Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul

Here is a hymn that I heard for the first time this morning. This text is very powerful and well worth the time it takes to consider the words.

Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul

by Anne Steele (1706-1778)

1. Dear refuge of my weary soul,
On Thee, when sorrows rise
On Thee, when waves of trouble roll,
My fainting hope relies
To Thee I tell each rising grief,
For Thou alone canst heal
Thy Word can bring a sweet relief,
For every pain I feel

2. But oh! When gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call Thee mine
The springs of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline
Yet gracious God, where shall I flee?
Thou art my only trust
And still my soul would cleave to Thee
Though prostrate in the dust

3. Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face,
And shall I seek in vain?
And can the ear of sovereign grace,
Be deaf when I complain?
No still the ear of sovereign grace,
Attends the mourner's prayer
Oh may I ever find access,
To breathe my sorrows there

4. Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet,
Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet

brief update

In the last couple days, I have primarily done two things: taken tests and spent time with some ministry friends that were here. The test-taking part ended up ok, although it did not go as smoothly as hoped. However, I did end up passing, and I have now started month 2 of language training. So far the other people in this class are ones that I know and am friends with from month 1.
Yesterday I got to see a new area of town called Findikzade. It is a pretty nice area, (although it gave me a sinus headache from the dust in the air.) We walked through quite a bit of the area, but there is still a lot of territory that could be looked at there. We stuck to the main streets pretty much. It was definitely an interesting time with a lot of good conversation and fun.
Last night I managed to be fairly sick, whether it was related to the sinus or whether I got some food poisoning as well, I'm not sure. But in any case, I seem to have recovered ok; so that's a blessing.

What's past and what's looming

Well, it's been a while since I posted much on here. That's primarily because there's not a tremendous amount of news. My life still centers on language school. The side issues are spending time with my various friends, reading and studying, and exploring my new section of town. The best is when I can combine exploring and spending time with Turkish friends, usually with Dersan and Duygu (D&D).
The weather has turned rainy here for a lot of days, so I'm not carrying my camera all the time. Thus, whatever pictures I post aren't new ones. I started exploring a new direction yesterday and will probably check out a bit more of that area this evening, unless I have too much to do for the test tomorrow.
Speaking of that test, today is the final day of class work for my first month of language study. Tomorrow are the various tests to see if I can move on to Level 2. Some of them should not be too bad, but at least a couple are pretty difficult.
On Thursday, I am planning to spend the day trying to figure out the details of what I need to do if I am going to go to the University next spring. That could well be an all-day thing, or it might end up being relatively simple. We'll see what happens other than that.

rambling babbling thoughts about music and the heart

I've been reading in 2 Samuel for a little while now, and 2 Sam. 6 is the passage that is the topic of this post. But first the context:
My personal context is the fact that the most appropriate place here for me to attend Sunday services is with a group of people who are working here but are not IFBs. I see their worship coming from their heart and I see the work they are doing in a place that others have not gone, and it makes me wonder which is the greater issue. Is the issue some people who are passionate about proclaiming Christ among the nations and who use a drum each Sunday (and this week two electric guitars in the song service)? Or, is the issue those people who focus more on whether an electric guitar or drum is sin on Sunday than they do on the nations who are lost? That's my personal context.
2 Samuel 6 is the passage where the ark of the Lord is being brought back to Jerusalem by David and all the people of Israel. I am going to assume your knowledge of the story and just note some personal observations.
1. David dances before the Lord, and Michal rebukes him using the "stumbling block" or appropriateness arguments. (You're going to make the servant girls stumble./That's not appropriate to do in front of the servant girls./You're not being above reproach.)[Yes, I think these arguments have their place.] :)
2. Michael didn't get it because she wasn't out worshiping when she should have been; she was judging. Why was she not out bringing the ark back with the others?
3. The servant girls weren't stumbling because they were worshiping too; that's why they were there. In fact, they would hold David in honor for what he did, even if Michal's opinion deteriorated further (vs. 22).
4. The fact that they were "before the Lord" does not automatically prove that they were right. It is possible to be "before the Lord" and be wrong; David and Israel had just done that back in verse 5, the first time they tried to bring the ark back.
- Compare I Chron. 15-17 for more information about the situation.

I'm not drawing conclusions, just pondering. I think we would do well to consider where we would have been in the celebration of the return of the ark. Somehow I think that there is a strong possibility that I would not have wanted to associate with those people and might have even judged them. And I would have been wrong, not them. I would have been the one whom the Lord judged; and the reality is that the issue actually went to the core of who Michal was... this wasn't a one-time heart issue for her.

news tidbits

Friday evening: I spent some time with new and old friends visiting the country for a couple days; that was fun and a blessing. We had a good supper and talked for quite a while.

Saturday morning/early afternoon: I missed ultimate frisbee for the first Saturday since I've been here! (I actually am missing it on Tuesdays too, because of Turkish class.) :( Instead, Dersan, Duygu, and I went out and visited a place called Pierreloti and had a nice time up there. We had ice cream, talked, took some pictures, and generally enjoyed ourselves; then we proceeded to go shopping for a door for my room which we should be able to get on Monday.

Saturday evening: Just as we were getting back from that, some of the friends I'd been with the night before called, so I got to show them around the area where I go to school.

Today: normal Sunday things, and getting ready for the next week.

Moved in, hopefully for a long while

Well, I figured that I should give a housing update again, since I'm sure a few of you are wondering about me. I got myself and my stuff into my new room as planned Wednesday evening. Yesterday I got my stuff basically unpacked and arranged, and that is about the extent of "moving in." The picture is of the room as is; for the observant, no that's not all my books but the desk to small for the rest of them, so they are in the wardrobe.
I am getting along quite well with Dersan and Duygu. We will probably be going out for breakfast tomorrow morning.
In other news, yesterday was the first day of Ramadan. Other than that, life is full of language learning and other more minor events and studies.

Housing

The news of the day is that I officially have a place to stay for the next 4-5 months.
For about the past 2 days, I have been living with a couple of friends who decided that it was time that I quit living in a hostel and volunteered to let me stay with them until I finished arranging the details of getting another place (both offers came Sat. afternoon within a three hours of each other.) So, in any case, tomorrow evening I am planning to move to 4. Levant (Fourth Levant).
We will see how the actual details work out, but it seems to be a very good situation where I will be able to establish a strong friendship with this couple. They are Turkish and are working on learning English better. In any case, I'll plan to email or post an update sometime in the next couple weeks on how that part of life goes.
In other news, my grasp of Turkish is going from abysmal to slightly less abysmal, but at least I can sometimes communicate concepts if given enough time. :)
[The picture is the Metro exit/entrance at 4. Levant. This will probably be where I go for much of the transportation I will need.]

boring...

So, this week has consisted of language school and time with people and study and reading. I don't recall a single exciting thing that has happened to tell you about.
Language school has been good (most of the time); I am definitely learning. I wish I had a Turkish grammar that could tell me the things I don't understand, but that is not the method they are using to teach, so I shall just have to wait. Today we started on verbs. (It's very hard to do much real communication without them. :) But my progress is evident if not rapid.
And one thing that I just thought of that I should mention: I moved into a smaller room in the hostel about a week and a half ago, so I am no longer living with 2 dozen people, just 3-5. It's much nicer, and I typically get a solid night's sleep with few interruptions now.
Anyways, not much more to say, just know that I'm carrying on with a less exciting life now. :)