Ascribe to the Lord Glory

Ascribe to the Lord , O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord glory due His name;
worship the Lord in the spendor of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirlon like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth in flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness,
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare,
and in His temple, all cry "Glory!"


The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to His people!
May the Lord bless His people with peace!

A Place of Praise...

A place of praise...they each found it, Mary and Zechariah.  They started at different places,belief and unbelief; and yet they ended in the same spot- glorifying God. This strikes me as funny that God directs not only belief, but more importantly, disbelief into praise in His chosen.  Hail Mary, full of grace - she has the right response from the beginning.  And the Zechariah, the priest and example, he wavers and kerfaphels and ends up right where Mary, itty bitty girlie, started.  Isn't is appropriate that God tells us the story upside down, because all of the story is upside down.  Strong become weak, that weak can be made strong.  So today, whether our weakness is shored in strength and we look in hope to His salvation or we are indeed, on the other shore, looking on at Christmas present in sadness and disbelief, with our weaknesses as yet, seemingly unsupported; His truth will always be true. Whereever we are, belief or unbelief, if we are His, and we are; and  we will end in a place of praise to Him and Him alone. He is I AM, There is no other.

HYMN 17

The Song of Mary

Luke 1:46-55

 

Magnificat                                                                                                  Strasbourg, 1539

1. My soul will magnify

the Lord, who from on high

has blessed me with his favour.

His praises I will voice;

my spirit will rejoice

in him, my God and Saviour.

 

2. The Lord, so good and great,

looked on my lowly state.

Now will all generations

from age to age attest

how richly I am blest. 

Great is my exaltation!                                                      

 

3. How holy is his name!

The Mighty One, he came

and showed me his great favour.

With mercy he is near

to all who him revere;

his love endures forever.

 

4. His arm revealed his might,

for he has put to flight

all those who are proud-hearted,

and he pulled haughty ones

down from their lofty thrones;

the lowly he supported.                                                                           

 

5. Abundant gifts the Lord

has on the hungry poured;

their suffering he has ended.

The rich he sent away;

he, much to their dismay,

let them go empty-handed.

 

6. The Lord is merciful;

his servant Israel

he graciously delivered,

remembering evermore

what he to Abraham swore

and to his seed forever.

 

HYMN 18

The Song of Zechariah

Luke 1:68-79

 

1.  Blest be the God of Israel,

for he has come to set us free;

in David’s house the Lord has raised

salvation’s horn for all to see.

He through his prophets long ago

said he would save us from our foe,

from all who scorn and hate us.

He has not put our fathers’ faith to shame

but, in his love remembering them,

has kept the oath he swore to Abraham.

 

2.  His faithfulness he has now shown,

that we might serve him without fear,

that all our days with upright hearts

we in his presence might appear.

Of you, my child, it will be said

that God Most High sent you ahead

as herald of salvation.

You will before the Lord prepare his way

and tell his people of the day

when he to them his mercy will display.

 

3.  As God has promised, all our sins

will be forgiven, swept away.

He from on high in tender love

will bless us with the glorious day

on which before our very eyes

the radiant Morning Sun will rise

to shine on us forever.

From death’s dark shadow he will grant release

and, when its tyranny shall cease,

will guide our feet into the path of peace.

 

 

Post Note-

Girlie, thanks for the reference to the hymns, loved this especially:

As God has promised, all our sins

will be forgiven, swept away.

He from on high in tender love

will bless us with the glorious day

on which before our very eyes

the radiant Morning Sun will rise

to shine on us forever.

Favorite Books of 2012

This is my list of favs for this past year.  I hope to finish a few more books before the end of the year as I've yet to reach my book goal -- but my method for compiling is fitting of my personality.  I jump in and start and it just gels or not.  Also I wanted to post this on 12, 12, 12 - ergo a list of 12 instead of 10 - a sneaking way of fitting a few more in... but as life would have it at on 12/12 at 12:12 I was herding 12 little kiddies towards lunch with my faithful sidekick P. when they were ready for nap instead of food.  It passed me by in bedlam without a slight recognition of what I was missing... I am pretty sure washing hands, dabbing a tear and telling one - she was headed for the chair if she didn't pick a toy right then was more important than throwing confetti at a clock in an already rummage through school room.
Ergo -- I read for the rest but a good rest of my life is spent reading kiddies!

1. The Baptized Body -  Peter Leithart...E and I read this as we prepared for our grandnephew's baptism, I then read it on my own and listened to it on Mp3.  I didn't grow up in a christian culture that accepted paedobaptism as a valid view.  This book really grew my excitement for the need of baptizing little ones and the true blessing, mandate and affect of it.  I plan to read the book on the Lord's Table this coming year as a follow up.
2. All Loves's Excelling - John Bunyan...This was a recommendation from a person I greatly admire. The insight in this book on sitting in God's love is both  humbling and hopeful.  It is best digested in small chunks as necessary pause for reflection is overwhelming and frequent.
3. Escape from Reason - Francis Schaeffer...This small book developed my appetite to know where and how philosophy has yanked the current culture off its intellectual rails.  It is written direct and clear, for me, for me that was helpful as philosophy - scares me just a little.  Schaeffer again reminds in this book, that if God is who He says He is, and He is, we have nothing to be afraid of.  That is reassuring to a non-conflict disposition - fuel for engagement.
4.  Wordsmithy - Douglas Wilson,...Picked it up - didn't stop except to underline, circle and make  notes. Anyone who wants to write better will appreciate this book.
5. Third Time Around - George Grant This is my favorite of Dr. Grant's books, it follows the history of the pro-life movement and the champions that fought valiently for the rights of women and children.  I love that so many missionaries I'd never heard of were included - I plan to go back through and find out more about the lives of several of these brothers and sisters that have gone before.
6. An Experiment in Criticism-C.S. Lewis.  This book plots the habit of reading and thinking and has one liners everywhere.  C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite writers and I loved the challenge set forth in this book.
7. Embracing Obscurity - Author obscure.  Part of the mystic of this book is that the author is unknown, yet I can think of a few handful of people who write it everyday with their lives.  I love the juxaposition of Joseph and Saul and the charts.  Convicting and convincing - this is a call to everyone that is called in Him.
8. Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You - Mardy Grothe   The enjoyment factor of this book should shoot it to my #1 position but it's a bit frivilous and at places gritty.  I had a great time playing with words and doodling after examples.  This is a great book to pick up if you want to play with words and laugh out loud.
9. Crisis, Opportunity and the Christian Future- Dr. James Jordan.  There was alot of new news to me in this tiny book.  My husband read it after me and we had some great talks - no doubt, when we pick it up again, we will have more great talks and enjoy the jaunt of the journey.
10.  Remember the Rhema - Donna Johnson.  This is a quick little read for remembering the word. It is more devotional that Kay Arthurs Studying God Word's, so it serves a different purpose.  I like it because it has a plan for get the Word to stick in the memory, -- cool beans!!
11. Bold Love - Dan Allender.  I read a few of his books this last year.  There are wonderful directives for living is a loving way without enabling others to cause more damage to themselves and you.  One line that changed me went something like: Trust God as you trust others, earth has no hurt that heaven can't heal.
12. Til We Have Faces- C.S. Lewis.  This was the first fiction book I'd read in quite a while.  Fiction is hard for me.  My sweet daughter recommended as a good place to start. The picture of fallen-ness and redemption are powerful, this would be a great book to read in a class setting.