LHC Midday Word: August 2021

Tuesday 31 August 2021

The Book of ISAIAH - Chapter Forty

ISAIAH Chapter 40 - 66

- Overview

The Bible Project

Comfort for God’s people

Comfort, comfort my people,

says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,

that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling:

‘In the wilderness prepare

the way for the Lord;

make straight in the desert

a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up,

every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

A voice says, ‘Cry out.’

And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’

‘All people are like grass,

and all their faithfulness is like

the flowers of the field.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

because the breath of the Lord blows on them.

Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God endures for ever.’

You who bring good news to Zion,

go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good news to Jerusalem,

lift up your voice with a shout,

lift it up, do not be afraid;

say to the towns of Judah,

‘Here is your God!’

See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,

and he rules with a mighty arm.

See, his reward is with him,

and his recompense accompanies him.

He tends his flock like a shepherd:

he gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart;

he gently leads those that have young.

Who has measured the waters

in the hollow of his hand,

or with the breadth of his hand

marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on the scales

and the hills in a balance?

Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,

or instruct the Lord as his counsellor?

Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,

and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge,

or showed him the path of understanding?

Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are regarded as dust on the scales;

he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,

nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

Before him all the nations are as nothing;

they are regarded by him as worthless

and less than nothing.

With whom, then, will you compare God?

To what image will you liken him?

As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,

and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

and fashions silver chains for it.

A person too poor to present such an offering

selects wood that will not rot;

they look for a skilled worker

to set up an idol that will not topple.

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood

since the earth was founded?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

He brings princes to naught

and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

No sooner are they planted,

no sooner are they sown,

no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than he blows on them and they wither,

and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

‘To whom will you compare me?

Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:

who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

Why do you complain, Jacob?

Why do you say, Israel,

‘My way is hidden from the Lord;

my cause is disregarded by my God’?

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 40: “tenderly” (v.2)

These latter chapters of Isaiah take us into the earthly ministry of Jesus. His prediction about the preaching of John the Baptist (see Matthew 3 v.3) appears here, “a voice of one calling: in the desert prepare the way for the LORD” (v.3). It’s a proclamation of God’s love “comfort, comfort my people ... speak tenderly to Jerusalem ... her hard service has been completed ... her sin has been paid for” (vv.1-2). Ever heard the gospel song “softly and tenderly Jesus is calling”?

More importantly, ever heard the Saviour’s tender voice? And responded?

The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 40

- Read by David Suchet -

-=-

ISAIAH Chapter 1 to 39

- Overview -

The Bible Project

https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8

STUDY - LINKS

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 1 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/XqNzGrYbFWg

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 2 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/1VLLZ_6ZjiE

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Monday 30 August 2021

The Book of Ecclesiastes - Chapter Twelve

Remember your Creator

in the days of your youth,

before the days of trouble come

and the years approach when you will say,

‘I find no pleasure in them’–

before the sun and the light

and the moon and the stars grow dark,

and the clouds return after the rain;

when the keepers of the house tremble,

and the strong men stoop,

when the grinders cease because they are few,

and those looking through the windows grow dim;

when the doors to the street are closed

and the sound of grinding fades;

when people rise up at the sound of birds,

but all their songs grow faint;

when people are afraid of heights

and of dangers in the streets;

when the almond tree blossoms

and the grasshopper drags itself along

and desire no longer is stirred.

Then people go to their eternal home

and mourners go about the streets.

Remember him – before the silver cord is severed,

and the golden bowl is broken;

before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,

and the wheel broken at the well,

and the dust returns to the ground it came from,

and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher.

‘Everything is meaningless!’

The conclusion of the matter

Not only was the Teacher wise,

but also he imparted knowledge to the people.

He pondered and searched out

and set in order many proverbs.

The Teacher searched to find just the right words,

and what he wrote was upright and true.

The words of the wise are like goads,

their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails –

given by one shepherd.

Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end,

and much study wearies the body.

Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the duty of all mankind.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Ecclesiastes 12: “conclusion” (v.13)

What was Solomon’s “conclusion” (v.13)? Answer: everyone has a “duty” (v.13) and so is accountable.

[A] “God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing” (v.14) – he misses nothing.

[B] since that is the case, it behoves us to act as those who are answerable – “fear God and keep his commandments” (v.13).

His summing up focuses on “the whole duty of man” (v.13); so he advised “remember your Creator in the days of your youth ... before the spirit returns to God” (vv.1 & 7). Have you got a better “conclusion”?

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The Book of ECCLESIASTES

- Chapter 12 -

Read by David Suchet

-=-

The Book of ECCLESIASTES

- Overview - “The Bible Project”

https://youtu.be/lrsQ1tc-2wk

The Book of ECCLESIASTES

- Wisdom - “The Bible Project”

https://youtu.be/VeUiuSK81-0

STUDY - LINKS

The Book of ECCLESIASTES

by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/mExfn1kAxLE

-=-=-=-=-

(1)Hevel (The Divine Disconnect/Ecclesiastes)

By Tim Mackie(The Bible Project)

https://youtu.be/a0wWB8YEDiA

(2)Gift (The Divine Disconnect/Ecclesiastes)

By Tim Mackie(The Bible Project)

https://youtu.be/zAbpygDZcwc

(3)The Limits of Labor (The Divine Disconnect/Ecclesiastes)

By Tim Mackie(The Bible Project)

https://youtu.be/-X1MxFLqnjg

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Sunday 29 August 2021

The Book of ECCLESIASTES - Chapter Eleven

Invest in many ventures

Ship your grain across the sea;

after many days you may receive a return.

Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;

you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

If clouds are full of water,

they pour rain on the earth.

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,

in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

Whoever watches the wind will not plant;

whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

Sow your seed in the morning,

and at evening let your hands not be idle,

for you do not know which will succeed,

whether this or that,

or whether both will do equally well.

Remember your Creator while young

Light is sweet,

and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

However many years anyone may live,

let them enjoy them all.

But let them remember the days of darkness,

for there will be many.

Everything to come is meaningless.

You who are young, be happy while you are young,

and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.

Follow the ways of your heart

and whatever your eyes see,

but know that for all these things

God will bring you into judgment.

So then, banish anxiety from your heart

and cast off the troubles of your body,

for youth and vigour are meaningless.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Ecclesiastes 11 : “banish” (v.10)

Solomon told folk to “banish anxiety” (v.10). Easier said than done, and especially from his own dark standpoint (v.8). Fatalism had taken over from faith in his outlook on life. ‘Que sera, sera (what will be, will be) is not really very cheerful. Essentially one sees oneself as a hostage to fortune, helpless in the face of what life may throw at one. Solomon’s advice was ‘shut your mind to negative thoughts’; Jesus offers a positive route, “do not worry … seek first his kingdom …” (Matthew 6 vv.31-33).

Put God in charge. He can calm your spirit!

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The Book of ECCLESIASTES

- Chapter 11 -

- Read by David Suchet -

https://youtu.be/hPGPcl7LKV0

-=-

The Book of ECCLESIASTES

- Overview - “The Bible Project”

https://youtu.be/lrsQ1tc-2wk

The Book of ECCLESIASTES

- Wisdom - “The Bible Project”