Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and the Psalm.

For a video meditation on today’s Psalm created three years ago, Tap here.

I remember a delightful evening many years ago, walking with some dear brothers on the lovely grounds of the former novitiate of St. Andrew-on-Hudson in Hyde Park, New York. (It’s now the Culinary Institute of America.) We asked ourselves, “Why do we only applaud when someone performs? Why don’t we clap for God’s beautiful creation … like that tree over there?” We began to applaud the tree, turning to other ones whose beauty was revealed to us the more we clapped. There was a simple, clear joy in our abandon.

For our Jewish ancestors, clapping the hands for the Lord’s victory over enemies was as spontaneous as our society’s standing ovation after a great performance, or during a ticker-tape parade of heroes on Broadway in New York City.

Do not allow secular settings to be the only ones for applause—especially since clapping first began with the sacred. Applaud God in all manifestations of the divine in creation.

Psalm 47

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: All you nations, clap your hands. v. 1

We continue to follow the Psalms in numerical order.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

Listen to Nick read the Firestarter
and the beginning of the reading, Ecclesiastes 1:1-11.

Jewish people have a tradition of reading this book in the fall. They recognize that the author, attributed to be Solomon, was writing these words of wisdom in the autumn of his life. We retain this tradition in closing the final Tuesdays in the three-year cycle with this book.

The theme of the work comes from this verse: “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “utterly meaningless!” 1:3 The word “meaningless” (sometimes translated as “vanity”) occurs throughout the whole book, translating the Hebrew word yitron, meaning “breath”—all that is empty and without substance.

Read these chapters with the wisdom that the Spirit gives you in Jesus—the Way, the Truth and the Life. Everything in life is ultimately empty and meaningless without the grounding and centering that life in God brings.

Ecclesiastes 1—4

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…
Example: Time to greet and time to part 3:5

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In the season of Kingdomtide this year we read Proverbs 15-16, 2 Samuel and Ecclesiastes 1-4.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and the reading.

Hezekiah is better at praying than at being a diplomat. Recalling the prayer of King Hezekiah in last week’s reading and contrasting it with today’s chapter, we discover a king who is a mixture of fervor in prayer on the one hand, weakness and co-dependency on the other.

Our last taste of Hezekiah is in his weakness. Look at the final verse of the reading. He displays the treasures of the kingdom to foreigners. He has no boundaries. He reveals precious articles intended only for the worship of the Lord, to a people with no respect for God. Jesus would say that he is “Giving pearls to swine” (Matt. 7:6).

Have respect for what the Lord says to you in the privacy of your own prayer, revealing and witnessing to others according to God’s invitation. Beware of sharing emotions and personal graces with those who at best could care less or who worse, despise the things of the Lord.

Isaiah 39

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the season of Kingdomtide this year we read Isaiah 28 – 39.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Consequences to my acts

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.