BOOK FOUR

From Everlasting to Everlasting

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

¹Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
² Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
⁴For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.

⁵You sweep them away as with a flood; 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.

⁷For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
⁸You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
¹⁰The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
¹¹Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?

¹² So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
¹³ Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
¹⁶Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
¹⁷Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!

Courtesy of Biblegateway.org

A psalm. For giving thanks.

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

(NIV)

Proverbs 19:17, NIV

Bob Kauflin describes the story behind the song Great Is Thy Faithfulness:

Thomas Chisholm, who sometimes described himself as “just an old shoe,”  was born in a Kentucky log cabin in 1866. He was converted when he was 27, became a pastor at 36, but had to retire one year later due to poor health. He spent the majority of the rest of his life as a life insurance agent in New Jersey. He died in 1960 at the age of 93. During his life he wrote over 1200 poems, most of which no one will ever hear.

But back in 1923, at the “beyond his prime” age of 57, Thomas Chisholm sent a few of his poems to William Runyan at the Hope Publishing Company. One of them was Great is Thy Faithfulness, based on Lamentations 3:22-23.

This means that your best songwriting may still be ahead of you!

Kauflin’s full post includes an excerpt from a Chisholm letter that’s worth your time.

(HT:  Between Two Worlds.  Photo cred:  Redbubble)

For This Is It, Michael Jackson’s 50 sold-out shows at London’s o2 arena, fans had shelled out $85 million for 750,000 tickets.

The extended stretch of performances were to be spectacular.  According to USA Today:  “A hovering orb, a flaming bed, mutant spiders, 20-foot puppets, 3-D effects, pyrotechnics and the return of the crooning, spinning, moonwalking King of Pop.”  These shows were reported to be “the biggest, most spectacular live production ever seen.”

The man was reportedly on his game.  After 3 months of solid rehearsal, Jackson was said to be “energetic, passionate, diligent, prepared, excited and an effective leader.”  He was said to be “the same Michael Jackson we (saw) through the years in music videos.”

His last few years haunted by debt and negative press, Jackson no doubt had planned for these comeback shows to burnish his tarnished image and bolster his depleted bank accounts.

And then – two and a half weeks before the first show – Michael Jackson died.  Unexpectedly and apparently without warning, his soul was required of him.

Another reminder that the way of a man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps, as the prophet of old has said.

Or, as another wrote: Man proposes and God disposes.

Are you ready?

To prepare for life beyond life, read more here.

(HT:  Robyn Lees, CI colleague)

Then take a recommendation from Isaiah:

I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD…

Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless.

Give clothes to those in need; don’t turn away your relatives.

Then your light will shine like the dawning sun, and you will quickly be healed.

Your honesty will protect you as you advance, and the glory of the LORD will defend you from behind.

When you beg the LORD for help, he will answer, “Here I am!”

Don’t mistreat others or falsely accuse them or say something cruel.

Give your food to the hungry and care for the homeless.

Then your light will shine in the dark; your darkest hour will be like the noonday sun.

(Isaiah 58:6-10, Contemporary English Version)

Scene from the Passion of Jesus, as Matthew describes it:

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”

And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.”

After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.”

And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Art by Wayne Forte

Hat tip:  Imago Fidei (Christianity Today)

…I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

for his judgments are true and just;

for he has judged the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her immorality,

and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

- Revelation 19:1-2 (ESV)

How  good it is to sing praise to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

(NIV w/footnote)

I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD.

Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly.  Free those who are abused.

Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share you home with the poor and homeless.  Give clothes to those in need; don’t turn away your relatives.

Then your light will shine like the dawning sun, and you will quickly be healed.  Your honesty will protect you as you advance, and the glory of the LORD will defend you from behind.

Michael W. Smith concurred with this during his Feb. 8 presentation at the National Religious Broacaster’s convention in Nashville:

“I have another whole definition of what worship is…Everybody comes up to me and says, “Oh, we love your worship, we love our worship records…” But are we feeding the poor?  Are we looking after the orphans?

Worship is much greater than just having a worship service. If we are not living out Isaiah 58, we’ve totally missed it.  I don’t care how many conferences you have, I don’t care how many times we gather together, if we’re not taking care of the downtrodden and the poor and the orphans and he widows, we have totally missed it.

Do you want the favor of God on your life?  Then start reaching out to the poor.“