Does God Tarry

[1]

Psalm 27:14 American Standard Version

¹⁴ Wait for Jehovah:
Be strong, and let thy heart take courage;
Yea, wait thou for Jehovah.

 It was tedious being in Arlington Gardens Care Center rehabilitation center after a nasty bout with West Nile Virus. They had done great things for me. When I arrived there, I couldn’t walk. My brain fever had made me speak a bunch of rubbish. I was terribly weak from three weeks of lying in bed. My memory was totally shot. I lost at least five weeks, including three weeks in hospital, of memory about my own experience. I am eternally grateful for all they have done for me; but they didn’t want to quit.

Now I was walking around freely. They insisted I push a wheel chair or a walker wherever I went—not because I needed it to walk—they were afraid that if I fell, I would sue them. My blood pressure was down to less than 110/50, yet they threatened to force the blood pressure medicine down my throat if I didn’t keep taking it. I began keeping it in my mouth until I could get to the bathroom and spit it down the toilet. I urged them to remove my catheter, but they delayed on that for weeks. When they finally removed it, it became evident that it had caused a UTI. They refused to admit that it was true until I finally got the nurse to look at the blood in the toilet after I urinated. Then they delayed treating it for almost a week.

When I demanded that they release me, they threatened that if I walked out on them, they would notify Medicare, and I would never be able to get any rehab again. Why were they so anxious to keep me? I assume because they were making big bucks on me and didn’t have to do the usual nursing service for me. They indicated that the only way they could discharge me was for a committee to meet and discharge me. Most of the people on the committee didn’t know me. They had not even seen me. Their sole interest appeared to be the almighty dollar.

The day I returned home, at long last, I walked around the block our house is on. It’s about ¾ mile (about 1 km), and I made it just fine. That evening my legs cramped, which indicated that I had exercised them far more than they were used to.

I had indeed waited a long time for Jehovah. Maybe He had His reasons for keeping me in rehab for so long.

Thank You, Lord, for overseeing my life and welfare. You surely know what is best for me even when I don’t see it or understand.

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[1] https://clipartix.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Old-man-with-walker-clipart-clipartfest.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

David & Goliath--Armenian

 

[1]

Psalm 151 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

 This psalm is ascribed to David as his own composition (though it is outside the number of 150), after he had fought in single combat with Goliath.

151 I was small among my brothers
    and the youngest in my father’s house;
I tended my father’s sheep.

² My hands made a harp;
    my fingers fashioned a lyre.

³ And who will tell my Lord?
    The Lord himself; it is he who hears.

⁴ It was he who sent his messenger
    and took me from my father’s sheep
    and anointed me with his anointing oil.

⁵ My brothers were handsome and tall,
    but the Lord was not pleased with them.

⁶ I went out to meet the foreigner,
    and he cursed me by his idols.

⁷ But I drew his own sword;
    I beheaded him and removed disgrace from the people of Israel.

 

I ran into this Psalm 151, by accident, when looking something else up in Bible Gateway. Of course, everyone knows that there are 150 Psalms. So, ever curious, I Googled Psalm 151 and found that it is neither in the Testaments nor the Apocrypha, as accepted by the Roman Catholic church. Wikipedia claims that it is accepted by the Orthodox (Coptic, Eastern, and Syrian) and Armenian churches. The Orthodox Church includes it in a liturgy as a prophecy of the coming of Christ It has been included by several modern English translations including in the Common English Bible, Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Orthodox Study Bible, and  Revised Standard Version, all published since 1977, and also in a number of less popular English translations now in the public domain.

I have always been interested in what writings are included in the sacred canon and what are omitted. The Jewish and Septuagint versions omit the New Testament. The Septuagint includes much of the Apocrypha, which the Hebrew versions tend to omit. The Christian church assembled the New Testament by the end of the fourth century AD. There were a number of other New Testament era gospel and epistle contenders that are rejected almost uniformly by all branches of Christianity.

I regard the question of what we regard as inspired text in the Bible as an important question. In John 5:39 Christ point out, ³ “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that testify on my behalf.” He recognized that His life was the very fulfillment of scripture.

After doing much research, I think I am willing to accept the Protestant Scriptures as the ones sufficient to teach me about Christ. However, I choose to remain open to this discussion.

Lord, thank You for giving us the Scriptures and encouraging us to search them since they surely testify about You. 

 

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[1] Armenian Scriptures 1666 https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/images/library/special_collections/armbible.jpg