Wednesday, September 05, 2012

On Turning 47

Today is my 47th birthday. There isn't anything really auspicious about 47. It's the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything PLUS FIVE. I suppose I am now in my late forties rather than my mid forties. As my friend John pointed out (not that I hadn't already noticed), my two favorite baseball teams are in first place in their respective divisions (the Nationals have spent most of the season there, the Orioles just clawed their way back into to a tie for first).
I thought I might turn to the Bible for a little bit of wisdom. Not many of the books of the Bible have 47 chapters so I'll try and pull a little perspective and wisdom out of some of the chapter 47s. First I'll look at Genesis:
And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”
Genesis 47:8
Well, duh, I'm 47, aren't I? Maybe I can find something in the 47th chapter of Isaiah:
Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
  and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
  and I will spare no one.
Isaiah 47:3
That was for Babylon not me - right? I really don't want to spend the day naked and disgraced. Keep reading...
Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
  is the Holy One of Israel. 
Isaiah 47:4
A reminder of who God is. That's good. Let me focus more on that today (no disgrace please...)
Sing praises to God, sing praises!
  Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
  sing praises with a psalm!
Psalm 47:6-7
47 won't be so bad. So far it doesn't feel any worse than 46. I'll probably be spending some time listening to All About Worship Collective, Volume 4 today. It's got some really wonderful songs on it. I've really loved the 3 prior collections they've release and this one is probably my favorite. If you haven't, you should download it!

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