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It was this prayer that I read in the Fenton translation,
that inspired my Personal article for TOMORROW'S WORLD. It begins
the very next verse after the one quoted just above -- the 10th.
verse:
"Blessed be YOU, the EVER-LIVING, --
The GOD of Our Father Israel, --
From Eternity to Eternity!
With You, LORD, is Greatness, and Power,
And Beauty, and Splendour, and Glory!
For all the Heavens and the Earth are Yours,
LORD!
The Government, and Exaltation,
And Headship of All!"
The Fenton translation omits part of the next verse -- the
12th., so I continue in the Moffatt translation in modern English:
"Riches and Honor come from thee, who reignest over all; in
thy hand lie POWER and MIGHT, and in thy hand it lies to make all
great and strong. Hence, O our God, we ever thank thee and praise
thy glorious name. Yet who am I, what is my people, that we should
be able to offer such freewill offerings? All gifts come from
thee, and we only give thee what is thine" (I Chronicles 29:
10-14).
Brethren, as I read those inspired words, I seemed to catch
the vision of the GREATNESS, the POWER, the BEAUTY, the SPLENDOR
and GLORY of God -- and of His throne in Heaven!
Do you fully realize It? God is not the author of
ugliness, but of BEAUTY! Not of unsightliness, or drab, colorless,
depressing surroundings, but of magnificence, inspiration, culture!
Not the source or giver of cheapness, inferiority, but of quality
and CHARACTER! Not of darkness, but of LIGHT and BRILLIANCE!
Some people have the very wrong idea that we ought to live
in drab, depressing, inferior surroundings. God Himself dwells in
brilliant SPLENDOR! From His throne in Heaven brilliant lightning
flashes forth! It is resplendent in BEAUTY brilliance and GLORY
beyond description!
Said the Inspired David, "Riches and honor come from
thee!" Not poverty, cheapness, inferiority -- RICHES, HONOR,
CHARACTER, QUALITY! God is the GIVER of all the GOOD THINGS!
Poverty is a punishment brought on humans by humans. Filth and
squalor do not come from God, but from disobedience to His Laws!
It is RICHES that come from God, to those who UNDERSTAND and follow
HIS WAYS!
All -- absolutely ALL GOOD THINGS, wanted things,
desirable things, come from GOD! God is one who GIVES, not one who
TAKES! He SHARES, and has given us precious promises that, if we
yield to Him and His right WAYS, ALL THAT HE HAS we may SHARE! If
we are Christ's, we are His children and heirs -- heirs to inherit
all that God HAS! To SHARE it all with Him!
I mean His GLORY! I mean the UNIVERSE! I mean His POWER!