KEEPING MY NERVE

Ecclesiasticus 2

2  My child, when you come to serve the Lord,

    prepare yourself for testing.

 2   Set your heart right and be steadfast,

    and do not be impetuous in time of calamity.

 3   Cling to him and do not depart,

    so that your last days may be prosperous.

 4   Accept whatever befalls you,

    and in times of humiliation be patient.

 5   For gold is tested in the fire,

    and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.

 6   Trust in him, and he will help you;

    make your ways straight, and hope in him. 

 7   You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy;

    do not stray, or else you may fall.

 8   You who fear the Lord, trust in him,

    and your reward will not be lost.

 9   You who fear the Lord, hope for good things,

    for lasting joy and mercy.

 10   Consider the generations of old and see:

    has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed? Or has anyone persevered in the fear of the Lord and been forsaken?

    Or has anyone called upon him and been neglected?

 11   For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;

    he forgives sins and saves in time of distress. 

 12   Woe to timid hearts and to slack hands,

    and to the sinner who walks a double path!

 13   Woe to the faint-hearted who have no trust!

    Therefore they will have no shelter.

 14   Woe to you who have lost your nerve!

    What will you do when the Lord’s reckoning comes? 

 15   Those who fear the Lord do not disobey his words,

    and those who love him keep his ways.

 16   Those who fear the Lord seek to please him,

    and those who love him are filled with his law.

 17   Those who fear the Lord prepare their hearts,

    and humble themselves before him.

 18   Let us fall into the hands of the Lord,

    but not into the hands of mortals; for equal to his majesty is his mercy,

    and equal to his name are his works. 

KEEPING MY NERVE

Lord,

Temptations and trials

Are sure to come;

Spiritual, emotional

And physical.

Sometimes

I must enter 

The furnace of humiliation.

Help me to

Wait for mercy

Living hopefully:

That I may become

As pure as gold.

AMEN

THE ROOT AND BRANCH

ECCLESIASTICUS – The Wisdom of Ben Sirah

The fear of the Lord] is glory and exultation,
    gladness and a festive crown.
12 The fear of the Lord rejoices the heart,
    giving gladness, joy, and long life.
13 Those who fear the Lord will be happy at the end,
    even on the day of death they will be blessed.

14 The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord;
    she is created with the faithful in the womb.
15 With the godly she was created from of old,
    and with their descendants she will keep faith.

16 The fullness of wisdom is to fear the Lord;
    she inebriates them with her fruits.
17 Their entire house she fills with choice foods,
    their granaries with her produce.

18 The crown of wisdom is the fear of the Lord,
    flowering with peace and perfect health.
19 Knowledge and full understanding she rains down;
    she heightens the glory of those who possess her.

20 The root of wisdom is to fear the Lord;
    her branches are long life.
21 The fear of the Lord drives away sins;
    where it abides it turns back all anger.

22 Unjust anger can never be justified;
    anger pulls a person to utter ruin.
23 ]Until the right time, the patient remain calm,
    then cheerfulness comes back to them.
24 Until the right time they hold back their words;
    then the lips of many will tell of their good sense.

25 Among wisdom’s treasures is the model for knowledge;
    but godliness is an abomination to the sinner.
26 If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments,
    and the Lord will bestow her upon you;
27 For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline;
    faithfulness and humility are his delight.

28 Do not disobey the fear of the Lord,
    do not approach it with duplicity of heart.
29 Do not be a hypocrite before others;
    over your lips keep watch.
30 Do not exalt yourself lest you fall
    and bring dishonor upon yourself;

For then the Lord will reveal your secrets
    and cast you down in the midst of the assembly.
Because you did not approach the fear of the Lord,
    and your heart was full of deceit.

THE ROOT AND BRANCH

Lord may I love You

With a holy fear.

For this fear of You

Is glory and exaltation,

The fulness and crown of wisdom

It rains down understanding;

Is the root and branch of knowledge.

It is humility discipline and faithfulness.

May I love You

With a holy fear.

AMEN

NEVER ENOUGH

Ecclesiastes 5:4–12

[4] When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. [5] It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. [6] Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? [7] For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.

[8] If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. [9] But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.

[10] He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. [11] When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? [12] Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. 

NEVER ENOUGH

Lord,

Liberate me

From the appetite

That is never satisfied.

Help me to hunger

For the things that

Last forever.

For Jesus

The Bread of Life.

AMEN

TERRIBLE COMPASSION

St. Luke 7.11-17

AND it came to pass the day after, that Jesus went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier; and they that bare him stood still: and he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak: and he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying, that a great Prophet is risen up among us, and that God hath visited his people. And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.

TERRIBLE COMPASSION

At Nain

Your compassion Lord

Cast aside death;

Provoking fear.

Your power and authority,

Your vanquishing of death,

Is, indeed fearful.

The strength of Your love

For humanity

Beyond imagination.

Fill me with a 

Holy Fear:

That my whole being

May surrender to

Your terrible compassion.

AMEN

WHAT PRICE?

Zechariah 14:12–21

[12] And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

[13] And on that day a great panic from the LORD shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. [14] Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. [15] And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.

[16] Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. [17] And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. [18] And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. [19] This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.

[20] And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar. [21] And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.

WHAT PRICE?

Lord,

What price must be paid

For the whole earth

To acknowledge You

As King?

What price must be paid

For the whole world

To be purified and holy?

What price must be paid

For peace and justice

To fill all places

Everywhere?

The old covenant

Proclaimed the price to be

Horror and plague;

The New:

Christ on the cross,

The enthronement fo the 

Prince of Peace.

AMEN

RESOLUTION

Zechariah 14:1–11

The Coming Day of the LORD

[1] Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. [2] For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. [4] On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. [5] And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

[6] On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. [7] And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.

[8] On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.

[9] And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.

[10] The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. [11] And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security. (ESV)

RESOLUTION

In the end

There will be

Resolution,

Security,

Peace.

You alone Lord

Will stand,

Eternally supreme.

This is

The Hope

Of all the earth.

This is my hope.

AMEN

PURE PROPHECY

Zechariah 13

[1] “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

[2] “And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. [3] And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.

[4] “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, [5] but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’ [6] And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’ he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

[7] “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,

against the man who stands next to me,”

declares the LORD of hosts.

“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;

I will turn my hand against the little ones.

[8] In the whole land, declares the LORD,

two thirds shall be cut off and perish,

and one third shall be left alive.

[9] And I will put this third into the fire,

and refine them as one refines silver,

and test them as gold is tested.

They will call upon my name,

and I will answer them.

I will say, ‘They are my people’;

and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” 

PURE PROPHECY

How precious is

The True Word?

How dangerous

The false.

The first is Life

And light.

The second

Darkness and death.

Here You say:

Better no prophecy

Than false prophecy.

Lord, raise up

True prophets

Now!

AMEN

WOUNDED SAVIOUR

Zechariah 12:1–10

[1] The oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: [2] “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. [3] On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. [4] On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. [5] Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.’

[6] “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

[7] “And the LORD will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. [8] On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them. [9] And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

[10] “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 

WOUNDED SAVIOUR

You are the one who

 ‘Stretched out the heavens,’

The one who

’Stretched out his arms.’

You are

The wounded healer,

Who in being rejected

Fulfils His own promise;

You are

The gift

And source of salvation.

AMEN

A TRUE SHEPHERD

Zechariah 11:4–17

[4] Thus said the LORD my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. [5] Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. [6] For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the LORD. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbour, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”

[7] So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favour, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. [8] In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. [9] So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” [10] And I took my staff Favour, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. [11] So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD. [12] Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. [13] Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD, to the potter. [14] Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

[15] Then the LORD said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. [16] For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

[17] “Woe to my worthless shepherd,

who deserts the flock!

May the sword strike his arm

and his right eye!

Let his arm be wholly withered,

his right eye utterly blinded!” 

A TRUE  SHEPHERD.

Lord,

I thank You

That You are a 

Faithful Shepherd.

You do not lead me

Into confusion or

Despair:

Comfort and strengthen me:

Be my protector

And my guide.

Now and always.

AMEN

LIFT HIGH THE CROSS

Isaiah 63:10–14

[7] I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD,

the praises of the LORD,

according to all that the LORD has granted us,

and the great goodness to the house of Israel

that he has granted them according to his compassion,

according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

[8] For he said, “Surely they are my people,

children who will not deal falsely.”

And he became their Saviour.

[9] In all their affliction he was afflicted,

and the angel of his presence saved them;

in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

[10] But they rebelled

and grieved his Holy Spirit;

therefore he turned to be their enemy,

and himself fought against them.

[11] Then he remembered the days of old,

of Moses and his people.

Where is he who brought them up out of the sea

with the shepherds of his flock?

Where is he who put in the midst of them

his Holy Spirit,

[12] who caused his glorious arm

to go at the right hand of Moses,

who divided the waters before them

to make for himself an everlasting name,

[13]  who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in the desert,

they did not stumble.

[14] Like livestock that go down into the valley,

the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.

So you led your people,

to make for yourself a glorious name.

LIFT HIGH THE CROSS

Lord,

You led Your people

Through the wilderness

By a pillar of cloud

And fire by night:

Every step of the way

You walked with them.

Today, I lift up the cross

In my mind and heart:

By this sign

And its light

You will lead me

By the right path

Through all my living

And in my dying.

AME