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dfroza · 4 years

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Today’s reading of the ancient Psalms and Proverbs

for Saturday, february 1 of 2020 with Psalm 1 and Proverbs 1, along with Psalm 43 for the 43rd day of Winter (as a mirroring of the alphabetic number 43 of the word “book”) and Psalm 32 for day 32 of 2020 (as a mirroring of the alphabetic number 32 of the word “Eve”)

[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)

[Psalm 43]

Light and Truth

For the Pure and Shining One, by the prophetic singers of Korah’s clan

A contemplative poem for instruction

God, clear my name.

Plead my case against the unjust charges

of these ungodly workers of wickedness.

Deliver me from these lying degenerates.

For you are where my strength comes from and my protector,

so why would you leave me now?

Must I be covered with gloom

while the enemy comes after me, gloating with glee?

Pour into me the brightness of your daybreak!

Pour into me your rays of revelation-truth!

Let them comfort and gently lead me onto the shining path,

showing the way into your burning presence,

into your many sanctuaries of holiness.

Then I will come closer to your very altar

until I come before you, the God of my ecstatic joy!

I will praise you with the harp that plays in my heart,

to you, my God, my magnificent God!

Then I will say to my soul,

“Don’t be discouraged; don’t be disturbed,

for I fully expect my Savior-God to break through for me.

Then I’ll have plenty of reasons to praise him all over again.”

Yes, living before his face is my saving grace!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 43 (The Passion Translation)

to be repeated in The Voice:

[Psalm 43]

Plead for me; clear my name, O God. Prove me innocent

before immoral people;

Save me from their lies,

their unjust thoughts and deeds.

You are the True God—my shelter, my protector, the one whom I lean on.

Why have You turned away from me? Rejected me?

Why must I go around, overwrought, mourning,

suffering under the weight of my enemies?

O my God, shine Your light and truth

to help me see clearly,

To lead me to Your holy mountain,

to Your home.

Then I will go to God’s altar with nothing to hide.

I will go to God, my rapture;

I will sing praises to You and play my strings,

unloading my cares, unleashing my joys, to You, God, my God.

O my soul, why are you so overwrought?

Why are you so disturbed?

Why can’t I just hope in God? Despite all my emotions, I will hope in God again.

I will believe and praise the One

who saves me and is my life,

My Savior and my God.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 43 (The Voice)

[Psalm 32]

Forgiven

A poem of insight and instruction, by King David

How happy and fulfilled are those

whose rebellion has been forgiven,

those whose sins are covered by blood.

How blessed and relieved are those

who have confessed their corruption to God!

For he wipes their slates clean

and removes hypocrisy from their hearts.

Before I confessed my sins, I kept it all inside;

my dishonesty devastated my inner life,

causing my life to be filled with frustration,

irrepressible anguish, and misery.

The pain never let up, for your hand of conviction

was heavy on my heart.

My strength was sapped, my inner life dried up

like a spiritual drought within my soul.

Pause in his presence

Then I finally admitted to you all my sins,

refusing to hide them any longer.

I said, “My life-giving God,

I will openly acknowledge my evil actions.”

And you forgave me!

All at once the guilt of my sin washed away

and all my pain disappeared!

Pause in his presence

This is what I’ve learned through it all:

All believers should confess their sins to God;

do it every time God has uncovered you

in the time of exposing.

For if you do this, when sudden storms of life overwhelm,

you’ll be kept safe.

Lord, you are my secret hiding place,

protecting me from these troubles,

surrounding me with songs of gladness!

Your joyous shouts of rescue release my breakthrough.

Pause in his presence

I hear the Lord saying, “I will stay close to you,

instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life.

I will advise you along the way

and lead you forth with my eyes as your guide.

So don’t make it difficult; don’t be stubborn

when I take you where you’ve not been before.

Don’t make me tug you and pull you along.

Just come with me!”

So my conclusion is this:

Many are the sorrows and frustrations

of those who don’t come clean with God.

But when you trust in the Lord for forgiveness,

his wrap-around love will surround you.

So celebrate the goodness of God!

He shows this kindness to everyone who is his.

Go ahead—shout for joy,

all you upright ones who want to please him!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 32 (The Passion Translation)

to be repeated in The Voice from verse 1-7:

How happy is the one whose wrongs are forgiven,

whose sin is hidden from sight.

How happy is the person whose sin the Eternal will not take into account.

How happy are those who no longer lie, to themselves or others.

When I refused to admit my wrongs, I was miserable,

moaning and complaining all day long

so that even my bones felt brittle.

Day and night, Your hand kept pressing on me.

My strength dried up like water in the summer heat;

You wore me down.

[pause]

When I finally saw my own lies,

I owned up to my sins before You,

and I did not try to hide my evil deeds from You.

I said to myself, “I’ll admit all my sins to the Eternal,”

and You lifted and carried away the guilt of my sin.

[pause]

So let all who are devoted to You

speak honestly to You now, while You are still listening.

For then when the floods come, surely the rushing water

will not even reach them.

You are my hiding place.

You will keep me out of trouble

and envelop me with songs that remind me I am free.

[pause]

The Book of Psalms, Poem 32:1-7 (The Voice)

[Proverbs 1]

The Prologue

Here are kingdom revelations, words to live by, and words of wisdom given to empower you to reign in life, written as proverbs by Israel’s King Solomon, David’s son.

Within these sayings will be found the revelation of wisdom and the impartation of spiritual understanding. Use them as keys to unlock the treasures of true knowledge.

Those who cling to these words will receive discipline to demonstrate wisdom in every relationship and to choose what is right and just and fair.

These proverbs will give you great skill to teach the immature and make them wise, to give youth the understanding of their design and destiny.

For the wise, these proverbs will make you even wiser, and for those with discernment, you will be able to acquire brilliant strategies for leadership.

These kingdom revelations will break open your understanding to unveil the deeper meaning of parables, poetic riddles, and epigrams, and to unravel the words and enigmas of the wise.

How then does a man gain the essence of wisdom? We cross the threshold of true knowledge when we live in obedient devotion to God. Stubborn know-it-alls will never stop to do this, for they scorn true wisdom and knowledge.

[The Wisdom of a Father]

Pay close attention, my child, to your father’s wise words and never forget your mother’s instructions.

For their insight will bring you success, adorning you with grace-filled thoughts and giving you reins to guide your decisions.

When peer pressure compels you to go with the crowd and sinners invite you to join in, you must simply say, “No!”

When the gang says—“We’re going to steal and kill and get away with it. We’ll take down the rich and rob them. We’ll swallow them up alive and take what we want from whomever we want.

Then we’ll take their treasures and fill our homes with loot. So come on and join us. Take your chance with us. We’ll divide up all we get; we’ll each end up with big bags of cash!”—my son, refuse to go with them and stay far away from them.

For crime is their way of life and bloodshed their specialty. To be aware of their snare is the best way of escape. They’ll resort to murder to steal their victim’s assets, but eventually it will be their own lives that are ambushed. In their ungodly disrespect for God they bring destruction on their own lives.

[Wisdom’s Warning]

Wisdom’s praises are sung in the streets and celebrated far and wide. Yet wisdom’s song is not always heard in the halls of higher learning.

But in the hustle and bustle of everyday life its lyrics can always be heard above the din of the crowd. You will hear wisdom’s warning as she preaches courageously to those who stop to listen:

“Foolish ones, how much longer will you cling to your deception? How much longer will you mock wisdom, cynical scorners who fight the facts?

Come back to your senses and be restored to reality. Don’t even think about refusing my rebuke! Don’t you know that I’m ready to pour out my spirit of wisdom upon you and bring to you the revelation of my words that will make your heart wise?

I’ve called to you over and over; still you refuse to come to me. I’ve pleaded with you again and again, yet you’ve turned a deaf ear to my voice.

Because you have laughed at my counsel and have insisted on continuing in your stubbornness, I will laugh when your calamity comes and will turn away from you at the time of your disaster.

Make a joke of my advice, will you? Then I’ll make a joke out of you!

When the storm clouds of terror gather over your head, when dread and distress consume you and your catastrophe comes like a hurricane, you will cry out to me, but I won’t answer.

Then it will be too late to expect my help. When desperation drives you to search for me, I will be nowhere to be found.

Because you have turned up your nose at me and closed your eyes to the facts and refused to worship me in awe—because you scoffed at my wise counsel and laughed at my correction—now you will eat the bitter fruit of your own ways.

You’ve made your own bed; now lie in it! So how do you like that? Like an idiot you’ve turned away from me and chosen destruction instead. Your self-satisfied smugness will kill you.

But the one who always listens to me will live undisturbed in a heavenly peace. Free from fear, confident and courageous, you will rest unafraid and sheltered from the storms of life.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 1 (The Passion Translation)

to be repeated in The Voice from verse 1-7:

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.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 1:1-7 (The Voice)

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