July 12, 2009

Texts:
Exodus 35 and 36
Psalm 19

Exodus:
There's a word that keeps appearing in Exodus. The NRSV translates it as "fine leathers", but if you have a King James Bible, you see it as "porpoise". The Hebrew word, "techashim", apparently means porpoise.
Who knew?

What really stood out to me, in this continuing description of the minutia of the temple, is the description of the people who came to help with the building and construction. "And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the LORD’S offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the sacred vestments."

This was work done by people who wanted to be there, who had willing hearts. And they had an abundance. They had to tell them to STOP giving things to them because people gave TOO MUCH. What's the message for us here?

Psalm 19

Reading this psalm today was one of those pleasant surprises for me. There was so much language in this psalm that was comforting and familiar. Reading through the psalms always does that for me--reminding me how much of our current worship liturgy comes straight from the psalms.
Is there a line in this psalm that really spoke to you today?