Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / September 1 - Psalm 80

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September 1 - Psalm 80 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:12
  Hello friends and a hip hip Hooray.
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  Not only is it Friday, but it is the first day of spring here in
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  the Tasmanian Chilliness and goodbye winter.
• 0:26
  Hello spring. It is a good day.
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  Hello to you. And what makes it even better in
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  the Conry household is all three of our boys have a student free
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  day, so they get to chill at home while mom and dad still go
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  to work. That's a bit rough, but that's
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  how it is. That's okay.
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  Life is good and it is a day to read a Psalm together.
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  And you know what makes today even just the best?
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  I sat down, Bible in the hand, ready to read Psalm 80.
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  And Sean, can you please come and help?
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  One of the kitchen drawers is jammed and I stuck my arm in and
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  I pulled out the offending box and what did we find but a
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  little bag of fudge. So I am enjoying fudge and
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  disarm. Ain't my life just the grandest
• 1:12
  thing I can certainly recommend. Fudge it.
• 1:14
  It's not often, but Oh my goodness, that is delicious.
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  Enough about me. Let us get down to business.
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  We are here to read a Psalm together, and this is a Psalm of
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  lament, A Psalm for the choir director, a Psalm of Asaf to be
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  sung to the tune of Lilies of the Covenants.
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  Yes, that old classic from 979 BC.
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  You remember Top of the Pops back then.
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  It was a good year, lots of great anthemic hits.
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  But I'm going to let you do the musical interpretation of Lilies
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  of the Covenant and I'm just going to read the lyrics as we
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  read together. Psalm 80.
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  Please listen. O Shepherd of Israel, you who
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  led Joseph's descendants like a flock, oh God enthroned above
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  the cherubim, display your radiant glory to Efraim,
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  Benjamin and Manassa. Show us your mighty power.
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  Come rescue us. Turn us again to yourself, O
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  God, make your face shine down upon us.
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  Only then will we be saved. Oh Lord God of Heaven's armies,
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  how long will you be angry with our prayers?
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  Have you fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the
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  bucketful? You have made us the scorn of
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  neighboring nations. Our enemies treat us as a joke.
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  Turn us again to yourself. Oh God of Heaven's armies, make
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  your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.
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  You brought us from Egypt like a Grapevine.
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  You drove away the Pagan nations and transplanted us into your
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  land. You cleared the ground for us
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  and we took root and filled the land.
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  Our shade covered the mountains. Our branches covered the mighty
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  Cedars. We spread our branches West to
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  the Mediterranean Sea. Our shoots spread east to the
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  Euphrates River. But now, why have you broken
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  down our walls? So that all who passed by may
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  steal our fruit. The wild boar from the forest
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  devours it, and the wild animals feed on it.
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  Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven's armies, look down from
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  heaven and see our plight. Take care of this Grapevine that
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  you yourself have planted, this sun you have raised for
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  yourself. For we are chopped up and burned
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  by our enemies. May they perish at the sight of
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  your frown. Strengthen the man you love, the
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  son of your choice. Then we will never abandon you
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  again. Revive us so we can call on your
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  name once more. Turn us again to yourself.
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  Oh, Lord, God of Heaven's armies, make your face shine
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  down upon us. Only then will we be saved.
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  Lord, what a beautiful refrain. The psalmist uses that in the
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  depths of despair when everything is going wrong.
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  The refrain is that you would turn them back to yourself.
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  Not that you would turn to them, but you would turn them back to
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  you. May that be the refrain of our
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  heart when things go wrong that we would shout out, Lord, turn
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  us back to you. Because it's only when we come
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  to you, when we face you, when we step into your embrace, that
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  we are saved, You are always there with your arms wide open
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  in the deepest valley and on the top of the most glorious
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  mountaintop experience. You are there with your arms
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  wide open. Call us to step into your
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  embrace for your protection and your love and your sustenance
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  and your eternal promised whispered in our ears.
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  We love you and we are so grateful for all that you have
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  done for us. We pray this in the name of
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  Jesus. Amen.