Advent, Day 10

December 11, 2012 By 3 Comments

 

Painting by Simon Dewey

 

Readings for the second Tuesday in Advent:

 

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of theLord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.  (Isaiah 40:1-11)

 

(Am I the only one out here who finds it difficult to read some of those verses without breaking into the cadences of Händel’s Messiah?)

 

A contented lamb, feeling secure

 

How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.  (Matthew 18:12-14)

 

Posted from Orlando, Florida.

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized 3 Comments
  • Raymond Takashi Swenson

    When I have taught these or any other scriptures thst were set to music by Handel, I have played the musicsl versions to invite my class to ponder why these words were worth setting to music.

  • Kent G. Budge

    Dan, are you familiar with Blake’s poem The Lamb? Thought of it when I saw the happy lamb picture.

  • http://nathanrichardson.com Nathan

    Raymond, I’ve long wanted there to be some sort of database for scripture teachers, where you can look up a passage and have links to audio clips where it has been set to music. Wouldn’t that be incredibly helpful? It would help students remember the passages and also gain an appreciation for the effect on the culture.