Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 March 2024 Matthew 21:9.

24 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 21:9.       Hosanna to the son of David: blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

Ah friends, the snow is over now and it’s dry and sunny, though somewhat chilly, on this blessed Sunday. And it’s one of the special Sundays in our Christian Calendar, that we call Palm Sunday, when Christ our Saviour rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on a king’s ride back then, a donkey, heralding His Messianic kingdom to come. So today we’ll sing a song expressly written in 1820 for this particular day with lyrics by Henry Millman and music by Lowell Mason. And it’s become such a favourite down through the years, that in 1907, John Julian, in his Dictionary of Hymnology, stated it was the most popular Palm Sunday Hymn in the English language at the time. 

And I believe it is still amongst the most popular, with it’s wonderful title which acknowledges and celebrates Christ’s kingship, His upcoming battles and triumphs. So let’s sing ‘Ride On, Ride On In Majesty!’ Yes my faithful brethren, let’s sing it in a soulful, heartfelt, mid-tempo version, allowing our sweet sacrifices of praise to rise to high heaven with victory in our hearts and minds as we continue this Easter journey in Holy Week, that will lead to the most important foundation stone, the very core of our Christian faith, Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday! 

Singing: ‘Ride on! ride on in ma­jes­ty! Hark! all the tribes Ho­san­na cry! O Sav­ior meek, pur­sue Thy road, With palms and scat­tered gar­ments strowed. Ride on! ride on in ma­jes­ty! In low­ly pomp ride on to die! O Christ! Thy tri­umphs now begin Over cap­tive death and con­quered sin. Ride on! ride on in ma­jes­ty! The angel hosts beyond the sky Look down with sad and won­der­ing eyes, To see the ap­proach­ing sac­ri­fice! Ride on! ride on in ma­jes­ty! Thy last and fierc­est strife is nigh; Thy Fa­ther on His sap­phire throne, Awaits thee, His own, LOVED, anointed Son! Ride on! ride on in ma­jes­ty! In low­ly pomp ride on to die; Bow Thy meek head to mor­tal pain! Then take, oh God! Thy pow­er, and reign!’ 

Wow! What powerful lyrics my people! The hymn is so powerful that it was described by composer Stanley L. Osbourne as “Objective, robust, confident, and stirring, it possesses that peculiar combination of tragedy and victory which draws the singer into the very centre of the drama. It is this which gives the hymn its power and its challenge.” And he doesn’t lie, for just think of these unlikely juxtapositions of words and thoughts: ‘O Sav­ior meek, pur­sue Thy road, With palms and scat­tered gar­ments strowed…. ride on in majesty! In low­ly pomp ride on to die! Thy tri­umphs now begin Over cap­tive death and con­quered sin.’ 

I like that line ‘in lowly pomp ride on to die.’ Since when has pomp ever been lowly eh, for it’s basic meaning is ‘ceremony and splendid display, a show of magnificence.’ But our Jesus wasn’t ready to put on His splendid display, His show of magnificence just then. He’s waiting for when He comes as the righteous judge, astride His white stallion called ‘Faithful and True, with eyes as a flame of fire, and many crowns on His head, His name known only to Himself, clothed with a robe dipped in blood, while His heavenly armies dressed in fine, clean white linen follow Him on snorting white chargers. And out of His mouth extends a sharp sword, with which to smite the nations and then rule them with an iron fist. And on His robe and on His thigh the mighty and sovereign name is written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS!’ (Rev. 19:11-16) 

Yes my fellow saints, that’s when our Lord and Saviour will really come with true pomp and glory! In the meanwhile, He’s keeping a low profile, being the sacrificial lamb, for our benefit. And we all know the Palm Sunday story, when Jesus came riding triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey and it’s colt, thus fulfilling the prophecy spoken by Zechariah: ‘’Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just (righteous), and having salvation; lowly (humble), and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.’ (Zech. 9:9) 

And Jesus certainly fulfilled that prophecy on Palm Sunday! And did the daughters of Zion and Jerusalem ever rejoice and shout! Listen to how the Bible tells it: ‘And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed (spread) them in the way (road). And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.’ (Matt. 21:8-11) 

Mama oh Mama! What a great sight that must have been in ole Jerusalem eh! Jesus riding stately and sedately on His kingly donkey, with clothes and tree branches strewn all around Him, and the multitude giving Him a welcome fit for the King He was. I wonder if He was waving to the crowd as royalty do these days. (smile) The poor and downtrodden must have LOVED Him immensely that day, especially as some time shortly after His triumphal procession, Jesus went into the temple and cast out all the crooks and con artists who sold and bought in the sacred house of God. 

He overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves, telling them: ‘It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased (indignant). And said unto him, hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings (nursing infants) thou hast perfected praise? And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.’ (Matt. 21:13-17) 

By the way, the quote above there, comes from above there, come from Psalm 8, where Bruh David writes:. ‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings (nursing infants) hast thou ordained (established) strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightiest still (silence) the enemy and the avenger.’ 

Oh friends, what a day that first Palm Sunday must have been, with Jesus coming into Jerusalem offering Himself to the nation of Israel as their long-awaited Messiah. Then cleansing the temple of the organized religious corruption found there, and then in typical Jesus fashion, simply walking away to find rest for His spirit.  And yes, I know that by Friday, we’ll be holding our heads and bawling because of the crucifixion, but let’s remember that there could have been no Easter Sunday resurrection without the Good Friday crucifixion! Much LOVE!

don’t worry…our cries of Hosanna…please save…will be answered next Sunday…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   25 May 2023 Psalm 8:9.

26 May 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 8:9.       O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.

‘Sunshine, lollipops and roses!’ That’s what it seems like on this bright, sunshiny but somewhat cool Friday morning! Now, that certainly adds some enthusiasm to our shout of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ And our God is most definitely in fine form this morning, for when I opened the Good Library just now to find something to talk about, it opened unto the Book of Psalms, in particular Psalm 8, which most appropriately celebrates ‘God’s Excellent Name.’ And so it should be. 

Bruh David writes: ‘O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who has set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings (nursing infants) hast thou ordained (established) strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still (silence) the enemy and the avenger.’ (Ps. 8:1-2) And that last verse might seem insignificant, but it was quoted by Jesus after His celebrated entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, when He cleansed the temple of all the money changers and the other evil-doings that were taking place there, then began healing the lame and the blind. 

The Bible reports it thus: ‘And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea: have ye never read, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings (nursing infants) thou hast perfected praise. And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.’ (Matt. 21:15-17) 

Ah friends, it must have been fun and eye-opening to walk around with Jesus and listen to His conversations with the ruling Jewish elite. He certainly didn’t mince words with them or cut them any slack, just put them in their place in a gentlemanly fashion (smile) And Bruh Paul in his first letter to the church at Corinth takes that idea even further, when he says: ‘But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound (put to shame) the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound (put to shame) the things which are mighty; 

And base (insignificant) things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to nought (nothing) things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto (became for us) wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.’ (1 Cor. 1:27-31) And just for your information, (smile) that scripture about glorying in the Lord can be found in Jeremiah 9.23-24, and 2 Corinthians 10:17. Please look them up. 

So, we have ascertained that the Lord, in His unfathomable wisdom and awesome power has made that which the world considers wise or important to seem unwise and insignificant, so that none of His human creation can glory in what little success and power they might enjoy for the short time here on earth. But although He has made sure that man stays in his rightful place, it doesn’t mean that He doesn’t LOVE and cherish His most wonderful creation. 

Listen as Bruh David continues his theorizing on God’s incomparable and incomprehensible behaviour towards man. He says: ‘When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest (pays attention or cares for) him?’ (Ps. 8:3-4) 

Now those are very good questions my brethren. Why would such a magnificent and omnipotent being make us and then shower so many blessings on us eh? The answer’s simple: We are the only thing He didn’t speak into existence, but He formed us with His own two hands, from the very dust of the earth, then breathed His own breath of life into us. That means we are totally His, and He LOVES us like He LOVES nothing else that He’s created. 

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that He’s done what Bruh David writes: ‘For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and thou hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field. The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.’ (Ps. 8:5-7) 

And that should not surprise us, for after God made the physical universe and made man, the Good Library tells us: ‘And the Lord God took the man (Adam) and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress (tend, cultivate) it and to keep it.’ (Gen. 2:15) That was the beautiful and prosperous garden the Lord created to provide all the necessities of life for His wonderful creation, He so LOVINGLY termed, ‘man.’ No wonder Bruh David could end the psalm with this marvellous and magnificent verse: ‘O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.’ (Ps. 8:9) 

Unfortunately though, in these troubled and rather calamitous times the Lord’s name is not revered as much as it should be. In fact, it’s more blasphemed than ever, with a staunch, but foolish movement to rid our society of His presence. But we who hold him in awesome reverence know that that will never happen, because He long ago proclaimed that He will never give His power and glory to anyone, nor His praise to graven images.(Is. 42:8) And He has both the power and temperament to make that be true. However, in our current circumstance, we down here on earth do need a ton of help from Him to fix what’s wrong. 

Thus, let’s go right now to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant and ask for divine assistance. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the confusion and anxiety caused by the pandemic and our many other serious problems. We can’t fix them on our own Lord, so we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. 

So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, without further serious setbacks. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to return backsliders to your fold, show them the error of their ways. 

And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic, the bubbling discontent and dissatisfaction in our land, as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’

Now, after all that pleading, let’s get serious and clean up our act, for that’s the only way we’ll ever receive divine assistance. Much LOVE!

…the Lord LOVES us with an undying LOVE…but He WILL NOT put up with…or reward constant disobedience…   

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ