"Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers...." (Psalm 78:12, Amplified Bible)
The text is speaking to Jews and the great faithfulness of the Living Triune God to them over the centuries. The Psalm speaks of God's faithfulness in the face of Israel's unfaithfulness, an unfaithfulness without excuse. It is like reading a biography of the United States of America, "Marvelous things did He in the sight of [our] fathers...."
I am waiting for an oil change, front end alignment check, tire rotation and balance, and sitting in a McDonald's (no Starbucks at this location.) with a Mall in the background, a downsized version of it's beginning. Amidst the coming and goings of humanity, an old hymn in my tradition comes to mind, "Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life." A couple verses say:
"Where cross the crowed ways of life,
Where sound the cries of race and clan,
Above the noise of selfish strife,
We hear Your voice, O Son of Man.
"From tender childhood's helplessness,
On shadowed thresholds dark with fears,
From paths where hide the lures of greed,
We catch the vision of Your tears.
"O Master, from the mountainside
Make haste to heal these hearts of pain;
Among these restless throngs abide;
O tread the city's streets again.
The line, "Make haste to heal these hearts of pain," came to me as I sit here. But I also thought that most human pain comes from our rejection of Jesus, Whom another Psalm from today's reading describes as, "Shepherd of Israel." How many "hearts of pain" would not have pain if we would continually remember the, "Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers," if we would have lived our entire lives, and continue to live totally surrendered to and thankful for the, "Marvelous things did He...," and, Look around; still does. You want to shout "Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life," that the pain which afflicts so many hearts does not have to be when an individual and nation live under the authority of Jesus. May we never give up on praying, "O Master, [Jesus], from the mountainside make hast to heal these hearts of pain...."
Father, in Jesus' Name, may my heart, which You have healed and continually heal, be for the healing of "these hearts of pain." Amen.
*****************
Please remember the need for David's Tent
The text is speaking to Jews and the great faithfulness of the Living Triune God to them over the centuries. The Psalm speaks of God's faithfulness in the face of Israel's unfaithfulness, an unfaithfulness without excuse. It is like reading a biography of the United States of America, "Marvelous things did He in the sight of [our] fathers...."
I am waiting for an oil change, front end alignment check, tire rotation and balance, and sitting in a McDonald's (no Starbucks at this location.) with a Mall in the background, a downsized version of it's beginning. Amidst the coming and goings of humanity, an old hymn in my tradition comes to mind, "Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life." A couple verses say:
"Where cross the crowed ways of life,
Where sound the cries of race and clan,
Above the noise of selfish strife,
We hear Your voice, O Son of Man.
"From tender childhood's helplessness,
On shadowed thresholds dark with fears,
From paths where hide the lures of greed,
We catch the vision of Your tears.
"O Master, from the mountainside
Make haste to heal these hearts of pain;
Among these restless throngs abide;
O tread the city's streets again.
The line, "Make haste to heal these hearts of pain," came to me as I sit here. But I also thought that most human pain comes from our rejection of Jesus, Whom another Psalm from today's reading describes as, "Shepherd of Israel." How many "hearts of pain" would not have pain if we would continually remember the, "Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers," if we would have lived our entire lives, and continue to live totally surrendered to and thankful for the, "Marvelous things did He...," and, Look around; still does. You want to shout "Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life," that the pain which afflicts so many hearts does not have to be when an individual and nation live under the authority of Jesus. May we never give up on praying, "O Master, [Jesus], from the mountainside make hast to heal these hearts of pain...."
Father, in Jesus' Name, may my heart, which You have healed and continually heal, be for the healing of "these hearts of pain." Amen.
*****************
Please remember the need for David's Tent
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
