Refusing to Rejoice At Death 102011

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Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Deuteronomy 31:14-22

Titus 1:5-16

 

Refusing to Rejoice At Death 102011

 

This morning’s world news rejoices at the capture or death of another ‘enemy’. Although an historically evil dictator may have been captured or killed, we cannot, as persons committed to loving God rejoice at victory, killing and war, no more than we can rejoice at the evil the dictator committed to his people.

 

Instead, can we read Psalm 90 together, and rejoice in our Lord, and rejoice in the Jesus, who died rather than lead a violent revolution.

 

While we each day have three Bible selections, from Psalms, the Old Testament, and the Gospel, I’m continually amazed and delighted at the Psalms (particularly). I’ve read and re-read the Psalms my entire life; where was my mind in years’ past? I wonder, because now the Psalms are amazing, and contain more joy and wisdom than one could ever absorb in a lifetime.

Try reading the Psalm aloud with you morning prayers.

 

And if you are experiencing trouble praying each day, tomorrow we’ll talk about sources of ‘Common Prayer’. Have a wonderful morning and day. Pray for peace,

(brother) Bill

 

 

Psalm 90

¹Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

²Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”

⁴For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.

⁵You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning;

⁶in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

¹³Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants!

¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.

¹⁶Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.

¹⁷Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands— O prosper the work of our hands!

Deuteronomy 31:14-22

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Your time to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting, ¹⁵and the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the tent. ¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, “Soon you will lie down with your ancestors. Then this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst, the gods of the land into which they are going; they will forsake me, breaking my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷My anger will be kindled against them in that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become easy prey, and many terrible troubles will come upon them. In that day they will say, ‘Have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not in our midst?’ ¹⁸On that day I will surely hide my face on account of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods. ¹⁹Now therefore write this song, and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, in order that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. ²⁰For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I promised on oath to their ancestors, and they have eaten their fill and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant. ²¹And when many terrible troubles come upon them, this song will confront them as a witness, because it will not be lost from the mouths of their descendants. For I know what they are inclined to do even now, before I have brought them into the land that I

²²That very day Moses wrote this song and taught it to the Israelites.

Titus 1:5-16

⁵I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you:

⁶someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. ⁷For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; ⁸but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. ⁹He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. ¹⁰There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; ¹¹they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach. ¹²It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said, “Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.” ¹³That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith, ¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth. ¹⁵To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. ¹⁶They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

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