you let strangers take away your strength

while the labors of your house go to someone else?

For when you grow old you will groan in anguish and shame

as sexually transmitted diseases consume your body.

And then finally you’ll admit that you were wrong and say,

“If only I had listened to wisdom’s voice

and not stubbornly demanded my own way,

because my heart hated to be told what to do!

Why didn’t I take seriously the warning of my wise counselors?

Why was I so stupid to think that I could get away with it?

Now I’m totally disgraced and my life is ruined!

I’m paying the price—

for the people of the congregation are now my judges.”

[Sex Reserved for Marriage]

My son, share your love with your wife alone.

Drink from her well of pleasure and from no other.

Why would you have sex with a stranger

or with anyone other than her?

Reserve this pleasure for you and her alone and not with another.

Your sex life will be blessed

as you take joy and pleasure in the wife of your youth.

Let her breasts be your satisfaction,

and let her embrace intoxicate you at all times.

Be continually delighted and ravished with her love!

My son, why would you be exhilarated by an adulteress—

by embracing a woman who is not yours?

For God sees everything you do and his eyes are wide open

as he observes every single habit you have.

Beware that your sins don’t overtake you

and the scars of your own conscience

become the ropes that tie you up.

Those who choose wickedness die for lack of self-control,

for their foolish ways lead them astray,

carrying them away as hostages—

kidnapped captives robbed of destiny.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 5 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 5]

For the worship leader. A song of David accompanied by flutes.

Bend Your ear to me and listen to my words, O Eternal One;

hear the deep cry of my heart.

Listen to my call for help,

my King, my True God;

to You alone I pray.

In the morning, O Eternal One, listen for my voice;

in the day’s first light, I will offer my prayer to You and watch expectantly for Your answer.

You’re not a God who smiles at sin;

You cannot abide with evil.

The proud wither in Your presence;

You hate all who pervert and destroy what is good.

You destroy those with lying lips;

the Eternal detests those who murder and deceive.

Yet I, by Your loving grace,

am welcomed into Your house;

I will turn my face toward Your holy place

and fall on my knees in reverence before You.

O Eternal One, lead me in the path of Your righteousness

amidst those who wish me harm;

make Your way clear to me.

Their words cannot be trusted;

they are destructive to their cores.

What comes out of their mouths is as foul as a rotting corpse;

their words stink of flattery.

Find them guilty, O True God;

let their own devices bring them ruin.

Throw them out, and let them drown in the deluge of their sin,

for in revolt they brazenly spit in Your face.

But let those who run to You for safety be glad they did;

let them break out in joyful song.

May You keep them safe—

their love for You resounding in their hearts.

You, O Eternal, are the One who lays all good things in the laps of the right-hearted.

Your blessings surround them like a shield.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 5 (The Voice)

[Psalm 48]

Beautiful Zion

A poetic song, for the prophetic singers of Korah’s clan

There are so many reasons to describe God as wonderful!

So many reasons to praise him with unlimited praise!

Zion-City is his home; he lives on his holy mountain—

high and glorious, joy filled and favored.

Zion-Mountain looms in the farthest reaches of the north,

the city of our incomparable King!

This is his divine abode, an impenetrable citadel,

for he is known to dwell in the highest place.

See how the mighty kings united to come against Zion,

yet when they saw God manifest in front of their eyes,

they were stunned.

Trembling, they all fled away, gripped with fear.

Seized with panic, they doubled up in frightful anguish

like a woman in the labor pains of childbirth.

Like a hurricane blowing and breaking the invading ships,

God blows upon them and breaks them to pieces.

We have heard about these wonders,

and then we saw them with our own eyes.

For this is the city of the Commander of Angel Armies,

the city of our God, safe and secure forever!

Pause in his presence

Lord, as we worship you in your temple,

we recall over and over your kindness to us

and your unending love.

The fame of your name echoes throughout the entire world,

accompanied with praises.

Your right hand is full of victory.

So let the people of Zion rejoice with gladness;

let the daughters of praise leap for joy!

For God will see to it that you are judged fairly.

Circle Zion; count her towers.

Consider her walls, climb her palaces,

and then go and tell the coming generation

of the care and compassion of our God.

Yes, this is our God, our great God forever.

He will lead us onward until the end,

through all time, beyond death,

and into eternity!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 48 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 126]

A song for those journeying to worship.

Remember when the Eternal brought back the exiles to Zion?

It was as if we were dreaming—

Our mouths were filled with laughter;

our tongues were spilling over into song.

The word went out across the prairies and deserts,

across the hills, over the oceans wide, from nation to nation:

“The Eternal has done remarkable things for them.”

We shook our heads. All of us were stunned—the Eternal has done remarkable things for us.

We were beyond happy, beyond joyful.

And now, Eternal One, some are held captive and poor.

Release them, and restore our fortunes

as the dry riverbeds of the South spring to life when the rains come at last.

Those who walk the fields to sow, casting their seed in tears,

will one day tread those same long rows, amazed by what’s appeared.

Those who weep as they walk

and plant with sighs

Will return singing with joy,

when they bring home the harvest.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 126 (The Voice)

and repeated in The Passion Translation:

[Psalm 126]

Restored

A song of the stairway

It was like a dream come true

when you freed us from our bondage and brought us back to Zion!

We laughed and laughed and overflowed with gladness.

We were left shouting for joy and singing your praise.

All the nations saw it and joined in, saying,

“The Lord has done great miracles for them!”

Yes, he did mighty miracles and we are overjoyed!

Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory!

May streams of your refreshing flow over us

until our dry hearts are drenched again.

Those who sow their tears as seeds

will reap a harvest with joyful shouts of glee.

They may weep as they go out carrying their seed to sow,

but they will return with joyful laughter and shouting with gladness

as they bring back armloads of blessing and a harvest overflowing!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 126 (The Passion Translation)

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dfroza · 4 years

Text

Today’s reading from the ancient book of Psalms

for friday, december 18 of 2020 with Psalm 18, accompanied by Psalm 88 for the 88th day of Autumn, and Psalm 53 for day 353 of the year (now with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 3rd revolution this year)

[Psalm 18]

A David Song, Which He Sang to God After Being Saved from All His Enemies and from Saul

I love you, God—

you make me strong.

God is bedrock under my feet,

the castle in which I live,

my rescuing knight.

My God—the high crag

where I run for dear life,

hiding behind the boulders,

safe in the granite hideout.

I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty,

and find myself safe and saved.

The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat;

devil waters rushed over me.

Hell’s ropes cinched me tight;

death traps barred every exit.

A hostile world! I call to God,

I cry to God to help me.

From his palace he hears my call;

my cry brings me right into his presence—

a private audience!

Earth wobbles and lurches;

huge mountains shake like leaves,

Quake like aspen leaves

because of his rage.

His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke;

his mouth spits fire.

Tongues of fire dart in and out;

he lowers the sky.

He steps down;

under his feet an abyss opens up.

He’s riding a winged creature,

swift on wind-wings.

Now he’s wrapped himself

in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.

But his cloud-brightness bursts through,

spraying hailstones and fireballs.

Then God thundered out of heaven;

the High God gave a great shout,

spraying hailstones and fireballs.

God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!

He hurls his lightnings—a rout!

The secret sources of ocean are exposed,

the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered

The moment you roar in protest,

let loose your hurricane anger.

But me he caught—reached all the way

from sky to sea; he pulled me out

Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,

the void in which I was drowning.

They hit me when I was down,

but God stuck by me.

He stood me up on a wide-open field;

I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

God made my life complete

when I placed all the pieces before him.

When I got my act together,

he gave me a fresh start.

Now I’m alert to God’s ways;

I don’t take God for granted.

Every day I review the ways he works;

I try not to miss a trick.

I feel put back together,

and I’m watching my step.

God rewrote the text of my life

when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

The good people taste your goodness,

The whole people taste your health,

The true people taste your truth,

The bad ones can’t figure you out.

You take the side of the down-and-out,

But the stuck-up you take down a peg.

Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;

I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!

I smash the bands of marauders,

I vault the highest fences.

What a God! His road

stretches straight and smooth.

Every God-direction is road-tested.

Everyone who runs toward him

Makes it.

Is there any god like God?

Are we not at bedrock?

Is not this the God who armed me,

then aimed me in the right direction?

Now I run like a deer;

I’m king of the mountain.

He shows me how to fight;

I can bend a bronze bow!

You protect me with salvation-armor;

you hold me up with a firm hand,

caress me with your gentle ways.

You cleared the ground under me

so my footing was firm.

When I chased my enemies I caught them;

I didn’t let go till they were dead men.

I nailed them; they were down for good;

then I walked all over them.

You armed me well for this fight,

you smashed the upstarts.

You made my enemies turn tail,

and I wiped out the haters.

They cried “uncle”

but Uncle didn’t come;

They yelled for God

and got no for an answer.

I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind.

I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.

You rescued me from a squabbling people;

you made me a leader of nations.

People I’d never heard of served me;

the moment they got wind of me they listened.

The foreign devils gave up; they came

on their bellies, crawling from their hideouts.

Live, God! Blessings from my Rock,

my free and freeing God, towering!

This God set things right for me

and shut up the people who talked back.

He rescued me from enemy anger,

he pulled me from the grip of upstarts,

He saved me from the bullies.

That’s why I’m thanking you, God,

all over the world.

That’s why I’m singing songs

that rhyme your name.

God’s king takes the trophy;

God’s chosen is beloved.

I mean David and all his children—

always.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 18 (The Message)

[Psalm 88]

For the worship leader. A song of the sons of Korah accompanied by dance. A contemplative song of Heman the Ezrahite.

O Eternal One! O True God my Savior!

I cry out to You all the time, under the sun and the moon.

Let my voice reach You!

Please listen to my prayers!

My soul is deeply troubled,

and my heart can’t bear the weight of this sorrow. I feel so close to death.

I’m like the poor and helpless who die alone,

left for dead, as good as the unknowable sea of souls lying under our feet,

Forsaken by Him and cut off from His hand,

abandoned among the dead who rest in their graves.

And You have sent me to be forgotten with them,

in the lowest pits of the earth,

in the darkest canyons of the ocean.

You crush me with Your anger.

You crash against me like the relentless, angry sea.

[pause]

Those whom I have known, who have been with me,

You have gathered like sheaves and cast to the four winds.

They can’t bear to look me in the eye, and they are horrified when they think of me.

I am in a trap and cannot be free.

My eyes grow dim, weakened by this sickness;

it is taking my strength from me.

Like a worn cloth, my hands are unfolded before You daily, O Eternal One.

Are You the miracle-worker for the dead?

Will they rise from the dark shadows to worship You again?

[pause]

Will Your great love be proclaimed in the grave

or Your faithfulness be remembered in whispers like mists throughout the place of ruin?

Are Your wonders known in the dominion of darkness,

or is Your righteousness recognized in a land where all is forgotten?

But I am calling out to You, Eternal One.

My prayers rise before You with every new sun!

Why do You turn Your head

and brush me aside, O Eternal One?

Why are You avoiding me?

Since the days of my youth, I have been sick and close to death.

My helpless soul has suffered Your silent horrors;

now I am desperate.

Your rage spills over me like rivers of fire;

Your assaults have all but destroyed me.

They surround me like a flood, rising throughout the day,

closing in from every direction.

You have taken from me the one I love and my friend;

even the light of my acquaintances are darkness.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 88 (The Voice)

[Psalm 53]

The Wickedness of the World

For the Pure and Shining One

A contemplative song of instruction to the tune of “The Dancings of Mourning”

Only the withering soul would say to himself,

“There’s no God for me!”

Anyone who thinks like that is corrupt and callous;

depraved and detestable, they are devoid of what is good.

The Lord looks down in love, bending over heaven’s balcony.

God looks over all of Adam’s sons and daughters,

looking to see if there are any who are wise with insight—

any who search for him, wanting to please him.

But no, all have wandered astray, walking stubbornly toward evil.

Not one is good; he can’t even find one!

Look how they live in luxury while exploiting my people.

Won’t these workers of wickedness ever learn!

They never even think of praying to God.

Soon, unheard-of terror will seize them while in their sins.

God himself will one day scatter the bones

of those who rose up against you.

Doomed and rejected, they will be put to shame,

for God has despised them.

Oh, I wish our time of rescue were already here.

Oh, that God would come forth now—

arising from the midst of his Zion-people

to save and restore his very own.

When God fully restores his people,

Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be filled with gladness!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 53 (The Passion Translation)

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dfroza · 4 years

Text

Today’s reading from the ancient books of Proverbs and Psalms

for friday, november 13 of 2020 with Proverbs 13 and Psalm 13, accompanied by Psalm 53 for the 53rd day of Autumn, and Psalm 18 for day 318 of the year (now with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 3rd revolution this year)

[Proverbs 13]

A wise son or daughter desires a father’s discipline,

but the know-it-all never listens to correction.

The words of the wise are kind and easy to swallow,

but the unbeliever just wants to pick a fight and argue.

Guard your words and you’ll guard your life,

but if you don’t control your tongue,

it will ruin everything.

The slacker wants it all and ends up with nothing,

but the hard worker ends up with all that he longed for.

Lovers of God hate what is phony and false,

but the wicked are full of shame and behave shamefully.

Righteousness is like a shield of protection,

guarding those who keep their integrity,

but sin is the downfall of the wicked.

One pretends to be rich but is poor.

Another pretends to be poor but is quite rich.

The self-assurance of the rich is their money,

but people don’t kidnap and extort the poor!

The virtues of God’s lovers shine brightly in the darkness,

but the flickering lamp of the ungodly will be extinguished.

Wisdom opens your heart to receive wise counsel,

but pride closes your ears to advice

and gives birth to only quarrels and strife.

Wealth quickly gained is quickly wasted—

easy come, easy go!

But if you gradually gain wealth,

you will watch it grow.

When hope’s dream seems to drag on and on,

the delay can be depressing.

But when at last your dream comes true,

life’s sweetness will satisfy your soul.

Despise the word, will you?

Then you’ll pay the price and it won’t be pretty!

But the one who honors the Father’s holy instructions

will be rewarded.

When the lovers of God teach you truth,

a fountain of life opens up within you,

and their wise instruction will deliver you from the ways of death.

Everyone admires a wise, sensible person,

but the treacherous walk on the path of ruin.

Everything a wise and shrewd man does

comes from a source of revelation-knowledge,

but the behavior of a fool puts foolishness on parade!

An undependable messenger causes a lot of trouble,

but the trustworthy and wise messengers

release healing wherever they go.

Poverty and disgrace come to the one

who refuses to hear criticism.

But the one who is easy to correct is on the path of honor.

When God fulfills your longings,

sweetness fills your soul.

But the wicked refuse to turn from darkness

to see their desires come to pass.

If you want to grow in wisdom,

spend time with the wise.

Walk with the wicked

and you’ll eventually become just like them.

Calamity chases the sin-chaser,

but prosperity pursues the God-lover.

The benevolent man leaves an inheritance

that endures to his children’s children,

but the wealth of the wicked is treasured up for the righteous.

The lovers of God will live a long life and get to enjoy their wealth,

but the ungodly will suddenly perish.

If you withhold correction and punishment from your children,

you demonstrate a lack of true love.

So prove your love and be prompt to punish them.

The lovers of God will have more than enough,

but the wicked will always lack what they crave.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 13 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 13]

For the worship leader. A song of David.

How long, O Eternal One? How long will You forget me? Forever?

How long will You look the other way?

How long must I agonize,

grieving Your absence in my heart every day?

How long will You let my enemies win?

Turn back; respond to me, O Eternal, my True God!

Put the spark of life in my eyes, or I’m dead.

My enemies will boast they have beaten me;

my foes will celebrate that I have stumbled.

But I trust in Your faithful love;

my heart leaps at the thought of imminent deliverance by You.

I will sing to the Eternal,

for He is always generous with me.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 13 (The Voice)

[Psalm 53]

The Wickedness of the World

For the Pure and Shining One

A contemplative song of instruction to the tune of “The Dancings of Mourning”

Only the withering soul would say to himself,

“There’s no God for me!”

Anyone who thinks like that is corrupt and callous;

depraved and detestable, they are devoid of what is good.

The Lord looks down in love, bending over heaven’s balcony.

God looks over all of Adam’s sons and daughters,

looking to see if there are any who are wise with insight—

any who search for him, wanting to please him.

But no, all have wandered astray, walking stubbornly toward evil.

Not one is good; he can’t even find one!

Look how they live in luxury while exploiting my people.

Won’t these workers of wickedness ever learn!

They never even think of praying to God.

Soon, unheard-of terror will seize them while in their sins.

God himself will one day scatter the bones

of those who rose up against you.

Doomed and rejected, they will be put to shame,

for God has despised them.

Oh, I wish our time of rescue were already here.

Oh, that God would come forth now—

arising from the midst of his Zion-people

to save and restore his very own.

When God fully restores his people,

Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be filled with gladness!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 53 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 18]

A David Song, Which He Sang to God After Being Saved from All His Enemies and from Saul

I love you, God—you make me strong.

God is bedrock under my feet,

the castle in which I live,

my rescuing knight.

My God—the high crag

where I run for dear life,

hiding behind the boulders,

safe in the granite hideout.

I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty,

and find myself safe and saved.

The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat;

devil waters rushed over me.

Hell’s ropes cinched me tight;

death traps barred every exit.

A hostile world! I call to God,

I cry to God to help me.

From his palace he hears my call;

my cry brings me right into his presence—

a private audience!

Earth wobbles and lurches;

huge mountains shake like leaves,

Quake like aspen leaves

because of his rage.

His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke;

his mouth spits fire.

Tongues of fire dart in and out;

he lowers the sky.

He steps down;

under his feet an abyss opens up.

He’s riding a winged creature,

swift on wind-wings.

Now he’s wrapped himself

in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.

But his cloud-brightness bursts through,

spraying hailstones and fireballs.

Then God thundered out of heaven;

the High God gave a great shout,

spraying hailstones and fireballs.

God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!

He hurls his lightnings—a rout!

The secret sources of ocean are exposed,

the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered

The moment you roar in protest,

let loose your hurricane anger.

But me he caught—reached all the way

from sky to sea; he pulled me out

Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,

the void in which I was drowning.

They hit me when I was down,

but God stuck by me.

He stood me up on a wide-open field;

I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

God made my life complete

when I placed all the pieces before him.

When I got my act together,

he gave me a fresh start.

Now I’m alert to God’s ways;

I don’t take God for granted.

Every day I review the ways he works;

I try not to miss a trick.

I feel put back together,

and I’m watching my step.

God rewrote the text of my life

when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

The good people taste your goodness,

The whole people taste your health,

The true people taste your truth,

The bad ones can’t figure you out.

You take the side of the down-and-out,

But the stuck-up you take down a peg.

Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;

I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!

I smash the bands of marauders,

I vault the highest fences.

What a God! His road

stretches straight and smooth.

Every God-direction is road-tested.

Everyone who runs toward him makes it.

Is there any god like God?

Are we not at bedrock?

Is not this the God who armed me,

then aimed me in the right direction?

Now I run like a deer;

I’m king of the mountain.

He shows me how to fight;

I can bend a bronze bow!

You protect me with salvation-armor;

you hold me up with a firm hand,

caress me with your gentle ways.

You cleared the ground under me

so my footing was firm.

When I chased my enemies I caught them;

I didn’t let go till they were dead men.

I nailed them; they were down for good;

then I walked all over them.

You armed me well for this fight,

you smashed the upstarts.

You made my enemies turn tail,

and I wiped out the haters.

They cried “uncle”

but Uncle didn’t come;

They yelled for God

and got no for an answer.

I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind.

I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.

You rescued me from a squabbling people;

you made me a leader of nations.

People I’d never heard of served me;

the moment they got wind of me they listened.

The foreign devils gave up; they came

on their bellies, crawling from their hideouts.

Live, God! Blessings from my Rock,

my free and freeing God, towering!

This God set things right for me

and shut up the people who talked back.

He rescued me from enemy anger,

he pulled me from the grip of upstarts,

He saved me from the bullies.

That’s why I’m thanking you, God,

all over the world.

That’s why I’m singing songs

that rhyme your name.

God’s king takes the trophy;

God’s chosen is beloved.

I mean David and all his children—always.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 18 (The Message)

0 notes