Just got finished with this morning's Bible reading.
I read chapters 96 to 104. And I'll tell you. This seemed a little different from the pack.
Overall, it seemed like I was in church during church songs. Remember going to church? And people singing the songs from the hymn book? That's what this seemed like.
Overall, these 9 chapters, if you had to break it down in a few sentences, this is what it was, in order: Sing to the Lord. The Lord reigns. Sing to the Lord. The Lord reigns. Shout. Sing. Then cry, pray and beg to God. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. And end with a song for the Animals.
Sounds like a church song, doesn't it?
Here's the breakdown for today's Bible reading:
Chapter 96 just seemed like a church song to me. I remember growing up as a kid, when I was in church, how it was when everyone sung the church hymns from the song book. And that's what this chapter reminded me of. It started out saying 'Sing to the Lord'. Then brought up to Fear God. What else is new? Gotta throw that Fear word in there. Can't go a chapter without that. He's the best. Fear him. Give to him. Give to the Lord. Give to the Lord. Worship him. Tremble to him and Fear him. This just got to where it seemed comical to me.
Chapter 97 didn't paint a pretty site to imagine. It started out saying how the Lord reigns, then painted a picture of God being surrounded by clouds and darkness, fire surrounding him, people seeing this, and fearing and trembling. This doesn't look like a welcoming place that you'd want to go to when you died. Imagine it. Picture it.
In Chapter 98, the church song started again. Sing to the Lord! Shout joyfully. Sing. Trumpets. Horns. Shout joyfully. Sounds like a big production number to me.
Chapter 99 echos the Lord reigns. Then tells everyone to tremble and Fear God. What else is new?
The church song starts again in Chapter 100. It says to shout joyfully to the Lord. This is getting comical. Really funny. Then the writer brings up how the people are sheep in a pasture. It's ironic how people are compared to the animals. I like that. Being a vegan and animal rights activist, I like that.
Chapter 101 keeps going with the church song. Starting with first words of Singing. Then all of a sudden, things change and the writer starts talking of being violent and killing people for God. Versed 5 to 8 aren't very nice, and don't sound very God loving to me. The writer says they'll destroy the person who slanders a neighbor. They'll destroy all the evil people. Now I will say this. There are some good things in these verses here where the writer blocks out and does not allow himself to be surrounded by the negative people. But, this chapter isn't about that. Overall, it's about killing and destroying the people not like him. I don't like that.
All of a sudden, in Chapter 102, things change and take a different turn. It's not like singing a church song here. It's all negative. All of a sudden the writer is crying, praying and begging to God for help. Verse after verse, it's negative, negative, negative. Then the word of Fear is thrown in. Then the chapter ends with brown nosing God. Fear and brown nosing. What else is new?
The next chapter, 103, was all about blessing the Lord. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. I saw these words 6 times in this small chapter. Talk about ramming it down the throat. But I did like verses 15 and 16. Those stood out to me. They talked about comparing Man to grass. How man sprouts, grows then dies. Every once in awhile, in this book, once in a blue moon, there's an interesting sentence. So that was neat. But then, right after those verses, verse 17 says to Fear God. Then ends with repeating to Bless God. Damn. I'll tell you what.
The last chapter, 104, I did like. It came across to me as a Song for the Animals.
Chapter 104 talked alot about different animals, and to me, was showing how humans are like the other animals. They wrote about Birds having their home and singing on branches. Grass grows for Cattle. Grass grows food for the Earth. There you go. We're just like the cattle. Our food is supposed to come from the grass too. It said wine makes the heart glad. Oil makes the face shine. Bread strengthens the heart. Trees filled with sap. I don't see anything here talking about how people should eat our fellow creatures. It's just talking about how we're all the same and how we use what comes out of the ground to eat and drink and live.
Other fellow creatures mentioned here: Birds. Goats. Badgers. Beasts. Lions. Then Man. And with every animal here, it mentions about their home and where they lay their head at night. There you go. We're all the same.
From Verses 12 to 25, it really compares Man as an equal to all the other Animals. And ends with saying how we're all the same, all of us Creatures, small and big. There you go. We're all the same.
The chapter ended with the church song saying to bless and praise the Lord.
Overall, this Bible reading today was a little different. More like a church song. A lot of the same things like Fear and Violence and Evil. And how God is an evil person. But the church song writing style was different, and I did like Chapter 104 being a chapter for the Animals.
Like a church song. For the Animals.
