And what of the Lord?

Image via Wikipedia

This blog comes to you from the people at

Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO

www.peacemennonitechurch.net

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the p[rayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

 

Subscribe to our blog. Delivery daily by e-mail. Click the button on the right.

 

Psalm 29

1 Samuel 3:1-21

Acts 9:10-19a

 

And what of the Lord?

Actually, I’m often confused by God. It is not that God does anything to confuse me, but I am confused by trying to know God. Various small clues may come to us from the Bible, here and there, but there is not a comprehensive, exacting description of God. And so, I am confused, but that is the lot of a finite being, me, trying to comprehend the infinite being of God.

In Psalms, we exalt God. In 1 Samuel, the Lord drops by to talk to young Samuel the prophet, and the Lord seems like an almost casual presence, one that wakened Samuel does not recognize on the first two words Samuel hears. Usually, we think of the Lord as being very loud, like thunder, and loud like a roaring river or a wild and violent surf hitting a rock shore. So, the Lord seems to be unexpected, often appearing where we do not expect and to whom we do not expect.

And in Acts, Ananias is called and told to visit Saul, and remove the scales from his blinded eyes. Ananias was a disciple of Jesus, and Saul was the persecutor of disciples. generalizing, one might say that the Lord often sends his disciples into situations where it appears to be dangerous for them to go—but they go anyway.

Pray for peace,

Bill

 

Psalm 29

¹Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

²Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor.

³The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters.

⁴The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

⁵The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.

⁷The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.

⁸The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, “Glory!”

¹⁰The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.

¹¹May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

1 Samuel 3:1-21

3Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. ²At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; ³the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. ⁴Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

¹¹Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. ¹²On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.” ¹⁵Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”

¹⁹As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. ²¹The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

Acts 9:10-19a

¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, ¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; ¹⁶I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” ¹⁷So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,

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.

 

Related articles are presented without endorsement

• Reading The Bible For 1/15/2012 (graceblog.wordpress.com)
• Confusing Voices (gladlylistening.wordpress.com)
• Second Sunday In Ordinary Time (prepareformass.wordpress.com)
• The voice of God: Scripture for Oct. 30 (plymouthspirit.wordpress.com)
• How Does God See Us? (ptl2010.com)
• First Samuel 3 (fellowshiproom.org)
• First Samuel 16 (fellowshiproom.org)
• I Samuel 3 – Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. (beautifulunion.wordpress.com)
• Samuel’s First Prophesy 1st Samuel 3 to 1st Samuel 4:18 (brakeman1.wordpress.com)
• King David’s Life (ptl2010.com)