64.4 Sing A New Song

(Psalm 96)

Sing a new song to the Lord!
Sing to the Lord, all the world!
Sing to the Lord, and praise him!
Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us.
Proclaim his glory to the nations,
his mighty acts to all peoples.

The Lord is great and is to be highly praised;
he is to be honored more than all the gods.
The gods of all other nations are only idols,
but the Lord created the heavens.
Glory and majesty surround him;
power and beauty fill his temple.

Praise the Lord, all people on earth;
praise his glory and might.
Praise the Lord's glorious name;
bring an offering and come into his Temple.
Bow down before the Holy One when he appears;
tremble before him, all the earth!

Say to all nations, "The Lord is king!
The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with justice."
Be glad, earth and sky!
Roar, sea, and every creature in you;
be glad, fields, and everything in you!
The trees in the woods will shout for joy
when the Lord comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

64.3 A New Heart

(Ezekiel 36:25-32)

"I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you.  I will give you a new heart and a new mind.  I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart.  I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you.  Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors.  You will be my people, and I will be your God.  I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be plentiful, so that you will not have any more famines.  I will increase the yield of your fruit trees and your fields, so that there will be no more famines to disgrace you among the nations.  You will remember your evil conduct and the wrongs that you committed , and you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your sins and your iniquities. Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace f what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken."

64.2 A New Era of Justice And Peace

(Isaiah 54:11-17)

The Lord says, "O Jerusalem, you suffering, helpless city, with no one to comfort you,

I will rebuild your foundations with precious stones.

I will build your towers with rubies, your gates with stones that glow like fire, and the wall around you with jewels.

"I myself will teach your people and give prosperity and peace.

Justice and right will make you strong.

You will be safe from oppression and terror.

If anyone attacks you, he does it without my consent; whoever fights against you will fall.

I create the blacksmith, who builds a fire and forges weapons.

I also create the soldier, who uses the weapons to kill.

But no weapon will be able to hurt you; you will have an answer for all who accuse you.

I will defend my servants and give them victory."

The Lord has spoken.

64.1 A New Covenant Of Peace

(Exodus 34:23-30)

"Three times a year all of your men must come to worship me, the Lord, the God of Israel.  After I have driven out the nations before you and extended your territory, no one will try to conquer your country during the three festivals.

"Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me.  Do not keep until the following morning any part of the animal killed at the Passover Festival.

"Each year bring to the house of the Lord the first grain that you harvest. Do not cook a young sheep or goat in it's mother's milk."

The Lord said to Moses, "Write these words down, because it is on the basis of these words that I am making a covenant with you and Israel." Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, eating and drinking nothing.   He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant-- the Ten Commandments.

When Moses went down from Mount Sinai carrying the ten commandments, his face was shining  because he had been speaking with the Lord, but he did not know it.  Aaron and all the people looked at Moses and saw that his face was shining, and they were afraid to go near him.