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30 June 2012
In praise of God’s omniscience - Extracted from Psalms Chapter 139:
1 [For the choirmaster Of David Psalm] Yahweh, you examine me and know me,
2 you know when I sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from afar.
3 You watch when I walk or lie down, you know every detail of my conduct.
4 A word is not yet on my tongue before you, Yahweh, know all about it.
5 You fence me in, behind and in front, you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such amazing knowledge is beyond me, a height to which I cannot attain. |
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7 Where shall I go to escape your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I scale the heavens you are there, if I lie flat in Sheol, there you are.
9 If I speed away on the wings of the dawn, if I dwell beyond the ocean,
10 even there your hand will be guiding me, your right hand holding me fast.
11 I will say, 'Let the darkness cover me, and the night wrap itself around me,'
12 even darkness to you is not dark, and night is as clear as the day.
13 You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders. You knew me through and through,
15 my being held no secrets from you, when I was being formed in secret, textured in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes could see my embryo. In your book all my days were inscribed, every one that was fixed is there.
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17 How hard for me to grasp your thoughts, how many, God, there are!
18 If I count them, they are more than the grains of sand; if I come to an end, I am still with you.
19 If only, God, you would kill the wicked!-Men of violence, keep away from me!-
20 those who speak blasphemously about you, and take no account of your thoughts.
21 Yahweh, do I not hate those who hate you, and loathe those who defy you?
22 My hate for them has no limits, I regard them as my own enemies.
23 God, examine me and know my heart, test me and know my concerns.
24 Make sure that I am not on my way to ruin, and guide me on the road of eternity.
Sharing: Listen to “Yahweh, You Are Near” or “Yahweh I Know You Are Near” @ http://www.youtube.com.
24 June 2012 |
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30 June 2012
Extracted from the prophet Isaiah, Chapter 49:
The Servant of the Lord
1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor. ”
4 But I said, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength —
6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
7 This is what the Lord says— the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel —
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” 30 June 2012 |
