It's On My Mind

August 23, 2019 (Friday)
Ride the Wind Day is a carefree day to soar above the earth. You can catch a ride with the breeze, or float along slowly like a gentle, late summer cloud. Summer will soon be over. Catching the drift of this day is easy. Just relax, and let the wind carry you away in whatever direction it is blowing. Leave your troubles and worries behind for a spell, as you waft in the air.
According to the web site, “Holiday Insights,” today is Ride the Wind Day. They suggest some great ways to enjoy the day: Fly in an airplane, Fly a kite, Parachute, Hang glide, Take a motorcycle ride, Hop in a sailboat and go for a ride, or Just kick back and enjoy one of the last days of summer. All good suggestions, I suppose.
I do not wish to seem irreverent, but as I looked over the list of things to do, I could not help but think of that day when Jesus returns, raises the dead, gives them glorified heavenly bodies, changes those who are alive, and takes us all home to be with Him forever.
Paul went to Macedonia to preach, and while there he visited the city of Thessalonica. Later, when Paul was in another place, he got a letter from the folks in Thessalonica. They had understood Paul to say that Jesus was coming back right away, but He had delayed His coming. During that delay, some of their loved ones had died. They wrote to Paul to ask about the fate of their loved ones who had died. This is what Paul answered (1 Thesslonians 4:13-18 The Message Translation):

Regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus. And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence–we have the Master’s word on it–that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise–they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.

How about an encore with a Kim Collingsworth piano medley:

August 22, 2019 (Thursday)
The hymn, “Leaning On The Everlasting Arms,” is a song of comfort to us Christians. We have followed the suggestion of another great hymn, “Learning to Lean,” taught to us by a noted Scotch evangelist who years ago came to Rockport at our invitation. We not only learn to lean on the Lord, we can also learn to lean on other people, and we can invite them to lean on us when there is a need. Jim Withers was born in West Virginia in 1938, so he’s only seven years younger than I and he is a wonderful writer of songs. The song, “Lean on Me,” surely puts into modern words the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sisters Dianna-Debbie

August 21, 2019 (Wednesday)
(From the Cambridge Bible Commentary):“Another jubilant anthem, in which Israel is exhorted to praise Jehovah its Maker, Who has restored it to a position of dignity and honour (Psalm 149:1-4); and a victorious triumph over all the nations of the world is confidently anticipated (Psalm 149:5-9). In Psalm 148:11 the nations are summoned to join with Israel in the chorus of universal praise: here their obstinate hostility is represented as doomed to punishment. “That nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isaiah 60:12).
“This Psalm has been confidently assigned, and not without good reason, to the Maccabaean period. Religious ardour, united with a consciousness of vigorous strength, national enthusiasm coupled with passionate hatred of national enemies, were, it is pointed out, prominent characteristics of the Maccabaean period.”
(From the Easy English Bible Commentary):“The Jews fought actual wars and gained independence during their Maccabean period. The war that Christians fight today, however, is not with guns and knives. It is a war with *prayer and love instead of guns and knives. (edited excerpt).”
(From Charles Haddon Spurgeon):“We are almost at the last Psalm, and still among the Hallelujahs. This is “a new song”, evidently intended for the new creation, and the men who are of new heart. It is such a song as may be sung at the coming of the Lord, when the new dispensation shall bring overthrow to the wicked and honour to all the saints. The tone is exceedingly jubilant and exultant. All through one hears the beat of the feet of dancing maidens, keeping time to the timbrel and harp.”

Some Bible students think that Psalm 149 is not only about a war that the Jews fought, or even the Christian war of Ephesians 6 in which God’s people daily fight evil. It also makes us look at when Jesus will come back to the earth.

August 21, 2019 (Wednesday)

(From the Cambridge Bible Commentary):“Another jubilant anthem, in which Israel is exhorted to praise Jehovah its Maker, Who has restored it to a position of dignity and honour (Psalm 149:1-4); and a victorious triumph over all the nations of the world is confidently anticipated (Psalm 149:5-9). In Psalm 148:11 the nations are summoned to join with Israel in the chorus of universal praise: here their obstinate hostility is represented as doomed to punishment. “That nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isaiah 60:12).

“This Psalm has been confidently assigned, and not without good reason, to the Maccabaean period. Religious ardour, united with a consciousness of vigorous strength, national enthusiasm coupled with passionate hatred of national enemies, were, it is pointed out, prominent characteristics of the Maccabaean period.”

(From the Easy English Bible Commentary):“The Jews fought actual wars and gained independence during their Maccabean period. The war that Christians fight today, however, is not with guns and knives. It is a war with *prayer and love instead of guns and knives. (edited excerpt).”

(From Charles Haddon Spurgeon):“We are almost at the last Psalm, and still among the Hallelujahs. This is “a new song”, evidently intended for the new creation, and the men who are of new heart. It is such a song as may be sung at the coming of the Lord, when the new dispensation shall bring overthrow to the wicked and honour to all the saints. The tone is exceedingly jubilant and exultant. All through one hears the beat of the feet of dancing maidens, keeping time to the timbrel and harp.”

Psalm 149 New International Version (NIV)

I. THE PRAISE OF GOD’S PEOPLE (1-4)
1 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.

II. THE POWER OF GOD’S PEOPLE (5-9)
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
9 to carry out the sentence written against them–
this is the glory of all his faithful people.
Praise the Lord.

Compare three translations side by side. Click here.

Click here for Pulpit Commentary notes on Psalm 149

Click here for Easy English Explanations about Psalm 149

Click here for Cambridge Bible Commentary notes on Psalm 149

Click here for Spurgeon’s Treasury of David on Psalm 149

Click here for Enduring Word Commentary notes on Psalm 149

Some Bible students think that Psalm 149 is not only about a war that the Jews fought, or even the Christian war of Ephesians 6 in which God’s people daily fight evil. It also makes us look at when Jesus will come back to the earth.

JESUS SHALL REIGN Authors, Isaac Watts and John Hatton 1719

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to
shore, Till suns shall rise and set no more.

Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed.

To our King be highest praise
Rising through eternal days
Just and faithful – He shall reign.

Jesus shall reign
People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song; And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early praising of His Name.

To our King be highest praise
Rising through eternal days
Just and faithful – He shall reign.

Jesus shall reign
Let every creature rise and bring
Blessing and honour to our King;

Angels descend with songs
again, And earth repeat the loud amen!
To our King be highest praise
Rising through eternal days

Just and faithful – He shall reign. Jesus shall reign
To our King be highest praise
Rising through eternal days
Just and faithful – He shall reign. Jesus shall reign

Click here for a list of Psalms we will study from June 5, 2019 to August 28, 2019

August 20, 2019 (Tuesday)
The street vendor (called “peddler” back then) came into his own during the Great Depression of the 30’s.
Most streets in Houston back then were made of shell or gravel. Some were just dirt, clay or black land. After a big rain, when I was a little preschooler, I lost my boots in the black goo of a neighborhood street. But the vendors didn’t let a little thing like muddy streets keep them from making their rounds.
What I remember most of all as a little boy was the ice cream man. The one that came by our house pedaled a big tricycle with a loud bell. His freezer was under the seat and between the rear wheels. Dry ice kept the ice cream cold. I loved every kind he sold. I guess one of my favorites was the fudgesicle. My mother would occasionally ask me to bring her an eskimo pie. My sisters loved the popsicles, any flavor.
There were others on the street: the ice man, who drove a horse-drawn wagon was one of them. The blocks of ice were covered with a very thick tarpaulin to slow melting, and kept in as large blocks as possible until sold in smaller blocks. He mostly had regular customers, so he could move the ice along from wagon to ice box without delay. He carried the ice in tongs. (After I got a little older, I would occasionally go to the store to buy a 25 pound block of ice, tied with a large twine).
Someone else you would see on the street was the milkman. The one that came down our street drove a horse-drawn vehicle. But you had to get up early to see him, as he went to the homes of regular customers at the crack of dawn, and left their standard order on the porch. The milk was in glass bottles, almost always quart size. The vendor who made the most noise was the tamale man. He pushed a cart down the street, yelling at the top of his voice, “H-0-T T-A-M-A-L-E-S!!” He had different customers each day, and the next day would push his cart down a different street, calling out the magic words.
Sometimes the vendor was a truck farmer, who brought his crops to town and sold them from his wagon. Real bargains could be found in fruits and vegetables.
Other vendors on the streets would go from door to door trying to sell products like brushes or vacuum cleaners. Some were insurance salesmen. Some brought handmade products and others offered handyman services of various kinds. Many others knocked on the doors or called out from the streets in those days.
All these people had one thing in common; they were willing to work, and they thought up a way to earn money.
Ah, the streets of the Great Depression. Those were the days. In the hard times, the great American spirit shone brightly.