Miserere et Guerre et Lent

Lenten meditations based upon Rouault’s somber and piercing Miserere series.

[misererelent]

Easter Sunday | Sing Matins, a new day is born

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5 • • • • • • • • • • Perhaps the Father and Spirit alone witnessed the resurrection in that black cave, when their beloved companion’s heart first thumped, and the Firstborn of a new world yawned, stretched his perfect limbs and greeted them. The two radiant angels, fearsome sentinels at the entrance to the tomb, gazed with fiery eyes into their king’s with awe, and the legion outside, whose arrival had been stayed three days earlier, lay prostrate, full of anticipation and wonder.

As they had done decades before over fields in Bethlehem, they sang as the Bright Morning Star stepped forth from his resting place, leaving a mortally wounded dragon coiled around his empty shroud. Jesus’ came forth as a newborn babe; with the purity of Adam, naked in a garden, and yet with no shame. He proceeded past his angels, and they instantly sensed themselves being home in the court of Heaven, even after guarding the sons and daughters of God for so long in this realm. Birds gave him their songs, and the sun bathed him in its warm rays.

• • • • • • • • • • Many, many years ago, a procession of never-ending joy began this morning, reverberating throughout the cosmos, and working into the spirits of every one for whom Christ had battled.

With the advent of the new world, Christ ascended back to his Father’s side, like the sweet fragrance of Israel’s offerings rising from the dusty tabernacle. The victory now won, and the darkness fearfully retreating, Christ’s Spirit would soon trumpet his everlasting words through the remaining ages:

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

[misererelent]

Plate 28 | Holy Saturday

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

John 11:25

• • • • • • • • • •

Holy Saturday seems an odd name for the day Israel awakes from her sleep into a world whose light has been extinguished.

What are the disciples to do with the memories so fresh and raw, swirling in their heads? And the miracles? The miracles that have astonished their countrymen, and the teaching that has simultaneously convicted and freed them.

We call this Holy Saturday? They have lost their dearest companion, and their heads are spinning and bouncing back and forth between God’s beautiful promises echoing in their ears — and the horrid white and gashed face of their shepherd, whose mouth is now mute like clay.

Those who have witnessed his ability to teach and his supernatural healing powers have already attested that Jesus was unlike all other men. But death has now taken the rabbi.

Jesus said, “It is finished!” But whatever he might have meant in those words, has not death closed his mouth and spoken through others’ disbelieving jeers in his silence?

In the beginning, God created light and separated it from darkness, but the darkness devised a scheme and has overtaken it. The disciples now sit as Job; filled with holy truths conflicting with everything they now experience.

As Abraham, hoping against all hope, and Jonah calling up to God as he descends into the depths, the disciples embrace, confused and frightened, and wait. I am the resurrection?

They are like sheep milling around their fallen shepherd. They ponder all they know and weep; wearily embrace, and cry out to the Father for they know not what.

[misererelent]

Plate 45 | Death took him as he arose from his bed of nettles.

What will you do on the day of the appointed festival, and on the day of the feast of the LORD? 

For behold, they are going away from destruction; but Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver; thorns shall be in their tents. 

Hosea 9:5-6

• • • • • • • • • •

Anniversary

What is the married couple to celebrate on their anniversary when one of them is cheating? When the adulterous spouse has stepped-out, and even paid strangers to draw near.

This image quickly breaks down, because it's ridiculous. No spouse would endure such dishonor, shame and hatred — and yet this is the metaphor the God of Israel employs for his bride.

So, here we are. It's their anniversary, and this bride dresses for a night on the town, texts all her friends and posts pictures of the two of them from years past on Facebook and exclaims about how loving and sexy and honorable her husband is.

Israel's faithlessness was outrageous, and ours is too. But we typically are blind in this condition and need a prophet, or a shocking intrusion into our fabricated dreamworld to reawaken us.

Judgement

Our foreign secretaries have worked tirelessly to foster goodwill with a tenuous relationship in a distant country. Significant budgets have been used for infrastructure and education. Our officials lauds themselves on their cultural awareness and diplomatic outreach and anticipate harmony and mutual prosperity to mark the coming years.

On another front, an old enemy, long disregarded as a threat, prepares to launch a technology that will cripple the unsuspecting foe who is celebrating the accord. It will be a modern blitzkrieg executed without risk to troops or fear of retaliation.

The attack occurs. It is momentary and complete. The world pauses for a moment in bewilderment. Moments later innumerable messages, images and data begin to fill the internet and wash over humanity. New words are created to give a name to this new kind of hyper-war.

The sun rises the next day, and everything on earth has changed. Nothing is familiar. Years will pass after the nation's apocalypse, and the prevailing nation will rename the cities of her vanquished foe, and a foreign culture and mindset will subsume the old nation's self-identity.

But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. 

It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me. 

So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. 

I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open.

Hosea 13:4-8

Union

Whether the metaphor is a shattered and defiled marriage or God raising one nation to bring his judgement to another, God’s shepherding his people has many times required terrifying means to bring restoration. As Americans, we do not perceive imminent threat from surrounding nations, but as individuals, we know well how vulnerable we are to suffering.

Life and death are in God’s hands, and long ago, He taught us that He will stop at nothing to prevent us from living in the next life apart from Him. It is a sure thing that if you depend on God, no trial that reaches your door will leave you in ruins. Your eyes and understanding cannot see it’s origin or conclusion, and God never says He will explain its purpose, He has promised that both your happiness and suffering will bring you closer to him. If this doesn’t yet make sense, be confident, God will make it so.

Stop what you are doing and approach the throne of God with your hopes and fears; your joy and grief. Christ has secured this intimacy long ago, a sure guarantee that it is now yours to embrace.

[misererelent]

War, hated by mothers. to listen to while you read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tuGiwj3y0M

5 “Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,     or who will grieve for you? Who will turn aside     to ask about your welfare? 6 You have rejected me, declares the Lord;     you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—     I am weary of relenting. 7 I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork     in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;     they did not turn from their ways. 8 I have made their widows more in number     than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of young men     a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror     fall upon them suddenly. 9 She who bore seven has grown feeble;     she has fainted away; her sun went down while it was yet day;     she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword     before their enemies, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 15:5-9

15 O Lord, you know;     remember me and visit me,     and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance take me not away;     know that for your sake I bear reproach. 16 Your words were found, and I ate them,     and your words became to me a joy     and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name,     O Lord, God of hosts. 17 I did not sit in the company of revelers,     nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,     for you had filled me with indignation. 18 Why is my pain unceasing,     my wound incurable,     refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook,     like waters that fail? Jeremiah 15:15-18

19 Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you,     and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,     you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you,     but you shall not turn to them. 20 And I will make you to this people     a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you,     but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you     to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord. 21 I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,     and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” Jeremiah 15:19-21

[misererelent]

 ROUALT AND THE MUSIC OF ARVO PÄRT: A LENTEN REFLECTION

If there is a composer that I personally can usher me into the presence of the Triune God, through sound, it is Arvo Pärt. May this reflection bless you as we reflect on our fallenness and his transcendence, moving closer to Holy Week. (Turn the volume up and let the sound wash over you!)

Plate 43 | "We must die, we and all that is ours."

The spiritual life is a calling to become fully human after the likeness of Christ, who, being united with God, has shown us what humanity, united to God, was intended to be. ~ Robert E. Webber, The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006), 103.

  LISTEN: THE FRATRES

Genesis 3:19:

By the sweat of your face     you shall eat bread until you return to the ground,     for out of it you were taken; you are dust,     and to dust you shall return.”

LISTEN: KYRIE

Job 29:18-20

18 Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,     and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix; 19 my roots spread out to the waters,     with the dew all night on my branches; 20 my glory was fresh with me,     and my bow ever new in my hand.’

LISTEN: SANCTUS

Revelation 22:1-5

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of lifewith its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

LISTEN: THE DEER’S CRY

Prayer

Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. (BOCP, 1662)

[misererelent]

Plate 39 | We are insane.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Ecclesiastes 9:3

• • • • • • • • • • •

How are we to understand Solomon, the wisest man of all antiquity, when he says that madness lies deep within every one of us? Is this a hyperbole meant generally to say that our sin nature mars the image of God within us? Or is he actually stating that we are out of our right minds? Is this limited to some, or does it extend to all?

Many today would respond: What a ridiculous claim! Look around. Look how far we’ve come since Biblical times. We’ve created the Information Age from the stones and water and sunlight the people of antiquity worshipped. We’ve amassed the combined knowledge of all human history at our fingertips. We are like God!

• • • • • • • • • • •

Drill down on the meaning of madness and insanity, and you’ll find that the root word, sanus, means healthy; sound.

The Apostle Paul, in at least two recorded occasions, refers the origin of our present existence, he states:

In him [God] we live, move and have our being. ~ Acts 17:28

And he [Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ~ Colossians 1:17

In both cases, he is saying that the state of life, in which we are at this moment participating, is directly the result of our being sustained by God, in Christ, through the Spirit.

Centuries before Paul, Elihu said this,

If he [God] should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust. ~ Job 34:14

In all cases, Christ’s metaphor of a branch drawing life from the tree illuminates this idea in the plainest terms.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:5

But, whether the word insanity or madness is used, both convey a picture of a human living apart from that tree. This phenomenon occurs in this present world without the full consequences, but what happens, upon the Judgement, when the branches cut from the tree are cast away— and yet still live— apart from their single source of life?

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. ~ Matthew 25:46

• • • • • • • • • • •

The standard belief in secular culture today, which has infiltrated deep into Christendom in the West, is that Science has revealed too much for educated people to still clutch to beliefs in founded by primitive doctrine.

Yet, did God not create the materials in which scientists look? And has God not said to put no trust in man? Has he not already said the heart is desperately wicked? Has the eternal God been surpassed by four hundred years of Western Enlightenment?

How can the observation of the creation, once spoken into existence, lead to anything but harmony with the spoken Word of the same Creator?

• • • • • • • • • • •

By birth, we are all insane, and even after coming to Christ, the madness still flows through our veins, but — praise God! — it no longer controls us. For mad is the human who would practice the experience of hell while he yet participates in this life.

We are insane.

So, thank God for this,

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ~ Galatians 2:20

[misererelent]

"This will be the last time, dear father!"

Matthew 26:31-35

31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written,

‘I will strike the shepherd,

    and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

32 But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples.

Luke 14:66-72

66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. 69 And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” 72 At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Isaiah 40:11-13

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;

    he will gather the lambs in his arms,

and carry them in his bosom,

    and gently lead the mother sheep.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

    and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,

    and weighed the mountains in scales

    and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,

    or as his counselor has instructed him?

  Revelation 7:15-17

15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,

    and worship him day and night within his temple,

    and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.

16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;

    the sun will not strike them,

    nor any scorching heat;

17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,

    and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

[misererelent]

éala éarendel engla beorhtast ofer middangeard monnum sended and sodfasta sunnan leoma, tohrt ofer tunglas þu tida gehvane of sylfum þe symle inlihtes. Hail Day-Star! brightest of angels, over middle-yard to men sent, and true radiance of the Sun bright above the stars, every season thou of thyself ever illuminest. Crist I, lines 104-108

The Dream of the Rood attributed to Cynewulf (9th century) translated by Charles W. Kennedy

Listen! The choicest of visions I wish to tell, which came as a dream in middle-night, after voice-bearers lay at rest. It seemed that I saw a most wondrous tree born aloft, wound round by light,     5 brightest of beams. All was that beacon sprinkled with gold. Gems stood fair at earth's corners; there likewise five shone on the shoulder-span. All there beheld the Angel of God, fair through predestiny. Indeed, that was no wicked one's gallows,     10 but holy souls beheld it there, men over earth, and all this great creation. Wondrous that victory-beam--and I stained with sins, with wounds of disgrace. I saw glory's tree honored with trappings, shining with joys,     15 decked with gold; gems had wrapped that forest tree worthily round. Yet through that gold I clearly perceived old strife of wretches, when first it began to bleed on its right side. With sorrows most troubled,     20 I feared that fair sight. I saw that doom-beacon turn trappings and hews: sometimes with water wet, drenched with blood's going; sometimes with jewels decked.

But lying there long while, I, troubled, beheld the Healer's tree,     25 until I heard its fair voice. Then best wood spoke these words: "It was long since--I yet remember it-- that I was hewn at holt's end, moved from my stem. Strong fiends seized me there,     30 worked me for spectacle; cursèd ones lifted me. On shoulders men bore me there, then fixed me on hill; fiends enough fastened me. Then saw I mankind's Lord come with great courage when he would mount on me.

Then dared I not against the Lord's word     35 bend or break, when I saw earth's fields shake. All fiends I could have felled, but I stood fast. The young hero stripped himself--he, God Almighty-- strong and stout-minded. He mounted high gallows,     40 bold before many, when he would loose mankind. I shook when that Man clasped me. I dared, still, not bow to earth, fall to earth's fields, but had to stand fast. Rood was I reared. I lifted a mighty King, Lord of the heavens, dared not to bend.     45 With dark nails they drove me through: on me those sores are seen, open malice-wounds. I dared not scathe anyone. They mocked us both, we two together]. All wet with blood I was, poured out from that Man's side, after ghost he gave up.

Much have I born on that hill   50 of fierce fate. I saw the God of hosts harshly stretched out. Darknesses had wound round with clouds the corpse of the Wielder, bright radiance; a shadow went forth, dark under heaven. All creation wept,     55 King's fall lamented. Christ was on rood. But there eager ones came from afar to that noble one. I beheld all that.

Sore was I with sorrows distressed, yet I bent to men's hands, with great zeal willing. They took there Almighty God,     60 lifted him from that grim torment. Those warriors abandoned me standing all blood-drenched, all wounded with arrows. They laid there the limb-weary one, stood at his body's head; beheld they there heaven's Lord, and he himself rested there, worn from that great strife. Then they worked him an earth-house,     65 men in the slayer's sight carved it from bright stone, set in it the Wielder of Victories. Then they sang him a sorrow-song, sad in the eventide, when they would go again with grief from that great Lord. He rested there, with small company. But we there lamenting a good while     70 stood in our places after the warrior's cry went up. Corpse grew cold, fair life-dwelling. Then someone felled us all to the earth. That was a dreadful fate! Deep in a pit one delved us. Yet there Lord's thanes,     75 friends, learned of me,. . . . . . . . . . . adorned me with silver and gold.

Now you may know, loved man of mine, what I, work of baleful ones, have endured of sore sorrows. Now has the time come     80 when they will honor me far and wide, men over earth, and all this great creation, will pray for themselves to this beacon. On me God's son suffered awhile. Therefore I, glorious now, rise under heaven, and I may heal     85 any of those who will reverence me.

Once I became hardest of torments, most loathly to men, before I for them, voice-bearers, life's right way opened. Indeed, Glory's Prince, Heaven's Protector,     90 honored me, then, over holm-wood. Thus he his mother, Mary herself, Almighty God, for all men, also has honored over all woman-kind. Now I command you, loved man of mine,     95 that you this seeing tell unto men; discover with words that it is glory's beam which Almighty God suffered upon for all mankind's manifold sins and for the ancient ill-deeds of Adam.     100 Death he tasted there, yet God rose again by his great might, a help unto men.

He then rose to heaven. Again sets out hither into this Middle-Earth, seeking mankind on Doomsday, the Lord himself,     105 Almighty God, and with him his angels, when he will deem--he holds power of doom-- everyone here as he will have earned for himself earlier in this brief life. Nor may there be any unafraid     110 for the words that the Wielder speaks.

He asks before multitudes where that one is who for God's name would gladly taste bitter death, as before he on beam did. And they then are afraid, and few think     115 what they can to Christ's question answer. Nor need there then any be most afraid who ere in his breast bears finest of beacons; but through that rood shall each soul from the earth-way enter the kingdom,     120 who with the Wielder thinks yet to dwell." I prayed then to that beam with blithe mind, great zeal, where I alone was with small company. My heart was impelled on the forth-way, waited for in each     125 longing-while. For me now life's hope:

that I may seek that victory-beam alone more often than all men, honor it well. My desire for that is much in mind, and my hope of protection     130 reverts to the rood. I have not now many strong friends on this earth; they forth hence have departed from world's joys, have sought themselves glory's King; they live now in heaven with the High-Father, dwell still in glory, and I for myself expect     135 each of my days the time when the Lord's rood, which I here on earth formerly saw, from this loaned life will fetch me away and bring me then where is much bliss, joy in the heavens, where the Lord's folk     140 is seated at feast, where is bliss everlasting;

and set me then where I after may dwell in glory, well with those saints delights to enjoy. May he be friend to me who here on earth earlier died     145 on that gallows-tree for mankind's sins. He loosed us and life gave, a heavenly home. Hope was renewed with glory and gladness to those who there burning endured.

That Son was victory-fast in that great venture,     150 with might and good-speed, when he with many, vast host of souls, came to God's kingdom, One-Wielder Almighty: bliss to the angels and all the saints--those who in heaven dwelt long in glory--when their Wielder came,     155 Almighty God, where his homeland was.

Hail Day-Star! Brightest Herald sent to man throughout the earth, and Thou steadfast splendour of the sun, bright above the stars! Ever thou dost illumine with Thy light the time of every season.

[misererelent]

Plate 31 | Love One Another

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Prior to the ascent on The Place of the Skull, Pilate’s soldiers circle about Jesus, sneering, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and strike him with their hands. Pilate then presents Jesus before the crowd, “Behold the man!”

As they stretch and secure the marred body to the sand and blood smeared wood, a soldier crowns Pilate’s description atop the mangled exhibit, broadcasting for every eye to recognize:

You and I are standing atop Golgotha this afternoon. We read,

Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews

Some of the bystanders find this event spectacular entertainment. They took off work and are now hoarse from laughter.

Others question if they had been rash in freeing Barrabas and secretly hate the synagogue leaders for exciting them. (Look at them cowering in shame.)

The convicts on either side? Yes, the one is a convicted rapist and murderer; the other is a Zealot ringleader, who planned a terrorist attack in a major Roman garrison in the city.

(The empire’s might is always displayed with brilliance. Even this far from the capitol, most Israelites wonder how man can amass this much power apart from YHWH. But…what can we do, apart from sate them with our money and enjoy the lives we have?)

I can’t help but think of King David singing,

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against The LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

Jesus claimed to be the Messiah of the world. And did we not see his wisdom and miracles ourselves? Were not these same people standing here today among those who watched him heal their relatives and reveal our Jewish leaders to be twisting the Law of God to exalt themselves?

What man have we ever seen speak and do as this man has done…

A trembling voice roars, It is finished!

All eyes stare for a moment at the sinking crowned head. A moment later thunder disrupts the stillness and the crowds disperse.

[misererelent]

in the land of thirst and fear. Song to listen to while you read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzqAd3FBRgc 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. John 4:3-6 2 “Judah mourns,     and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground,     and the cry of Jerusalem goes up." Jeremiah 14:2 42 “I came today to the spring and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, 43 behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” 44 and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son.’ Genesis 24:42-44

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ... 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” John 4:7,9 3 Her nobles send their servants for water;     they come to the cisterns; they find no water;     they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded     and cover their heads. Jeremiah 14:3 13 “Therefore thus says the Lord: Ask among the nations,     Who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel     has done a very horrible thing. 14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave     the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry,     the cold flowing streams? Jeremiah 18:13-14

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? John 4:10-11 22 Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?     Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God?     We set our hope on you,     for you do all these things. Jeremiah 14:22 15 But my people have forgotten me;     they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways,     in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads,     not the highway, 16 making their land a horror,     a thing to be hissed at forever. Jeremiah 18:15-16a 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” John 4:13-15 19 Have you utterly rejected Judah?     Does your soul loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down     so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came;     for a time of healing, but behold, terror. Jeremiah 14:19 7 Alas! That day is so great     there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob;     yet he shall be saved out of it. Jeremiah 30:5-7

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

7 “Though our iniquities testify against us,     act, O Lord, for your name's sake; for our backslidings are many;     we have sinned against you. 8 O you hope of Israel,     its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land,     like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night? 9 Why should you be like a man confused,     like a mighty warrior who cannot save? Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,     and we are called by your name;     do not leave us.” Jeremiah 14:7-9 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ Jeremiah 23:5

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” John 4:23-26 45 “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ 46 She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. Genesis 24:45-46 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. Jeremiah 29:11-14 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him. 30 As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. 31 He said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” 32 So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” He said, “Speak on.” Genesis 24:30-33

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:3

10 “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,     nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away,     and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,     and none shall make him afraid. 11 For I am with you to save you, declares the Lord; I will make a full end of all the nations     among whom I scattered you,     but of you I will not make a full end. Jeremiah 30:10-11a

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:11-14

18 “Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob     and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt on its mound,     and the palace shall stand where it used to be. 19 Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,     and the voices of those who celebrate. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;     I will make them honored, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children shall be as they were of old,     and their congregation shall be established before me,     and I will punish all who oppress them. 21 Their prince shall be one of themselves;     their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,     for who would dare of himself to approach me? declares the Lord. 22 And you shall be my people,     and I will be your God.” Jeremiah 30:18-22

26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord 27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.” Genesis 24:26-27

[misererelent]

Forgotten...

(via Rouault's Miserere plate 20)

[misererelent]

Day 23 | Plate 22 Of so many different domains, the noble work of sowing in hostile land.

He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants. He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield.

Psalm 107:33-37

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Unless God himself prepares the place for us, as he did Eden, and is now preparing in his Father’s mansion, God swore that our relationship with the earth would be strained.

In this scene, the sower and his house are lean and simple. Both reveal a life of subsistence. Work is a means for survival; nothing more than a means to live another day and a chance to collect more memories of God’s goodness.

He has known sadness, doubt and fear. He has watched his seeds wither and burn. He’s awoken to see the spores of some pestilence quickly wilting his field. He’s heard the ravaging beasts pillage his field during the night. He has lain in bed, too sick to crawl and gather the ripening fruit before it fell to the swirling pests. He’s doubted he has what it takes.

The weatherbeaten farmer has suffered, but the void it has etched in his soul is also reservoir for delight. For the fruits of each harvest have become the symbol of his celebration. Beyond sustaining the life of his household, they punctuate each rolling year as memorials of God’s enduring fidelity.

He has paced his field many times, and he knows where the stones lie embedded and where the fertile patches are. Each season, he carves the soil and watches the earth envelope the seeds. He waits long days, and when the rain comes, he bursts from is hut dancing as David before God. The tender plants join his dance in the rain, drinking deep of the dew of heaven and shining in their emerald way as Moses did after his descents from Sinai.

Like the farmer, wherever we go, the harvests we long for will only come after our anticipation and disillusionment, education and forgetfulness; joy and grief. Often, the greatest harvests will come to the most diligent farmers, but not always. Whatever the work he has given us, the harvest is a gift from his hands. Each is a miracle.

The harvests are our manna along our desert wandering until we reach the mountain of God, adorned in His holiness, and finally ascend to his everlasting embrace. Only then, we will want no more.

[misererelent]

The condemned man went away ... Song to listen to while you read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkP2Z73Rm7w

2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. John 8:2

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.

15 “But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be. 17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them. 19 Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. 20 And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22 And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood. Ezekiel 16:8-22

  3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery." John 8:3-4 20 But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, 21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father's house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. Deuteronomy 22:20-21 35 “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: 36 Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places. They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare. 40 They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. Ezekiel 16:35-40 5 "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” John 8:5 18 I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,     like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored,     for you are the Lord my God. 19 For after I had turned away, I relented,     and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded,     because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ 20 Is Ephraim my dear son?     Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him,     I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him;     I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 31:18-20 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. John 8:5-6

8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?     How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah?     How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me;     my compassion grows warm and tender. 9 I will not execute my burning anger;     I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man,     the Holy One in your midst,     and I will not come in wrath. Hoseah 11:8-9

59 “For thus says the Lord God: 'I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, 60 yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.' Ezekiel 16:59-60 "I will make you stop playing the whore, and you shall also give payment no more. 42 So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry." Ezekiel 15:41b-42 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7 2 Thus says the Lord: “The people who survived the sword     found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, 3     the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love;     therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Jeremiah 31:2-3 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,     O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines     and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5 Again you shall plant vineyards     on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant     and shall enjoy the fruit. 6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call     in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,     to the Lord our God.’” Jeremiah 31:4-6 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. John 8:8

7 For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,     and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say,     ‘O Lord, save your people,     the remnant of Israel.’ 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country     and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame,     the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;     a great company, they shall return here. 9 With weeping they shall come,     and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water,     in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel,     and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,     and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,     and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ 11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob     and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. Jeremiah 31:7-10 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. John 8:9 11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob     and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,     and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil,     and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden,     and they shall languish no more. 13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,     and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy;     I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,     and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:11-12 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” John 8:10 62 I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.” Ezekiel 16:62-63 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:11

[misererelent]

Day 16 | Plate 16 The upper class lady believes she holds a reserved seat in Heaven.

Today in America, most of us have never experienced a clearly delineated class system. The title of this plate likely conjures images from films of porcelain beauties, glimmering beneath embroidered materials and precious stones. These were the southern belles; the aristocracy of Europe, and the ancient world before it. These were The One Percent whom we as a nation so vehemently resent. Their experience mocks our sense of justice, and we portray them as catty and weak; self-consumed and cold-hearted; having no concern for their neighbor and endlessly fawning over their surgically enhanced reflections.

I recently heard an interview where a Victoria Secret model said that she essentially won a genetic lottery. It’s a sober assessment, and though we each make tremendously consequential decisions, much of our lives are also the result of great forces preceding our birth and stretching vast beyond our death.

However, we’re different than these poor upper class. We’ve been steeped in the Scripture; invested in the life of the church, and have avoided most of the scandals.

Thank you Lord for preserving me from such vanity and selfishness. Thank you for delivering me from evil, and that I am not one of those who resist your grace. I am so thankful I am not like those kind of people. I’m no adulterer or porn addict. I care about the discarded elderly and the conflicted foster kids; those ensnared by drugs and mental illness who live by begging.

The pride of our hearts deceives us! Without Christ’s own heart flowing life through us, everyone’s heart will metastisize into his own version of The One Percent. We either stare naked into the mirror with adoration, or we wink and rehearse how our wit and accomplishments prevail in beauty’s absence. (Each exalts himself according to his own rules.) Like the beautiful woman in this plate, whose face glows in the light, and yet conceals a stark mask-like line in the shadows, we reveal pieces of our inner lives to few, if any. We’re so rehearsed in public as being whole, and we may just believe we are.

Remember, there is a very beautiful woman in John’s vision while in Patmos. She is adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, and all the kings of the world continually have her, and together, they drink the chalice of the unspeakable filth they issue.

This same woman is seducing you, as she has your parents and their parents before them. She takes whatever form is required to distract you from where you need to be. Her offer is happiness, tailored exactly to what you aspire for in life, and she is always smiling sweetly.

“Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

Revelation 18:4b–5

If you think yourself moral, she will praise your obedience. If you agonize in sin, she will ease you with distraction or images darker still to sedate you by contrast. At least I’m not a…

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart,

“Who will bring me down to the ground?”

Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.

Obadiah 1:3–4

[misererelent]

Day 15 | Plate 15 - On Lips That Were Fresh, The Taste Of Gall

Lips once fresh with the fruit of heaven's garden, now foul with the taste of inglorious shame.

I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid.  I saw myself as naked; so I hid myself away.  (Genesis 3:10)

Once a river of sweet smelling sugar, now an acrid rupture of dung.  A restless deadly poison, a river of rage cascading from the tongue.

He turned their rivers all to blood; they could not drink from their streams.  Can fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers, this should not be.  (Psalm 78:44, James 3:10-11)

On the lips that once sang worship to the Creator of Life, now vomit death laments at ever having been born.

Then Job's wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9)

On the breath that once lilted a beautiful melody, "Pleasant, Beauty, Endless Delight", now rolls the seething song of "Mara", sung in the shadow of night.

Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter." (Ruth 1:20)

On the tongue that once spoke life-giving gospel, now the convoluted blasphemy of a terrified man. 

Then Peter began to call down curses, and he swore to everyone around, “I don’t know the man!"  "Damn it all to hell!" he cursed with defiant breath.  Then a rooster crowed viciously, as if to ring in the sound of death. (Matt 26:74)

On the tongues that once sang sweet melodies - "Hosannah! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!", now scream the demands of the blood thirsty mob, all shouting in one accord... 

“Away with this Christ!  Release Barabbas instead!"  With loud shouts they demanded.  With loud cries they prevailed.  "Release the convicted murderer, and crucify Christ instead!” (Luke 23:18-23)

So the breath once fresh with virginal love, now reeks with adulterous gall; not just on the lips of the angry divorce', but rotting in the souls of all.

Yet, I will not leave you like this my Beloved...

How beautiful you shall be and how pleasing, my love, with beauty and pleasant delights! I will not leave you as bitter gall, my darling. You will be fresh like new grapes on the vine.  The fragrance of your breath will be like tender apples, and your lips like the sweetest wine. (Song of Songs 7:6-9)

[misererelent]

"The Call her Daughter of Joy."

Matthew 20:16

16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

Matthew 25:40

40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Luke 7:36-48

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[c] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[d] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman,“Your sins are forgiven.”

Revelation 17:14

14 Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”

[misererelent]

It would be sweet to love.

Song to listen to while you read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfSpGGJHwCs 33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. Matthew 21:33 Let me sing for my beloved     my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard     on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,     and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it,     and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes,     but it yielded wild grapes. Isaiah 5:1-2 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. Matthew 21:34

16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look,     and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it,     and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ 17 I set watchmen over you, saying,     ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’ Jeremiah 6:16-17

35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Matthew 21:35

18 Therefore hear, O nations,     and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. 19 Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,     the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words;     and as for my law, they have rejected it. Jeremiah 6:18-19

36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Matthew 21:36

20 What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,     or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,     nor your sacrifices pleasing to me. 21 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will lay before this people     stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble; fathers and sons together,     neighbor and friend shall perish.’” Jeremiah 6:16-21

37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’

39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected     has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing,     and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Matthew 21:37-42

24 We have heard the report of it;     our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us,     pain as of a woman in labor. 25 Go not out into the field,     nor walk on the road, for the enemy has a sword;     terror is on every side. 26 O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth,     and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son,     most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer     will come upon us. Jeremiah 6:24-26

7 Restore us, O God of hosts;     let your face shine, that we may be saved!

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;     you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it;     it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade,     the mighty cedars with its branches. 11 It sent out its branches to the sea     and its shoots to the River. 12 Why then have you broken down its walls,     so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 13 The boar from the forest ravages it,     and all that move in the field feed on it. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. John 15:5-6 14 Turn again, O God of hosts!     Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, 15     the stock that your right hand planted,     and for the son whom you made strong for yourself. 16 They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;     may they perish at the rebuke of your face! 17 But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,     the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! 18 Then we shall not turn back from you;     give us life, and we will call upon your name! 19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!     Let your face shine, that we may be saved! Psalm 80:7-18

 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:5-11

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:8b-9, 14-18

God is our refuge and strength,     a very presenthelp in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,     though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam,     though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,     the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;     God will help her when morning dawns. 6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;     he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us;     the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,     how he has brought desolations on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;     he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;     he burns the chariots with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God.     I will be exalted among the nations,     I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us;     the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46