Preparation Day: 50
The God of gods—it’s God!—speaks out, shouts, “Earth!”
welcomes the sun in the east,
farewells the disappearing sun in the west.
From the dazzle of Zion,
God blazes into view.
Our God makes his entrance,
he’s not shy in his coming.
Starbursts of fireworks precede him.
He summons heaven and earth as a jury,
he’s taking his people to court:
“Round up my saints who swore
on the Bible their loyalty to me.”
The whole cosmos attests to the fairness of this court,
that here God is judge.
“Are you listening, dear people? I’m getting ready to speak;
Israel, I’m about ready to bring you to trial.
This is God, your God,
speaking to you.
I don’t find fault with your acts of worship,
the frequent burnt sacrifices you offer.
But why should I want your blue-ribbon bull,
or more and more goats from your herds?
Every creature in the forest is mine,
the wild animals on all the mountains.
I know every mountain bird by name;
the scampering field mice are my friends.
If I get hungry, do you think I’d tell you?
All creation and its bounty are mine.
Do you think I feast on venison?
or drink draughts of goats’ blood?
Spread for me a banquet of praise,
serve High God a feast of kept promises,
And call for help when you’re in trouble—
I’ll help you, and you’ll honor me.”
from Psalm 50, The Message
What a breath of Spirit I’m inhaling right now! And I imagine God doing the same thing when He feasts on praise from the heart that remembers His promises. All the while, His ear is attentive to run to the voice calling to Him in trouble. How I love our YHWH—our covenant God of Light Who delights in rescue from darkness.
2011/10/29 at 4:20 PM
Have a blessed day of worship and rest tomorrow, Lyla. =)
2011/10/29 at 9:40 PM
p.s. that gorgeous photo up above with the light coulda/shoulda been in Kelly Sauer’s THC photo play a week or so ago. It. is. wonderful!
2011/10/29 at 9:42 PM
A banquet of praise, a feast of kept promises….what a joy to offer these things to Him!
Peaceful Sabbath, Lyla.
2011/10/30 at 10:38 AM
Our God’s coming is not shy. Just think of the entrance that’s coming. It won’t be a shy one. Fireworks!
Are those cattails from where you are? I didn’t know they grew outside Louisiana. Small world.
2011/10/30 at 9:21 PM
Just down the road from my house… They’re at the edge of a cornfield that’s partly morphed into a slough during a few wet years in a row. I’m pretty close to the Minnesota lakes region, so reeds and cattails can be pretty common.
2011/10/30 at 9:26 PM
Jennifer
When I was kid growing up in northern Illinois, we had cat tails. In fact, the little creek by our house had an island that had cat tails. We called it Cattail Island and would often get our shoes full of water when we jumped from shore and came up short. Thanks for jog to the childhood memory.
Paul W
2011/10/31 at 10:57 AM
The blue ribbon bull line was clever
2011/10/31 at 9:30 AM