Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

B.B. and I were in our “green room.”  Arabella was in her new hiding place, on the swooning couch.

I asked, “B.B., this is our third week in the Psalms.  Are you tired of it?”

B.B. moaned, “Stinker, how can I be?  It is beautiful poetry.  Sure, it doesn’t rhyme, but it is rich with metaphors.  The Psalms impart great wisdom at times.  It’s a worship service just reading through them.  You have prayer.  You have praise.  You have thanksgiving.  What more do you want?”

I growled, “B.B., I might want to move on to Proverbs, where there is wisdom, poetry, and such.  But the class wants to stay in Psalms.  If we don’t get very far today, we might go another week or two in Psalms.  I just hope others in the class don’t get bored.”

A familiar voice came from the swooning couch, “Bored?  I’ll tell you what’s boring.  Hearing you two talk about the Sunday school class right before we have the Sunday school class.  And these magazines!  I have skimmed through every one of them.  When do they come out with a new one?”

B.B. groaned, “Arabella, sometimes they are on a four-week cycle, but sometimes it’s once a month.”

Arabella asked, “What’s the difference?”

I laughed, “Most months have more than 28 days, Fireball.  Do the math.  Every month is twelve issues per year.  Every four weeks is thirteen issues per year.  I know one magazine that made the last one a Christmas special, usually with more pages.  But that way they had a monthly magazine and a special magazine to total the thirteen.”

Arabella said, “Here you are saying thirteen like it’s going out of style.  You do know that thirteen isn’t a very good lucky number.”

I laughed, “Belle!  We should rely on God, not superstitions.  Having superstitions rule our actions is like making a false god out of the superstition.”

B.B. laughed, “What about walking underneath a ladder?”

Arabella added, “Yeah, you walk underneath a ladder, and the carpenter drops a hammer on your head.”

I snickered, “Arabella, some superstitions were born out of safety concerns.  It just makes sense to not do that.  But walking backwards underneath the ladder and doing goofy things like tossing salt over your shoulder is letting the superstitions rule your life.  Besides, what do you do when Uncle Scrambled brings in a baker’s dozen donuts?”

Arabella replied, “I quickly eat the thirteenth donut so that I feel more at ease that there are only a dozen left.”

She opened the door, and we went to the den.

Rev. Joseph led us in prayer and the entire band and choir were ready.  They sang Psalm 91.

I said, “Emmett, that was wonderful, as usual.”

Samuel asked, “Where are we searching for Jesus today, Aunt Jemima?”

I smiled, “As agreed, we are looking into the book of Psalms again.  Arabella, do you need Mr. Dictionary?”

Arabella shrugged, “Nope.  This is our third week.”

I replied, “Thank you for keeping track, but since Fireball brought it up, I have enough quotes from the Psalms to last two more weeks after this one.  The Psalms is the longest book in the Bible, and it has a lot of information that is pertinent to us.  So, does anyone object to staying in the Psalms for two more weeks?”  There were a lot of positive remarks.

Michael Rowe Casey, Arabella’s boyfriend said, “I am looking forward to Arabella saying, ‘We’ve been at this four weeks.’ And ‘I can’t believe this is the fifth week!’”  Half the class agreed with him, and Arabella was writing it down to make sure she used the exact wording.  Have I mentioned that the class is full of jokesters and kooks?

Fitzi Mitzi (Psalm 24:1) “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;”

Mitzi said, ”This is similar to a verse in Psalm 50. ‘If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.’’ (Psalm 50:12).  This talks about everything belonging to God.  He made it.  He created it.  We just borrow stuff for a while.  In the grand scheme of things, we aren’t here very long.  But then in 1 Corinthians 10 it says, ’ for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”’ (1 Corinthians 10:26).”

Baldy (Psalm 35:19) “Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.”

Baldy said, “David has some strange enemies.  They don’t have a reason to hate David, but they do. He says roughly the same thing in Psalm 69, ‘Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.’ (Psalm 69:4).  Then, in John’s Gospel, Jesus said the same thing about enemies hating Him for no reason, ’ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’’ (John 15:25).”

I smiled, “That was very good, Baldy.  So, what does that say about us?”

Baldy smiled, “If you had an enemy, Aunt Jemima, it would have to be one of those enemies without reason.  For me, I have enemies just by my own stupidity.”

Mitzi patted his shoulder, “He’s making friends now.  And most of his enemies have moved on.  I think Baldy is going to come out on top, better than any of those that doubted him.”

Wilma sighed, “Sounds like my best friend has a boyfriend.”  Mitzi reddened, but she didn’t deny what Wilma said.

Wilma (Psalm 36:1) “I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Wilma said, “This is talking about some bad people.  But Isaiah says it a little differently. ‘Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace.’ (Isaiah 59:7-8).  Then in Romans, Paul writes, ‘“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”’ (Romans 3:18).  The theme through these verses is that wicked people don’t fear God.  If God is love, Stinker, how do we fear God?”

I smiled, “Yes, God is love, but He is bigger, brighter, stronger than anything we have ever seen and much more than we can imagine.  We should not want to do bad things due to the lengths that God went to so that we could be His children, but unlike angry earthly Fathers, God loves us perfectly.  Yet, we should have an overwhelming awe of God that we will get weak in the knees when we come into His presence.  God has forgiven the sins of those who love Him.  What is there to fear?  But we should be in awe of God to the point of wanting to do our best to be like Jesus.”

Fred (Psalm 41:9) “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.”

Fred said, “This psalm is from David.  But David prophesied in this song that the traitor of Jesus would be someone that He shared bread with.  Then Jesus said at the Last Supper, ‘“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’’ (John 13:18).  So, Jesus said this so that those who were at the dinner saw Jesus sharing His bread with Judas Iscariot.  He imprinted that memory in their minds that this was a fulfillment of that prophecy.”

B.B. (Psalm 44:22) “Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

B.B. said, “The psalmist, the Sons of Korah, is talking about facing danger, even death on a daily basis.  They use the metaphor of sheep to the slaughter. Then, in Romans, Paul says, ‘As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”’ (Romans 8:36).  This is a theme through a lot of the teachings of Jesus.  We are like sheep who go astray.  He leaves the ninety-nine sheep to look for the one.  Then he throws a party when he finds the lost sheep.  My sick mind has wondered if the shepherd sacrificed the lost sheep for something to eat at the party.  Of course not, since the parable is about how God wants to save that sheep.  But the parables in that chapter of Luke 15 are about lost things that once they were found, a celebration was held.  Each time a sinner comes to the Lord, the angels sing.  There is a celebration.  What was lost is found.  But here the sheep is presented to be slaughtered, and we are like that sheep.  Each day, something could go just a little different and we would be killed in an automobile accident.  Two things can happen to a sheep.  You can shear it to get the wool or you can slaughter it for the meat, lamb for lambs and mutton for older sheep.  The decision on which might simply be what the shepherd needed that day.  Was that too much introspection, Stinker?”

I laughed, “Thank you, Preacher’s wife.  That was a great sermon.  Life is short, and we should turn to God while we have the chance.”

Rev. Joseph (Psalm 48:2) “Beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.”

Joseph said, “And now from Isaiah: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?’ (Isaiah 66:1).  So, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to not swear by anything.  Note a key word from each of these verses.  From Psalm 48:2, we see the city of the Great King.  From Isaiah 66, we see the earth is God’s footstool.  Now from Matthew 5…  ‘or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.’ (Matthew 5:35).  Why swear on anything of this earth.  It is all what God made, no matter how often we rearrange the molecules to form what we want.”

Jochebed (Psalm 53:1-3, Louis Segond) “Au chef des chantres. Sur la flûte. Cantique de David.  L’insensé dit en son coeur: Il n’y a point de Dieu! Ils se sont corrompus, ils ont commis des iniquités abominables; Il n’en est aucun qui fasse le bien.  Dieu, du haut des cieux, regarde les fils de l’homme, Pour voir s’il y a quelqu’un qui soit intelligent, Qui cherche Dieu.  Tous sont égarés, tous sont pervertis; Il n’en est aucun qui fasse le bien, Pas même un seul.”

Jochebed said, “First of all, I must read the first four verses.  In the Louis Segond, the musical instructions are the first verse.  Now in English from the NIV. ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.’ (Psalm 53:1-3).  This speaks of those people who do not believe in God.  But then Paul writes: ‘As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”’ (Romans 3:10-18).  Paul quotes verses from more than just Psalm 53, or Psalm 14.  He quotes other Psalms and Isaiah, but the point with Paul is that unrepentant man.  The man who does not know God, is all these things.  Paul is lumping every person into this category.  We are these vile creatures until we accept Jesus, and the Holy Spirit comes into us and cleans things up.  But do not think that you are cleaning things up.  You do not have that power.  God can do that within you when you surrender each thing inside you to God.”

Arabella moaned, “We didn’t hear the Romans passage in French.”

Jochebed smiled, “I did not want to be late and miss the bus to church.”

Lauren ran over, “Did I hear someone say ‘bus?’”

Menzie said, “Jochebed just doesn’t want to miss her bus either.”

Lauren looked at her mother with a puzzled look, “We go on the same bus.”

Grannie Fannie smiled, “Lauren, Sweetie, I have the keys to the bus.  I have my bus parked, blocking the exit of the circle drive.  No one leaves until you are on my bus.  Do you understand?”

Lauren giggled, “Yes, Grannie Fannie.”  Lauren ran back to play.

I replied, “I think we have time for one more.”

Georges (Psalm 78:2) “I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—”

Georges said, “Asaph wrote this psalm.  David assigned Asaph to be a prophet, in that Asaph explained the Word of God to the people.  The title of ‘prophet’ is not restricted to speaking about the future.  John tells us that his revelation will not be added to or taken away, but we still have need for people explaining what God meant, no more so than when Jesus spoke in parables. ’So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”’ (Matthew 13:35).  Jesus spoke in parables to confuse the busybody Pharisees and religious leaders.  And Jesus said several times for those who have ears to hear.  That meant that those who loved God and wanted to know more about God, their ears would be opened to the meaning of the parable.  Even the disciples struggled until the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost.  So, Jesus spoke in parables and that fulfilled a prophecy.  But Jesus had a reason to teach with parables.  Those who sought the Truth, found the Truth.  Those that liked things the way they were and distrusted Jesus did not understand due to teaching in a parable.”

I smiled, “I have another quote from Psalm 78, but it is rather complicated and it is not related to speaking in parables.”

Grannie Fannie (2 Corinthians 13:14) “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Grannie laughed, “Thank you for not changing it again.  I practiced this one during the week.”

I smiled, “I think when we finish Psalms, I will change the benediction again, when we start Proverbs.  I’ll e-mail you first.”

Lauren ran up to Grannie Fannie and hugged her.  “Are you ready to drive us?”

Brooke picked up Stormie and strapped her into the carrier.

Credits

I do not see in need for Credits other than a video to sing along with.  This song uses the NKJV.

Here is Psalm 91 sung by Esther Mui.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.