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

Atmospheric River

[1]

 

Psalm 135:7 Good News Translation

⁷ He brings storm clouds from the ends of the earth;
    he makes lightning for the storms,
    and he brings out the wind from his storeroom.

 

We have had at least 12 “atmospheric rivers” go through Riverside this rainy season. That was a new term in my book this year. This is certainly unusual for us desert rats. Almost weekly another storm has blown up across the Pacific Ocean and dumped rain on us. In towns that are built on flat ground the water can’t run off fast enough, and so it leaves floods.

 Here is a picture of the little town (about 3,000 people) of Pajaro, California, shows the flood they experienced. Or if it is at sufficient altitude, it leaves piles of snow, like it has in Mammoth Lakes, California.

 Mammoth, California  [3]

Pajaro, California [2]  

We are in hilly country, so the excess water runs away as fast as it comes down from the skies.

Sylvia said to me the other day in serious concern, “Our swimming pool is running over.”

“Isn’t that marvelous?” I rejoiced. “And it hasn’t cost us a penny!” We haven’t had to top it up for at least three months. I usually have to add water to my swimming pool once a fortnight due to evaporation. I haven’t had to this season.

Our desert hills that surround out home are usually a very dry brown color. However, rains came early—the hills were green for Thanksgiving last November. They are still a beautiful green. Two slopes in front of our house are orange from the California poppies growing wild on them. Almost every day we take Katie on an hour walk through the hills. She loves the freedom to run anywhere without a leash

Yesterday we counted over 40 different kinds of wildflowers that were blooming along the walk. We also saw our first rattlesnake of the season coiled up in a niche in the rock to absorb the spring sunshine and escape the chill breeze. So now we will all have to keep our eyes open to more than flowers for the rest of the spring.

Thank You, Lord, for making our desert blossom like a rose[4], and for keeping us safe from the snares that Satan puts in our way.

 

 

 

 

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[1] https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--orBwvbC6--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_center,h_900,q_80,w_1600/iyjxqzqds5mjsoxc6yuw.jpg

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/13/california-weather-atmospheric-river-flooding

[3] Ibid.

[4] Isaiah 35:1 (HCSB) The wilderness and the dry land will be glad the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose;

 

You Also Ought to Wash One Another's Feet

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John 13:4-5, 13-14 New King James Version

⁴ [Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. ⁵ After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded…

¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

 

The Adventist Church, celebrates communion quarterly and usually couples this with foot washing. Many members refrain from the foot washing ceremony. It is inconvenient, embarrassing, and demeaning. Our Lord knew that when He encouraged us to do it.

Before coming to a Maundy Thursday foot washing service, I prayed, “Lord, lead me to someone tonight whom You want me to serve.” After a good sermon about the Last Supper and the brutal seizure of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, we broke up, and people went forward to pick up a basin with a bit of water in it and a paper napkin for a towel. I let the worshipers walk forward and started down the aisle of the church with that prayer in my heart. Probably fully one-third of the people were obviously not planning to participate and remained sitting on the benches.

One man sat alone near the back of the church. Something seemed to indicate that I should speak with him, “Do you have someone to serve you?” I inquired.

He looked confused at my empty hands. Some people were walking up and down the aisles handing out the emblems for communion. I had none. So, I rephrased the question, “Do you have someone to wash your feet, or may I do it?”

He responded tentatively, “Sure.” and began to squirm a bit uncomfortably.

“Good! I’ll fetch the basin, and you take off your socks and shoes.”

I walked back up to the front and picked up a basin of water. When I got back to him, he was still sitting uncertainly on the bench. I sat down on the bench in front of him, and he removed his shoes and socks. I knelt down in front of him and prayed that I wouldn’t have a leg cramp. Of course, my left leg started to cramp, so I switched knees on the floor.

While I repositioned his feet in the basin, I asked him when he had been converted. A look of surprise spread across his face, and he wiped it off immediately. He had grown up an Adventist and then lost interest. About 8 years ago, he decided to go back to school and went to La Sierra University. Now he was attending church, and he decided to try Christianity again. I indicated that that had been my Christian experience, too. I told of how a soldier in Germany had taken me on as his missionary project.

When he started to wash my feet, he asked how old I was. I told him 81, “I’m 54.” He’s the same age as my eldest child, the thought flashed through my mind, But He wasn’t finished. “What do you do with the big problem of sin?” he mumbled, deeply in earnest.

“I have that problem, too,” I admitted. “We will always have that problem. We were born with several thousand years of sinful ancestors before us. It’s in our very blood. That is why we celebrate communion. Christ took our sins away and His sacrifice still takes our sins away. He has promised in the Bible that He will never let Satan steal us away from Him.”

“I thought that people always do foot washing in silence,” he said meditatively.

“Ï have gained rich blessings when I talk with those I have had the privilege of serving,” I responded. “And I have gained a rich blessing with you!”

“I have, too,” he said as we parted. I walked back to my seat with Sylvia. A warm glow permeated my body as I realized how God had answered my prayer that evening. Later that evening, my new friend introduced his wife to me. It turned out that she and my wife knew each other.

On Sabbath morning another church member told me of how, at Destination Sabbath School, my new friend witnessed to the blessing he had received that evening.

Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to share in Your ministry!

 

 

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[1] https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Washing-Feet.jpg