1Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
2Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
3But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
4Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
5They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
6They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
7They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
8They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
9O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
10O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
11Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
12The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.
13He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
14The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
15Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.
16The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
17The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
18But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.
From Biblegateway.com
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Psalm 105
Psalm 105
King James Version (KJV)
Psalm 105
1O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.
2Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.
3Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.
4Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
5Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
6O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.
7He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.
8He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;
10And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
11Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:
12When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.
13When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;
14He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
15Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.
16Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.
17He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
18Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
19Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
20The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
21He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
22To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
23Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.
25He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.
26He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.
27They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
28He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.
29He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.
30Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.
31He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts.
32He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.
33He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.
34He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number,
35And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.
36He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.
37He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.
39He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
40The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.
42For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
43And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:
44And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
45That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.
From Biblegateway.com
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Sermons We See
I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day,
I'd rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.
The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but examples always clear;
And the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds,
For to see the good in action is what everybody needs.
I can soon learn how to do it if you'll let me see it done.
I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true;
But I'd rather learn my lesson by observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you and the high advice you give,
But there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.
~Edgar A. Guest
This poem was excerpted from the book "Leaves of Gold".
I'd rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.
The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but examples always clear;
And the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds,
For to see the good in action is what everybody needs.
I can soon learn how to do it if you'll let me see it done.
I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true;
But I'd rather learn my lesson by observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you and the high advice you give,
But there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.
~Edgar A. Guest
This poem was excerpted from the book "Leaves of Gold".
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Lewis Carroll Quotes
I love Lewis Carroll. The world needs imaginative people who can be fun, clean, deep, and odd. :)
Always speak the truth, think before you speak, and write it down afterwards.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.
Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.
Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.
I have proved by actual trial that a letter, that takes an hour to write, takes only about 3 minutes to read!
She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).
'The time has come,' the walrus said, 'to talk of many things: of shoes and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings.'
There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know.
Which form of proverb do you prefer Better late than never, or Better never than late?
While the laughter of joy is in full harmony with our deeper life, the laughter of amusement should be kept apart from it. The danger is too great of thus learning to look at solemn things in a spirit of mockery, and to seek in them opportunities for exercising wit.
Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.
From brainyquote.com
Always speak the truth, think before you speak, and write it down afterwards.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.
Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.
Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.
I have proved by actual trial that a letter, that takes an hour to write, takes only about 3 minutes to read!
She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).
'The time has come,' the walrus said, 'to talk of many things: of shoes and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings.'
There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know.
Which form of proverb do you prefer Better late than never, or Better never than late?
While the laughter of joy is in full harmony with our deeper life, the laughter of amusement should be kept apart from it. The danger is too great of thus learning to look at solemn things in a spirit of mockery, and to seek in them opportunities for exercising wit.
Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.
From brainyquote.com
Monday, November 1, 2010
Longfellow Quotes
Here are some quotes from dear Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
"However things may seem, no evil thing is success and no good thing is failure."
"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad."
"Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat."
"Love gives itself; it is not bought."
"If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."
"Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night."
From brainyquote.com
"However things may seem, no evil thing is success and no good thing is failure."
"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad."
"Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat."
"Love gives itself; it is not bought."
"If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."
"Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night."
From brainyquote.com
Saturday, October 23, 2010
The secret of being content!
(John MacDuff, "THE MIND OF JESUS" 1870)
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed--or hungry, whether living in plenty--or in need." Philippians 4:11-13
It is from the state of our minds that contentment arises--and not from the amount of our possessions. If we are not content with those things which we have--we are not likely to be content, if we succeeded in attaining all that we desire. The possession of all the good we may think it desirable or even possible to attain--would still leave an aching void; there would still be "a cruel something" unpossessed. But when the mind and the present condition are brought to meet--then, and then only, will true contentment be found! If our heart is brought to our condition--then our condition will then be according to our heart.
The consideration that our earthly lot is appointed by God--that it is He who fixes the bounds of our habitation--is eminently calculated to promote contentment. We are to remember that He is not merely the Creator--but the Governor of the world; and that every circumstance which transpires in our life, is under His superintendence and control. And hence we find the people of God, in every age, passing by merely second causes--until they came to the First Great Cause of all. They heard His voice, and saw His hand--in whatever befell them.
There are some who think that it is beneath the notice of God to regard such trivial events as those which make up our common everyday history. But in God's estimation, the distinctions of great and small, of vast and minute--are altogether unknown. It is not a greater act of condescension in God to number the hairs of our head--than it is for Him to number the stars of heaven; the one being as near to His immensity as the other. Such is His infinite greatness, that in comparison with it--the mightiest world is on a level with the smallest atom!
This doctrine is clearly taught in the volume of inspiration. He who rules in the armies of heaven--who commissions angels and flaming seraphs that stand before His throne, saying to one, "Come!" and he comes, and to another, "Go!" and he goes; who wheels the innumerable worlds which are scattered through the immensity of space in their appointed courses--this great, adorable, incomprehensible Being, regards with tender compassion the poor little sparrow which falls unheeded to the ground, and clothes the lowliest flower with its tints of beauty! Of His care, we are warranted in saying that nothing is too great to be above it--and that nothing, on the other hand, is too minute to be beneath it!
Were the doctrine of "chance" a doctrine of God's Word, there might then be some reason for our murmuring. But if it is He who makes poor--and who makes rich; who brings low--and lifts up; if whatever befalls us is by His appointment or permission, whom we profess to love and honor--then, surely, contentment with our lot must be a reasonable duty indeed!
"In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." Job 1:22. Job saw the hand of God in all that took place! It was not to the invasion of the Sabeans and Chaldeans--that he traced the loss of his property. It was not to the fury of "mother nature"--that he traced the death of his children. No! He looked farther and higher! Prostrate in adoration at the Divine footstool, he exclaimed, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had--and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!"
Now, how important it is, that the same mind which was in Job--should be in us also. To murmur under the Divine dispensations--to be dissatisfied with the lot which has been appointed to us--to be always complaining of one circumstance or another--what is this, in effect--but to charge God with wrongdoing? It is practically to attribute folly to Him who is the only wise God, and whose knowledge and understanding are infinite! O let us beware then of a discontented spirit--remembering that God orders all our affairs!
Whatever He gives us--let us thankfully receive it.
Whatever He denies us--let us be satisfied without it.
Whatever He takes from us--let us uncomplainingly part with it.
Whatever trial He lays on us--let us endeavor patiently to bear it.
Yes, our lot in life, with all its attendant circumstances, is chosen by God! Let the sun of prosperity shine--or let the clouds of adversity lower; let our path be smooth--or let it be rugged; we should be disposed to say, "It is the Lord's will--let Him do what He thinks best!" We may be often afflicted, being called to eat the bread of trouble, and drink the waters of affliction--but let us not rest until we can utter these words. We may not be able now to see how it is good; but let us think of the wisdom and love of Him who placed us there--and can we doubt it, whether we understand it or not? He is too wise to err--and too good to be unkind!
"Good when He gives, supremely good,
Nor less when He denies!
Even crosses from His sovereign hand
Are blessings in disguise!"
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed--or hungry, whether living in plenty--or in need." Philippians 4:11-13
It is from the state of our minds that contentment arises--and not from the amount of our possessions. If we are not content with those things which we have--we are not likely to be content, if we succeeded in attaining all that we desire. The possession of all the good we may think it desirable or even possible to attain--would still leave an aching void; there would still be "a cruel something" unpossessed. But when the mind and the present condition are brought to meet--then, and then only, will true contentment be found! If our heart is brought to our condition--then our condition will then be according to our heart.
The consideration that our earthly lot is appointed by God--that it is He who fixes the bounds of our habitation--is eminently calculated to promote contentment. We are to remember that He is not merely the Creator--but the Governor of the world; and that every circumstance which transpires in our life, is under His superintendence and control. And hence we find the people of God, in every age, passing by merely second causes--until they came to the First Great Cause of all. They heard His voice, and saw His hand--in whatever befell them.
There are some who think that it is beneath the notice of God to regard such trivial events as those which make up our common everyday history. But in God's estimation, the distinctions of great and small, of vast and minute--are altogether unknown. It is not a greater act of condescension in God to number the hairs of our head--than it is for Him to number the stars of heaven; the one being as near to His immensity as the other. Such is His infinite greatness, that in comparison with it--the mightiest world is on a level with the smallest atom!
This doctrine is clearly taught in the volume of inspiration. He who rules in the armies of heaven--who commissions angels and flaming seraphs that stand before His throne, saying to one, "Come!" and he comes, and to another, "Go!" and he goes; who wheels the innumerable worlds which are scattered through the immensity of space in their appointed courses--this great, adorable, incomprehensible Being, regards with tender compassion the poor little sparrow which falls unheeded to the ground, and clothes the lowliest flower with its tints of beauty! Of His care, we are warranted in saying that nothing is too great to be above it--and that nothing, on the other hand, is too minute to be beneath it!
Were the doctrine of "chance" a doctrine of God's Word, there might then be some reason for our murmuring. But if it is He who makes poor--and who makes rich; who brings low--and lifts up; if whatever befalls us is by His appointment or permission, whom we profess to love and honor--then, surely, contentment with our lot must be a reasonable duty indeed!
"In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." Job 1:22. Job saw the hand of God in all that took place! It was not to the invasion of the Sabeans and Chaldeans--that he traced the loss of his property. It was not to the fury of "mother nature"--that he traced the death of his children. No! He looked farther and higher! Prostrate in adoration at the Divine footstool, he exclaimed, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had--and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!"
Now, how important it is, that the same mind which was in Job--should be in us also. To murmur under the Divine dispensations--to be dissatisfied with the lot which has been appointed to us--to be always complaining of one circumstance or another--what is this, in effect--but to charge God with wrongdoing? It is practically to attribute folly to Him who is the only wise God, and whose knowledge and understanding are infinite! O let us beware then of a discontented spirit--remembering that God orders all our affairs!
Whatever He gives us--let us thankfully receive it.
Whatever He denies us--let us be satisfied without it.
Whatever He takes from us--let us uncomplainingly part with it.
Whatever trial He lays on us--let us endeavor patiently to bear it.
Yes, our lot in life, with all its attendant circumstances, is chosen by God! Let the sun of prosperity shine--or let the clouds of adversity lower; let our path be smooth--or let it be rugged; we should be disposed to say, "It is the Lord's will--let Him do what He thinks best!" We may be often afflicted, being called to eat the bread of trouble, and drink the waters of affliction--but let us not rest until we can utter these words. We may not be able now to see how it is good; but let us think of the wisdom and love of Him who placed us there--and can we doubt it, whether we understand it or not? He is too wise to err--and too good to be unkind!
"Good when He gives, supremely good,
Nor less when He denies!
Even crosses from His sovereign hand
Are blessings in disguise!"
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Words: Julia W. Howe, 1861, alt. This hymn was born during the American civil war, when Howe visited a Union Army camp on the Potomac River near Washington, D. C. She heard the soldiers singing the song “John Brown’s Body,” and was taken with the strong marching beat. She wrote the words the next day:
I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, “I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!” So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen, which I remembered using the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
“As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
[originally …let us die to make men free]
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
History and lyrics from www.cyberhymnal.org
I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, “I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!” So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen, which I remembered using the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
“As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
[originally …let us die to make men free]
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
History and lyrics from www.cyberhymnal.org
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