SHIGIONOTH
Today’s Reading: Habakkuk 3
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
A majestic Elk stands poised in Banff Alberta. Today’s reading tells us of the flock (sheep), and the herd (cattle). It speaks of God making our feet like deer’s feet so that we can walk on high places in Him like these elk on a plateau in the Rocky Mountains are doing. Let’s go for a walk today. New life is everywhere!
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Habakkuk 3:17-19
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls —
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
“Shigionoth!” (Habakkuk 3:1). No respected scholar that I can find knows what that word means. The stupendous, glorious, magnificent fact of the resurrection of Jesus out from among the dead is truly so beyond our human capacity to express that we may need words like the Apostle Paul said were the reason why he spoke in tongues more than all the Corinthian believers (1 Corinthians 14:18)… “In the spirit he speaks mysteries” (1 Corinthians 14:2b). In the very next chapter Paul writes in detail about the “Resurrection!” Paul saw the resurrected Jesus! “Last of all He was seen by me also!” (1 Corinthians 15:8a).
Our key verses speak of a “Saturday” grave-type experience when nothing seems to be going the way it should, but “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:18). Go ahead! Walk on high places! “Joy” is used as a verb here. It’s an action word! Let us express our joy to God and to all we meet today and every day. Amen!!!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, like the Apostle Paul I find that my mother tongue is unable to fully express what I feel inside. Paul said, “My spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the result then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will also sing with the spirit and I will also sing with the understanding!” I pray for Your grace to pray and sing both with my spirit and with my understanding. In the Name of the risen Christ Jesus! Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
Sometimes I start my blog and I really don’t know where I’m going with the thoughts that spill out through my fingers onto my laptop keyboard. I think that’s a miracle of God’s grace to me. I know that the risen-from-the-dead Jesus is interceding at the throne of God for me according to Hebrews 7:25…”Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since HE EVER LIVES to make intercession for them.” Jesus is praying for me in that great prayer meeting gathered at God’s throne. Amazing!!! True!!! The word “salvation” is found three times in today’s reading. Thank You, Lord Jesus!!!
I know personally a master mason…not the religious cultic group in which people are called “Masons”…but a man who builds with stone, concrete blocks, plaster, etc. His name is Randy Herring. Through his trade, he and his wife finance, at great personal sacrifice, a mission to needy children and teens in Honduras. Check out the “Kid’s Ark International Youth Camp” online (click here). He showed me pictures of the camp he has built, which has already impacted thousands for Christ. Randy has built, for teaching purposes, exact replicas of Biblical sites. The campers are there, so to speak, in the Holy Land, experiencing the places where Bible events occurred. Here is a link to one of the amazing visual aids created by Randy for the children of Honduras. This master mason has created his replicas in exact detail, even to the cracks in the stones as seen in Jerusalem at the Garden Tomb. Just imagine the powerful impact of the Gospel message at this camp!
Yours for knowing Him and “The power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Philippians 3:10),
David
Fascinated by “Shigionoth!” “Comparing Habakkuk 3 with Psalm 7, we find similar themes. Both songs paint a picture of dire trouble. Habakkuk 3 speaks of earthquakes, crumbling mountains, pestilence, floods, arrows, spears, and calamity; Psalm 7 describes vicious lions, trampled lives, rage, swords, flaming arrows, and violence. Both songs end with praise to the Lord for His deliverance from the surrounding trouble. And both songs mention the shiggaion or shigionoth.
“David classifies his song as a shiggaion. Habakkuk says that his song should be sung in the manner of the shigionoth. As best we can tell, the tumultuous poetry of Habakkuk 3 and Psalm 7 was to be accompanied by music that fit the theme. “On shigionoth” probably meant “with impassioned triumph,” “with rapidity,” or “with abrupt changes of tune.”
Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/shigionoth.html
Recommended Resource: Holman Old Testament Commentary: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah by Trent Butler
Blessings fellow saints. May your day be filled with peace, love, and joy.
I am melting in these words: The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. Habakkukk 3:19 NIV
Isn’t He (This Jesus) [feat. Natalie Grant] // The Belonging Co
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjEKkwBZaio
What precious children; the joy on their faces with hands razed praising the Lord!
David certainly was led of the Spirit in presenting this blog! The story of Randy Herring and the camp God let him to build for the children in Honduras!
David’s comments and explanations of the scripture, so anointed and “right on”.
This morning’s blog is as anointed and certainly of the Lord!! The prayer, the photos and the words of wisdom that exemplify the scripture of the Day.
Bless you Ron and Ann for faithfully posting this manna for us daily.
This morning I was led to this writing of the day in “Streams in the desert” and want to share it with you for the Glory of God!
Titled: “Abandoned”
Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost!
Seeking all His fullness, whatever the cost;
Cutting all the moorings, launching in the deep
Of His mighty power–strong to save and keep:
Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost!
Oh! The sinking, sinking, until self is lost!
Until the emptied vessel lies broken at His feet;
Waiting till His filling shall make the work complete.
Utterly abandoned to the will of God;
Seeking for no other path than my Master trod;
Leaving ease and pleasure, making Him my choice,
Waiting for His guidance, listening for His voice.
Utterly abandoned! No will of my own;
For time and for eternity, His, and His alone;
All my plans and purposes lost in His sweet will,
Having nothing, yet in Him all things possessing still.
Utterly abandoned! It’s so sweet to b be
Captive in His bonds of love, yet Wondrously free;
Free from sin’s entanglements, free from doubt and fear,
Free from every worry, burden, grief, or care.
Utterly abandoned! Oh, the rest is sweet,
As I tarry, waiting, at His blessed feet;
Waiting, for the coming of the Guest divine,
Who my inmost being will perfectly refine.
Lo! He comes and fills me, Holy Spirit sweet!
I, in Him, am satisfied! I, in Him, complete!
And the light within my soul will nevermore grow dim
While I keep my covenant–abandoned unto Him!
author unknown
Amen, Irene.
We are to praise
god in good and
bad times.
There is a distressing problem with the blog. Whenever you post more than one link within a message, it does not post it right away and says, “awaiting moderation.” The message typically gets posted at the end of the day. My comment from 6:59 am about “Shigionoth!”, with a lovely song, is still waiting. I really hope Ron that this can be changed; sometimes I forget about the double link because it happens so rarely. I am sure other saints have run into this same problem.
Thank you for these postings Beverlee, Irene and Carol. Marvellous!