Posted on 03/25/2016 3:11:32 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
PSALM 22 A Psalm of David;For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Isaiah 53
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Its very hard to love corrupted humanity but Jesus is the only One who can do it perfectly. He deserves all praise and honor.
But miraculously He healed me.
And that is the first thing I think of before going to sleep and try to think of during the night, and the first thing I think of in the morning and all day.
He saved me.
Laz...you and I spoke of this years ago...perhaps in another name on my part.
But I thought of you when posting this, old friend.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.
Too HIM be the glory forever and ever.
This I know.
Bump
Shushan Purim
In cities that are surrounded by a wall dating from the days of Joshua (13th century BCE) -- a prominent example is the city of Jerusalem -- the festival of Purim is observed on the 15th of Adar (instead of the 14th), in commemoration of the fact that in the ancient walled city of Shushan, the first Purim was celebrated on this day (see "Today in Jewish History").<<<
Purim, as many know, has a similar sounding name to Yom Kippur (Yom HaKipurrim) which means, the day “Like Purim”. But what does this mean? It means we accepted G-d out of love, not out of fear. It means we saw Hashem’s hand in everything, from the rising of the sun to the miraculous turn of events of Mordechai and Esther. But it also means that we have the golden opportunity for unlimited brachas on Purim. It is the ultimate time to ask for what we want and what we need. All the Gates are open.
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We have been given this blessing that our prayers will be answered, but to diffuse our wishes, we are swamped with a day of partying and drinking. From the Megilla reading to Shaloch Manos, to one party and another, and then a Purim Seuda or two, the day usually flies by like a big party . . . And we miss our golden opportunity.
So my advice is after the Megilla reading, set aside some time alone before the parties and Purim Seuda to read and focus on what you really want in life.
May Hashem grant all your wishes be granted for your highest and greatest good and may this be a transformative Purim for you and all of Klal Yisrael.
http://www.chaimdavid.org/purims-golden-opportunity-dont-miss/
Friday, March 25, 2016:
Good Friday
Purim in Jerusalem
There is a custom to chant Psalm 22 on Purim – a psalm which opens with the following words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” According to tradition, this psalm has prophetic references to the lonely and courageous role of Queen Esther, who risked her life for her people (Esther, Chapter 4). There is also a tradition that Esther chanted verses from this psalm as she went to meet with the King during the first stage of her plan to save her people from Haman. These traditions are cited in the Talmud (Yuma 29a and Megillah 15b), and in the midrashic commentaries on this psalm. Towards the end of this psalm, we find the following prophecy regarding the messianic age:
“All the ends of the earth will remember and return to Hashem, all the families of nations will bow before You.” (Psalm 22:28)
King David composed Chapter 22 of Tehilim (Psalms) with Queen Esther in mind, seeing prophetically what would take place some 450 years later. Esther would often pray this Psalm. Remember, also, that Esther was a prophetess, and was often granted Divine Inspiration. The Book of Esther says that "On the third day of the fast, Esther dressed in her royal clothes, and she stood at the king's inner court...." (Esther 5:1). The Talmud (Megilah 15a) says that this means she dressed in spiritual royalty, and was granted Divine Inspiration at the time. But on her way to the throne room she had to pass the Persian idols that the king worshiped, and so of course the Divine Inspiration left her, since holiness will not visit where there is such impiety. In anguish, she cried out, from Psalm 22, "My G-d, my G-d, why have You forsaken me?" and continued praying the rest of that Psalm.
Esther was forced to remain in the palace for many years, and the agony was incomparable. Esther, who was orphaned at a young age, now had to live her adult life in misery as well. Esther lived at the king's palace for nine years before the events of Purim took place, without knowing why Hashem had placed her there. But there is never pain without purpose. Hashem never allows anyone to undergo suffering without a reason. And whenever there is suffering, Hashem's purpose is to elevate and improve people, starting with the person undergoing the suffering, and often spreading out to others.
It is therefore fitting that King David should compose (also with Divine Inspiration) the words that Queen Esther would later say so often in prayer. There has seldom lived a righteous man so beset with troubles as was King David, a man who spent much of his life running away from one person or another, including his own children. Yet King David produced the Books of Psalms, the greatest prayers and praise of Hashem ever composed. One thing that is unique about King David and his Psalms is that he composed psalms both when he was at peace, and when he was in trouble. He never ceased to praise Hashem, and he never ceased to beg Hashem for consideration and mercy.
It was indeed the troubles he underwent that helped shape King David into what he was. In all his life he has never been accused of more than one error, and even that is greatly misunderstood to be much worse than it was. Indeed, his greatness, and thus his fragrance, like Queen Esther's centuries later, was shaped at least in part by being crushed and bruised.
King David and Queen Esther do not stand alone. They stand as pillars for us to hold on to and emulate. They teach us what we must know of life. Just as the hadas must be bruised and crushed in order to smell its sweetest, so often must each of us undergo suffering in order to fully develop. Our sweet smell is inherent, but it is not always manifest until brought forth through difficult times.
And the two names of Queen Esther work hand in hand in this message: Hashem's salvation lies waiting for us in secret. Somewhere, whatever trouble we may be going through, for whatever reason we may need to be "bruised and crushed," like the hadas, there is always an ester, a hidden salvation waiting for us, that Hashem has prepared for us long before the troubles began.
Wonderful stuff Pastor Bill.
Yes indeed, all nations, including Judah will bow down before Yeshua haMoshiach!!! Praise be to YHWH of Hosts!
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