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18 June 2011
In praise of God’s Justice – Extracted from Psalms, Chapter 34
1 [Of David, when he had feigned insanity before Abimelech, and Abimelech sent him away] I will bless Yahweh at all times, his praise continually on my lips.
2 I will praise Yahweh from my heart; let the humble hear and rejoice.
3 Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh, let us acclaim his name together.
4 I seek Yahweh and he answers me, frees me from all my fears.
5 Fix your gaze on Yahweh and your face will grow bright, you will never hang your head in shame.
6 A pauper calls out and Yahweh hears, saves him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of Yahweh encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them.
8 Taste and see that Yahweh is good. How blessed are those who take refuge in him.
9 Fear Yahweh, you his holy ones; those who fear him lack for nothing.
10 Young lions may go needy and hungry, but those who seek Yahweh lack nothing good.
11 Come, my children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
12 Who among you delights in life, longs for time to enjoy prosperity?
13 Guard your tongue from evil, your lips from any breath of deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of Yahweh are on the upright, his ear turned to their cry.
16 But Yahweh's face is set against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 They cry in anguish and Yahweh hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 Yahweh is near to the broken-hearted, he helps those whose spirit is crushed.
19 Though hardships without number beset the upright, Yahweh brings rescue from them all.
20 Yahweh takes care of all their bones, not one of them will be broken.
21 But to the wicked evil brings death, those who hate the upright will pay the penalty.
22 Yahweh ransoms the lives of those who serve him, and there will be no penalty for those who take refuge in him.
Hymn to the God of Help – Extracted from Psalm 146
1 Alleluia! Praise Yahweh, my soul!
2 I will praise Yahweh all my life, I will make music to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes, in any child of Adam, who has no power to save.
4 When his spirit goes forth he returns to the earth, on that very day all his plans come to nothing.
5 How blessed is he who has Jacob's God to help him, his hope is in Yahweh his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. He keeps faith for ever,
7 gives justice to the oppressed, gives food to the hungry; Yahweh sets prisoners free.
8 Yahweh gives sight to the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down.
9 Yahweh protects the stranger, he sustains the orphan and the widow. Yahweh loves the upright, but he frustrates the wicked.
10 Yahweh reigns for ever, your God, Zion, from age to age.
Unload your burden on to Yahweh, and He will support you; He will never permit the virtuous to falter. (Psalm 55: 22) 18 June 2011
25 June 2011
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth or woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your hear be also.
‘The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eyes is diseased, your whole body will be all darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkness, what darkness that will be!’ (Matthew 6:19-23)
Extracted from 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13
Brothers, we wish you happiness; try to grow perfect, help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with the holy kiss. All the saints send you greetings.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Extracted from John 3:16-18a
Jesus said to Nicodemus,
‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned…’
The call of Abraham – Extracted from the Book of Genesis, Chapter 12:
1 Yahweh said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your kindred and your father's house for a country which I shall show you;
2 and I shall make you a great nation, I shall bless you and make your name famous; you are to be a blessing!
3 I shall bless those who bless you, and shall curse those who curse you, and all clans on earth will bless themselves by you.'
4 So Abram went as Yahweh told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five (75) years old when he left Haran.
5 Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there.
6 Abram passed through the country as far as the holy place at Shechem, the Oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the country at the time.
7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, 'I shall give this country to your descendants.' And there, Abram built an altar to Yahweh who had appeared to him.
8 From there he moved on to the mountainous district east of Bethel, where he pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and invoked the name of Yahweh.
9 Then Abram made his way stage by stage to the Negeb. |
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Hymn to Providence – Extracted from Psalms, Chapter 33:
1 Shout for joy, you upright; praise comes well from the honest.
2 Give thanks to Yahweh on the lyre, play for him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song, make sweet music for your cry of victory.
4 The word of Yahweh is integrity itself, all he does is done faithfully.
5 He loves uprightness and justice; the faithful love of Yahweh fills the earth.
6 By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, by the breath of his mouth all their array.
7 He collects the waters of the sea like a dam, he stores away the abyss in his treasure-house.
8 Let the whole earth fear Yahweh, let all who dwell in the world revere him;
9 for, the moment he spoke, it was so, no sooner had he commanded, than there it stood!
10 Yahweh thwarts the plans of nations, frustrates the counsels of peoples;
11 but Yahweh's own plan stands firm for ever, his heart's counsel from age to age.
12 How blessed the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people he has chosen as his heritage.
13 From heaven Yahweh looks down, he sees all the children of Adam,
14 from the place where he sits he watches all who dwell on the earth;
15 he alone moulds their hearts, he understands all they do.
16 A large army will not keep a king safe, nor his strength save a warrior's life;
17 it is delusion to rely on a horse for safety, for all its power it cannot save.
18 But see how Yahweh watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his faithful love,
19 to rescue them from death and keep them alive in famine.
20 We are waiting for Yahweh; he is our help and our shield,
21 for in him our heart rejoices, in his holy name we trust.
22 Yahweh, let your faithful love rest on us, as our hope has rested in you.
25 June 2011
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