Happy are all whose God is YHWH

Friday and Saturday, October 8-9, 2010

Devotions: Ps 104, 137:1-6; 140-44; Mic 3:9-4:5; 5:1-4, 10-15; Acts 24:24-25:27; Lk 8:1-25

Let my soul bless YHWH; Lord, You are covered with honor and majesty, robed in light. Your messengers are winds and flames; You have made all that exists—the cosmos is Your handiwork. All the earth reflects Your care and artistry—oceans and continents, wind and thunder, springs and rivers, animals and plants, and humankind reflecting Your own image. O YHWH, how manifold and mysterious are all Your works! The earth overflows with Your glory. Endure forever in glory, God, and may I sing Your praises forever. Let all that lives bless God. When God's people were in exile, they found it difficult to sing the songs of Zion. So let us treasure the holy land and its holy city, Jerusalem. How I pray, Lord, for the peace and security of Your holy land and all its people! May God deliver me from evil and from the hands of the wicked. You are my God, YHWH, and I will lean on You all my days. Let Your judgment fall on those who reject You and torment me. Set a guard over my mouth, my mind and my eyes, Lord; I am prone to wander and to sin. Help me heart to turn to what is good and to the company of the godly. Rebuke me in Your righteousness, and keep my focus on You and what is holy. Let the wicked fall into their own snares, and let me escape. YHWH, You are my Refuge, my Portion in the land of the living. Hear and answer my prayers, Lord. How I long for You! Don't hide Your face from me. Let me hear of Your steadfast love; I put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should go and deliver me from all enemies. Lead me by Your Spirit. Blessed is YHWH, my Rock. He is training me for the struggle and for the weight of His glory. We mortals arise and pass away like smoke, but God endures. I will sing praise to God, with all my might and all my skill. May our sons and daughter flourish before You; fill our barns and fields with Your bounty. Happy are all people whose God is YHWH!

Let the chiefs among the people of Jacob hear, who abhor justice and fill Jerusalem with sinning. For these, Zion faces the wrath of God! In the latter days, God's holy mountain will be established as the highest place on earth, and the peoples shall flow to it from everywhere. The law will go forth from Zion, God's word from Jerusalem, and all the earth will be judged. Let us beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks. Let nation trouble nation no longer, nor study war any more. Let every man sit under his vine and his fig tree in peace, for YHWH has spoken peace to all. We walk in the name of YHWH our God forever. Israel is walled about by enemies; she is under siege. But Bethlehem Ephrathah, small though you be, from you shall come forth One Who is to rule Israel, ancient in lineage, mighty in wisdom and mercy. He will feed His flock like a Shepherd, in the strength of YHWH, and in the majesty of the Name He bears. God's people will live in peace on that Day. He will throw down all strongholds, all magic and sorcery, all idolatry and prostitution. God will bring vengeance on the unholy, and peace to the people of God.

When Porcius Festus had taken the office of governor, after three days he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. There, the chief priests and Jewish leaders urged him to have Paul sent to Jerusalem for trial. They had planned to murder him along the road. But Festus replied that the accusers could come to Caesarea to accuse Paul there. When he returned, about eight or ten days later, Festus took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought forth; and the Jews surrounded him and bombarded him with charges—serious, but without proof. Paul defended himself again: 'I have not offended the law of the Jews, nor the temple, nor Caesar.' Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor, so he asked Paul if he would go up to Jerusalem for trial. But Paul replied, 'I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried; I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you know well. If I have done a capital crime, I don't seek to escape death. But if their charges are empty, no one can surrender me to them. I appeal to Caesar.' When Festus conferred with his council, they concluded that Paul's appeal was in order, and the governor ordered that Paul be conveyed to Rome to have his hearing before the emperor. After a time, the Jewish king Agrippa and Bernice, his queen, visited with the governor, and Festus described Paul and his situation to them. He told them that Paul was not charged, as Festus had expected, with crimes against the state, but 'certain points of dispute with him about their own superstition and about one Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.' Agrippa told Festus he would like to hear Paul himself, and it was arranged for the next day. Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and Festus had Paul brought before them in the assembly hall. Festus told the king, 'I found that he had done nothing deserving death; and as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to send him to Rome. I have brought him before you today, in hope that I may have something coherent to write explaining the charges against him.'

Jesus traveled among the cities and villages, bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. He was accompanied by the Twelve, His chosen apostles, and some women whom Jesus had healed: Mary Magdalene from whom seven demons had been driven, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others. The women provided for Jesus and His apostles out of their own means. A great crowd gathered to Jesus, and He taught them the parable of the sower, the soils and the seed. When His disciples asked Jesus, He explained the parable: 'To you is given to know the secrets of God's kingdom; for others, the truth is shared in parables, so that seeing they may not see and hearing, they may not understand. The seed is God's word; those along the path hear the word, but immediately Satan comes and snatches the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who hear the word and at first receive it with joy; but they have no root, and fall away at the first challenge or temptation. Concerning what fell among thorns, these hear, but as they go their way, cares and riches and pleasures crowd out awareness of God's word, and their fruit does not mature. The good soil stands for those who hear the word, hold it fast in honest and good hearts, and bring forth fruit with patience. No one, having lit a lamp, hides it away; rather, the light is put on a stand and illuminates the space, so that any who enter may see the light. Nothing is hidden that will not be manifest; nothing is secret that will not become known and shown in the light. So take heed how you hear; to all who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they think they possess will be taken from them.' Shortly, Jesus' mother and brothers came near, but could not get to Jesus because of the throng around Him. Someone told Jesus, 'Your mother and brothers are outside, wanting to see You.' But Jesus said, 'My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it!' One day, Jesus got into a boat with His disciples, saying 'Let's go to the other side of the lake.' They set forth, and Jesus fell asleep. A windstorm came down on the lake, and the boat was foundering. The others woke Jesus, saying, 'Master, Master, we are perishing!' He awoke and rebuked the wind and raging waves—and they ceased and there was a calm. He said to them, 'Where is your faith?' And they were afraid, marveling to one another, 'Who is this? He commands even wind and water and they obey Him!'