When/then: Thoughts about starving oxen and promises of prosperity taken out of context.

Here is a triply biblical thought:

"Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." (Deuteronomy 25:4)

"Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." (1Corinthians 9:9)

"Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." (1Timothy 5:11)

Why do you think the Holy Spirit saw fit to reiterate this three times, once in the Old Testament and twice in the New?

And I wonder if we might not see some astonishing outpouring of grace from on high if we stopped ripping Jeremiah 29:11 out of context and recognized how serious the Lord was and is about observing sabbatical years, you know, serious as a 70-year exile, so that muzzled oxen should not collapse and die from lack of nourishment and oxygen deprivation while grinding at the mill.

10 "This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. (Jer 29:10-12)

 

Psalm 3 [St. Columba]

This was the first of the Revenant Psalms I worked up in 2021.  

It became Track 2 on the initial volume. Hopefully having the text before you will make it more singable. Meanwhile, this series of videos showing the capo arrangements, chord shapes, fingering, etc., may perhaps have the same effect watching a friend play his snappy technique had on me way back in 1993. It only took me 28 years (from 1993 to 2021) for me to actually put my pick down and do this, but I'm glad I did. I find this style of rhythm guitar much more fun to play and enjoyable to listen to than the more common strumming style that is ubiquitous among worship leaders. [Not even sure I could do it if I tried.]