Psalm 20

Hi friends. It's been awhile again since last I posted. It got pretty chaotic here, and while I had a couple things I thought about posting, I ran out of steam before getting to it. I even pulled my 'round to it' coin out and it didn't help. Oh, well. What? You asked what a 'round to it' is? It's a coin that says "I have so much to do today I hope I can get around to it all." It's a joke thing that Pawpaw gave us years ago....

Well, moving on. Little Critter and I were doing Torah study this week, and ran out of Torah portion before we ran out of week....so we read Psalm 20. Have you read it lately? It's an incredible Psalm. So, as this week seems to be a week of horrible news all over the place, I thought I'd share it with you, my friends. It's almost like a prayer. So this is what I wish for you this next week....

"1. For the leader. A psalm of David:
2. May YHWH answer you in times of distress, may the name of the G-d of Ya'akov (Jacob)protect you.
3. May He send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Tziyon. (Zion)
4. May He be reminded by all your grain offereings and accept the fat of your burnt offerings.
5. May He grant you your heart's desire and bring all your plans to success.

6. Then we will shout for joy at your victory and fly our flags in the name of our G-d. May YHWH fulfill all your requests.
7. Now I know that YHWH give svictory to His annointed one-
He will answer himn from his holy heaven with might victories by his right hand.

8. Some trust in chariouts and some in horses, but we praise the name of YHWH our G-d.
9. They will crumple and fall, but we will arise and stand erect.
10. Give victory YHWH!
Let the King answer us the day we call."

Isn't that wonderful?! Now if we go back to verse 4, that's spoken of in Acts 10:3 when the angel appears to Cornelius and says YHWH remembered all his prayers. So that means that the prayers we submit to Papa are remembered by Him and count as though they were burnt offerings. Pretty cool, huh. Those that are Torah observant know we still offer burnt offerings according to Leviticus 23. For instance, each Erev Shabbat (Evening of Sabboth) when we make the Challah (bread) for the evening dinner, as we braid our loaves of bread, we save a piece of dough for YHWH. We cook Papa's piece with our loaves and before we start the ceremony for lighting candles to welcome Shabbat, we take the piece we'd cooked for Papa and go outside to present it to Him. It may sound strange to some, but once you've done a couple of times, it just doesn't feel right without it. Little Critter loves this part! He breaks his piece of bread into many pieces, says the prayer with us then throws his pieces in all 6 directions. (I realize we only do that during Sukkot, but he loves to do it, and we don't stop him. I enjoy it too. It's fun to thank Papa from each direction and toss our crumbs out for all the little birdies and worms (and stray cats) to enjoy.) Now, do I burn my bread each week? Good grief NO!!!! That would be a waste of the resources Papa's given me! But I do cook the bread in my gas oven so it's like an unburnt burnt offering. (or something like that)

So as we all head into another week that no doubt will bring distressing news from all directions, remember that this is the prayer I pray for each of you this week. And as we prepare for Thanksgiving, let's not waste much time being distressed by all the lunacy surrounding us. Let's concentrate on the things we have to be thankful for and remember that the lunacy just means the sound of the shofar (trumpet) is getting closer each day. Shabbat Shalom my friends. Spitfire