Month: Aug 2022

Praise to the Lord

Psalm 96 New International Version

Psalm 96

Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Last night I heard a more up to date wording of the above Psalm which can match various hymn tunes but the tune i have picked is ‘Aurelia’. The words are as follows:

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord ye earth Sing to the Lord his praises, proclaim it all day long, Declare his Glory worldwide, his marv’llous works for man. For great is God most worthy, we’ll praise him all we can.

All other Gods and idols, our Lord created all, Majesty is before him, his strength is like a wall. Give to the Lord ye nations all of the honour due, And bring an offering daily for all he gives to you.

Tell all the world God reigneth, the world can not be moved, But he will judge us fairly, so let the earth be loved. The fields will be rejoicing, the forest sings his praise, Because the Lord is coming we’ll praise him all our days.

Lucy Milward Booth

Commissioner Lucy Milward Booth (April 281868 – July 181953) was the eighth and youngest child of Catherine and William Booth, the Founder of The Salvation Army.

At the age of 16, Lucy and her sister Emma went to India to work with The Salvation Army there. Emma married Frederick Tucker in 1888. The Booth-Tuckers soon moved to London because of Emma’s failing health, and Lucy followed.

On 18 October 1894 Lucy married Colonel Emanuel Daniel Hellberg, a Swedish Officer.[1] As was the custom in the Booth family, the couple added ‘Booth’ to their married name, becoming Booth-Hellberg. They went on to have five children together: Emma, Eva, Lucy, Daniel and Ebba Mary Booth-Hellberg. Their son Daniel died in infancy in 1896.[2] Lucy returned to India with her new husband and they together commanded the Indian Territory, taking on the names Ruhani and Raj-Singh respectively. They were appointed to France and Switzerland in 1896.[1]

Lucy wrote the song Keep On Believing for The Salvation Army. In 1909 her husband died. She went on to become the territorial commander for Denmark, Norway, and South America before she retired in 1934.[1] In 1933 he was admitted to The Salvation Army’s most prestigious award, the Order of the Founder, “for long and exceptional service under peculiarly difficult circumstances, together with her readiness at all times to answer to the call of duty, particularly in the earlier years in India and France, and, latterly, in South America”.[3]

“Commissioner Lucy” died (or was Promoted to Glory) at Bromma in Stockholm on July 18 1953, at the age of 85.

Kneeling at thy Feet

I came across this video a long time ago, unfortunately I cannot find a bible reference to match it nor can i find what I think are lovely words neither in the Salvation Army song book(s) nor on internet. However I can tell you the words were written by Lucy M. Booth who was born in 1868 and died 1953.

Guest post – Life-Giving Rain

They were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. —

Acts 6:10

Photo by Trung Nguyen on Pexels.com

Today’s Scripture & Insight: Acts 6:1-10

During the August heat of 1891, R. G. Dyrenforth arrived in Midland, Texas, determined to blast rain from the sky. Known as a “concussionist,” he and his team launched and detonated huge balloons filled with explosive gases, fired cannons, and exploded piles of dynamite on the ground—shaking both earth and sky. Some believed he made it rain a little, but most said all he caused was noise. The explosive power was impressive but ineffective.

When the early church needed overseers, they sought people with a different kind of power. They chose “seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3) to manage the daily distribution of food. One of those was Stephen, a man “full of faith and power, [who] did great wonders and signs among the people” (v.8). When disputes arose, those who argued with Stephen “were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (v.10).

The Bible makes it clear that Stephen’s spiritual effectiveness came from being filled with the Holy Spirit, who gave him the right balance of faith, wisdom, and power.

God’s Spirit in our lives today replaces the loud noise of self-interest with His gentle, life-giving rain.

Helping Others

Image result for helping others

Galatians 6:9-10 (NIV)

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Sometimes we fail to help people as we would like to, we shouldn’t give up trying, but keep doing good as scripture encourages us to do.

Little things from helping an elderly neighbour by getting shopping for them right through to seeing a stranger in need help.

You can be assured the Lord sees all these acts of kindness and he will see favour in us.