Joy

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 30:4–5

Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

This passage has lots less words in Hebrew. The last two sentences contain:

• Anger moment - These two words tell us that the moment reḡaʿof God’s anger, is like the blink of an eye. 
• Weeping over night - Has one more word lûn, which speaks of a traveler that spends only the night. 
• Joy morning  - But force of the verse comes from a conjunction vᵊlabōqer that drives home the idea that after this brief night, the morning brings joy.

Lamentations 3:22-23

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

plant

 This week we begin worship with:

Jeremiah 31:28

And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and

break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them

to build and to plant, declares the LORD.

This verse comes in the middle of Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel and the institution of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31).  The first half of which occurred as a dream, and from which he woke and declared:

Jeremiah 31:26

At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

As a farmer, as a shepherd, as a gardener, there are times when you must "bring harm".  This is for the health of the crop, the flock, and the tree.  That time is now past.  It is now time to plant!  

Watch what is planted . . . the Word of God.

Jeremiah 31:33
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  

And from the New Testament and the parable of the Sower: 

Luke 8:11
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 
 

provision

Today we begin worship with:

Romans 13:11-12

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

When we are up north, the weather and our activities change so dramatically throughout the day.  Regularly we "cast off" the long pants needed for the chilled mornings to "put on" the swimsuits of the afternoon, only to put back on the flannel shirt for the evenings campfire.

What Paul is describing here is rather a one-time decision to cast off "works" and put on "armor".  He explains further, what (or better said, "who") we are putting on:

Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

The flesh clamors for our attention and our attentive "provision" (pronoia).  But covered by armor the flesh is silenced and the call to battle can be heard above its complaints.  We are not called to an ascetic lifestyle where the battle is against the body, but rather we are called to a generous lifestyle where the battle cry is "love" (Romans 13:8-10).

 

compassion

 This week we begin worship with:

2 Chronicles 30:9

For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.

When King Hezekiah began his reign, he restored the temple, re-established the priesthood, had them cleanse the temple and offered long overdue sacrifices.  

2 Chronicles 29:35b

Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored.

He then sent couriers throughout the country with today's message, which contains the promise:

• "If you return to the Lord", then 
• "your brothers and your children will find compassion".

This is not about them.  This is about the nation.  

Their actions would bring about God's "compassion" (raḥam) on the nation, and not only on the current generation, but on the next.  This word is often translated "tender mercies" in the Psalms and is best understood as the care given by a mother to her newborn.

Let us continue to sanctify and sacrifice ourselves as prescribed (Romans 12), so that God will have mercy on this nation.