So...I need to chill with some Psalms and stuff, now. Get my mind back on holiness and righteousness.
You set the earth on a firm foundation so that nothing can shake it, ever.
YOu blanketed earth with ocean, covered the mountains with deep waters;
Then you roared and the water ran away--your thunder crash put it to flight.
Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out in the places you assigned them.
You set boundaries between earth and sea; never again will earth be flooded.
You started the springs and rivers, sent them flowing among the hills.
All the wild animals now drink their fill, wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Along the riverbanks the birds build nests, ravens make their voices heard.
You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns; earth is suppled with plenty of water.
You make grass grow for the livestock, hay for the animals that plow the ground.
Oh yes, God brings grain from the land, wine to make people happy,
Their faces glowing with health, a people well-fed and hearty.
GOD's trees are well-watered--the Lebanon cedars he planted.
Birds build their nests in those trees; look--the stork at home in the treetop.
Mountain goats climb about the cliffs; badgers burrow among the rocks.
The moon keeps track of the seasons, the sun is in charge of each day.
When it's dark and night takes over, all the forest creatures come out.
The young lions roar for their prey, clamoring to God for their supper.
When the sun comes up, they vanish, lazily stretched out in their dens.
Meanwhile, men and women go out to work, busy at their jobs until evening.
What a wildly wonderful world, GOD! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.
Oh, look--the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon.
Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.
A very lengthy passage, today, but I love the descriptiveness of it. I also love that Peterson uses the word "dragon" in his translation, because that's what I truly believe Leviathan was; a dragon! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this hopeless romantic believes that dragons existed.
Now for some Calvin.
"Nothing in the world is stable except in as far as it is sustained by the hand of God. The world did not originate from itself, consequently, the whole order of nature depends on nothing else than his appointment, by which each element has its own peculiar property.
"In these words [the part about wine making us happy] we are taught, that God not only provided for men's necessity, and bestows upon them as much as is sufficient for the ordinary purposes of life, but that in his goodness he deals still more bountifully with them by cheering their hearts with wine and oil. As the prophet in this account of the divine goodness in providence makes no reference to the excesses of men, we gather from his words that it is lawful to use wine not only in cases of necessity, but also thereby to make us merry. This mirth must however be tempered with sobriety, first, that men may not forget themselves, drown their senses, and destroy their strength, but rejoice before their God, according to the injunction of Moses (Lev.23:40); and, secondly, that they may exhilarate their minds under a sense of gratitude, so as to be rendered more active in the service of God."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"Lessons for Young Women"
Titus 2:3b-4
Reading from the English Standard Version
They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,
One thing it is necessary to understand in reference to this Scripture is that, in the first century Jewish culture, unlike our culture today, young people did NOT marry for love. They married for financial reasons, or for social status, and probably many other reasons, but they rarely, if ever, married for love.
So Paul's instruction here is rather "counter-cultural." He's saying that the young women need to learn to love their husbands. This was not necessarily a given in that time. So the older women were to teach the younger ones how to love their husbands.
How do we apply this today? Women who are older and have been married a long time (that's getting more rare, as well), have a perspective of how to love through good and bad, thick and thin. My wonderful wife, for example, could share much wisdom with younger women, teaching them how to make it through over 20 years of marriage that is not always a bed of roses. Or maybe it is, seeing as how rose bushes have thorns! Hahah...ha...ahem...
Anyway, you get my point. "Their experience and insight is invaluable in helping new wives adjust to the responsibilities of keeping a home, and as older women with godly marriages mentor younger women, all families in the church benefit."
I also believe that the wisdom of a godly woman who has a successful marriage is infinitely more valuable than that of a man who has never been married or had children.
"In Everything"
Colossians 1:10
Reading from the English Standard Version
so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
"We should commit ourselves to doing everything we do, not in the way that might seem to best accomplish our personal objective, but in the way that will be most pleasing to God."
From studying to shopping, to athletic competition, to lawncare and even driving, this principle should apply.
Regardless of whether or not other people know if you are a Christian (thereby knowing if you are acting properly or not), God knows, and he is the one we are committed to. He is the one that I desire to please with all my thoughts and actions. So...is God pleased with my little spat with the UPS driver this afternoon? Um...probably not, k? So here I have need to repent of not handling a situation quite properly. Do I have a valid complaint? Sure. But there are ways to handle them that are more Christlike than other ways, and when we get "in the flesh," Christlikeness seems to fall by the wayside, doesn't it? I know, I know...but I'm stomping on my toes, too, ok?
"So our commitment to pursue holiness must embrace every area of life and must include both the significant and the seemingly insignificant things we do." We are putting off the old self and putting on the "virtues of the new self."
I pray that Christi and I will have opportunities in the future to share with younger couples who either have just gotten married or are planning to. There are so many marriages that fail today, because one or both partners get disillusioned. They need to know what they are in for. They need to know that this wonderful, beautiful person that they have found will not always be wonderful and beautiful. Sometimes they will be grumpy and ugly. Father, help us to communicate these principles to them, teach them to love each other no matter what. That is in the vows, isn't it? We promise to love each other for better or for worse. Many people want to skip that "worse" part. I thank you that we have kept our marriage alive for over 20 years and pray that it will continue to thrive for more than another 20. Make it thrive even more. Increase our love for each other even more as we grow old together.
Father, I continue to pray for the victims of the tsunami in American Samoa and other areas. As well as victims of earthquakes and typhoons in that part of the world. I pray for help for the survivors. Let all corners of the world respond with life-sustaining provisions for these people.
Grace and peace, friends.