{"id":532,"date":"2009-09-12T10:20:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-12T14:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=532"},"modified":"2013-06-20T15:16:25","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T19:16:25","slug":"death-of-a-brother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=532","title":{"rendered":"Death of a Brother"},"content":{"rendered":"

My family and I have been blessed by the care of many people in this last week as we have dealt with the death of my older brother, Doug. We have seen the church in action, our church<\/a>, my parents’ church and many others, including the Union University community<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We are grateful, and God has been faithful.
\nFor the funeral, I gathered a lengthy Scripture reading from the Psalms believing the Psalms give us words for expressing grief, and in the midst of the grief finding hope in the character of God. I told the family I would pass on the reading, so I post it here as one step to accomplish that.<\/p>\n

142:1 With my voice I cry out to the Lord;
\nwith my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
\n2 I pour out my complaint before him;
\nI tell my trouble before him.
\n3 When my spirit faints within me,
\nyou know my way!
\n…
\n5 I cry to you, O Lord;
\nI say, “You are my refuge,
\nmy portion in the land of the living.”\u009d
\n6 Attend to my cry,
\nfor I am brought very low!<\/p>\n

38:8 I am feeble and crushed;
\nI groan because of the tumult of my heart.
\n9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
\nmy sighing is not hidden from you.
\n10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
\nand the light of my eyes – it also has gone from me…
\n15 But for you, O Lord, do I wait;
\nit is you, O Lord my God, who will answer….
\n17 For I am ready to fall,
\nand my pain is ever before me…
\n21 Do not forsake me, O Lord!
\nO my God, be not far from me!
\n22 Make haste to help me,
\nO Lord, my salvation!<\/p>\n

143:4 my spirit faints within me;
\nmy heart within me is appalled.
\n5 I remember the days of old;
\nI meditate on all that you have done;
\nI ponder the work of your hands.
\n6 I stretch out my hands to you;
\nmy soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
\n7 Answer me quickly, O Lord!
\nMy spirit fails!
\n8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
\nfor in you I trust.
\nMake me know the way I should go,
\nfor to you I lift up my soul.<\/p>\n

17:8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
\nhide me in the shadow of your wings,
\n22:11 Be not far from me,
\nfor trouble is near,
\nand there is none to help.
\n22:19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
\nO you my help, come quickly to my aid!
\n34:4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
\nand delivered me from all my fears.<\/p>\n

73:23 [You, O Lord, are continually with me];
\nyou hold my right hand.
\n24 You guide me with your counsel,
\nand afterward you will receive me to glory.
\n25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
\nAnd there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
\n26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
\nbut God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.<\/p>\n

40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
\nhe inclined to me and heard my cry.
\n2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog,
\nand set my feet upon a rock,making my steps secure.
\n3 He put a new song in my mouth,a song of praise to our God.
\nMany will see and fear,and put their trust in the Lord.<\/p>\n

46:1 God is our refuge and strength,
\na very present help in trouble.
\n2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
\nthough the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
\n3 though its waters roar and foam,
\nthough the mountains tremble at its swelling.
\n11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
\nthe God of Jacob is our fortress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My family and I have been blessed by the care of many people in this last week as we have dealt with the death of my older brother, Doug. We have seen the church in action, our church, my parents’ church and many others, including the Union University community. We are grateful, and God has …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Death of a Brother’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[153,151,113],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3022,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions\/3022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}