Daily Meditations for March


March 1

GOLDEN SILENCE
Psalm 62:1-2

Psalm 62 has been called "David's only Psalm."  And there is a measure of truth in that title. Surely he wrote many other psalms. But the reason why this one is called his "Only Psalm'' is the fact that he uses the word ''only'' so often in it.

The words in our translation of verses 1 and 2 are these "Truly my soul waiteth upon God; from Him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved."  However, that word "truly" can be, and here ought to be, translated as "only." Then we find him using that word "only" five times in the first six verses of the Psalm.

What David means when he states that his soul waits up on God's explained in our versification with these words:

    My soul in silence waits for God,
    My Savior He has proved;
    He only is my Rock and Tower:
    I never shall be moved.

Notice that we sing, ''My soul in silence. . .''  That is what David did write. And waiting upon God is being silent before Him in the sense that we do not grumble and complain in dissatisfaction at what God has done to us or around us. Indeed, at times we dare to call Him unfair and forgetful. No, not with our lips; but notice that David is speaking about what his soul is doing, not his lips. With his lips David is not silent in praying to and praising God. In this Psalm he is by no means silent as far as God's praise is concerned. But real trust in God reveals itself in silence as far as faultfinding is concerned.

And surely when we are thinking of our salvation, our trust must be in God alone. He is our salvation, and apart from Him there is no hope, as we lie in the midst of sin and death.

Examine your soul today. Is it silent? Is all its trust in God? Can you silently wait for Him to show you in the day of Christ that all things work together for good to those that love God?

That is golden silence, a silence that pleases God.

Read: Psalm 62
Psalter versification 161:1

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 365
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Leviticus 24 ; Leviticus 25:1-46
Mark 10:13-31
Psalm 44:9-26
Proverbs 10:20-21

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Quote for Reflection:

     The Path of Obedience: “Beware of that miserable delusion into which some have fallen - that parents can do nothing for their children, that you must leave them alone, wait for grace, and sit still. These parents would like their children to die the death of the righteous person, but they do nothing to help them live a righteous life. They have great hope, but they receive nothing. And the devil rejoi

ces to see such thinking, just as he always does over anything which seems to excuse laziness, or to encourage neglect. I know that you cannot convert your child. I know that they who are born again are born, not of the will of man, but of God. But I also know that God specifically says, "Train a child in the way he should go," and that He never gave a command to men and women which He would not give them the grace to perform. And I also know that our duty is not to stand still and dispute the command, but to go forward and obey it. The path of obedience is the way in which He gives the blessing.” -J. Ryle


March 2

A SURE SALVATION
Psalm 62:1

David's reason for trusting God for all his salvation is the fact that it all comes from God. So he states it in Psalm 62:1, in these words: "Truly my soul waits upon God; from Him cometh my salvation."

Surely the most important gift bestowed upon man, since the fall of Adam, is salvation. Rain and sunshine, food and drink, health and life are valuable gifts man receives from God. But these all men receive to a degree in God's providence. Salvation, however, brings us to an everlasting life that contains the richest and most blessed fellowship with God that the creature can enjoy. Salvation makes us children of God; and though we were created a little lower than the angels, we will be closer to God than they are now.

Sad to say, however, we are most of the time interested in earthly things. They come first in our minds rather than the blessings of salvation. And we do not see and use them as means wherewith to serve God. But if we are going to appreciate David's words, we must wait for Christ to bring us to holiness, and to a covenant life of fellowship with God that is higher than Adam knew before he fell.

That salvation is absolutely sure. For note that David calls God his Rock, his salvation, and his defense. As our Rock He is unmovable, and as our defense He is our mighty fortress and high tower. Once again, our versification has it thus:

    My soul in silence waits for God,
    My Savior He has proved;
    He only is my rock and tower:
    I never shall be moved.
    My honor is secure with God,
    My Savior He is known;
    My refuge and my rock of strength
    Are found in God alone.

Waves of men and evil spirits may assault us. Floods of enemies may sweep over us.  But, on waiting God all is well with us.  The forces that at attack us will be shattered as the waves of the sea are upon the rocks on the shore. Our salvation is sure, for the almighty, unchangeable God is our rock and our salvation. 

Read: Romans 8:22-39
Psalter versification: 162:1

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 382
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Leviticus 25:47-55 ; Leviticus 26 ; Leviticus 27:1-13
Mark 10:32-52
Psalm 45:1-17
Proverbs 10:22

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Quote for Reflection:

If, therefore, we are disposed to avoid every kind of contentions and fighting, let us learn, first, to moderate many things by gentleness, and next to bear with many things; for they who are excessively severe and ill-tempered carry with them a fire to kindle strife. -- John Calvin


March 3

SAFE IN GOD'S KEEPING
Psalm 62:2

It would be foolish as well as sinful to claim that we will never fall into sin, and that our faith never wavers. Satan's there to attack us time and time again; and our flesh wants what he dangles before our eyes. If we say that we never slip or slide, we are slipping and sliding in that haughty speech. Then we cannot honestly repeat David's words, which are God's word, when he says of God in Psalm 62:2, "He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved."

David does not here boast that his soul will not at times fail to wait upon God. But he states that because God is his salvation, his rock, and his defense, he will not fall away and lose his salvation. The idea is that our safety is sure, because it is God who protects us. We do not and cannot stand in our own strength. We can never defend ourselves against an enemy who has had almost 6,000 years of experience. A clever, crafty Satan, who could make righteous Adam and Eve fall, can surely make us, who have an old man of sin, turn our backs upon the righteous and holy God.

But he cannot make us fall away from God's grace. He cannot make God hate us; and he cannot keep God from bringing us to a sincere sorrow over our sins. If it all depended upon us, Satan could in a moment kill us spiritually. But he cannot obtain the slightest, most temporary victory over God, Who is our Rock, Salvation, and Defense.

Because God is our rock, He with His little finger can crush Satan and grind him to powder. We will not be greatly moved. Satan will never strike a fatal blow upon us. He made Peter fall deeply into sin; but our God made the cock crow, and caused Peter to weep bitterly over his sin. We will often be moved to commit sin. But to be moved greatly, so that we fall away and God's grace is withdrawn from us, is impossible. The almighty God is our defense.

    My soul in silence waits for God,
    My Savior He has proved.
    He only is my rock and tower;
    I never shall be moved.

He proved Himself as our Savior in the cross of His only begotten Son.

Read: II Corinthians 4
Psalter versification: 161:1

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 135
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Leviticus 27:14-34 ; Numbers 1
Mark 11:1-26
Psalm 46:1-11
Proverbs 10:23

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Quote for Reflection:

“Do Christ this one thing for all his love to thee: Love all his saints, even the poorest, the meanest and the weakest, and not withstanding some slight differences in judgment.  As the names of the children of Israel were graven on Aaron’s breastplate, so are the names of all God’s saints engraved on the heart of Christ. Let them be likewise so on thine.” -- Augustus Toplady


March 4

OUR ENEMIES' CERTAIN DEFEAT
Psalm 62:3,4

Although we must love our neighbor, this does not mean that we will have no enemies here below. According to the promise that God gave Adam and Eve after they fell, the world was divided into two groups of people, namely, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And a fierce unending enmity exists between them, because the seed of the serpent cannot stand those who love God. They cannot love God, and therefore they cannot love those who put their trust in God.

The result is that we are going to suffer at their hands. David knew this and expressed it in Psalm 62:3-4 with those words, ''How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? Ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah."

All this became clear when the wicked tried to cast Christ down from His excellency, outwardly claiming that this Seed of the Woman was a blasphemer, while inwardly they were cursing. And that hatred and evil all those for whom Christ died will experience. David is not the only one. All the seed of the woman will know it when they manifest themselves as members of His body.

As we are, or soon shall be, in the season when we consider in a special way Jesus' suffering and death, let us find comfort in David's words. Not we but our enemies shall be as a bowing wall and tottering fence. Our victory is sure. If the enemy slays us, he is only serving as God's tool to bring us to everlasting blessedness. He, not we, will be defeated.

Sing it then in these words of our versification:

Read: Psalm 46
Psalter versification: 161:2, 3

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 272
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Numbers 2 ; Numbers 3
Mark 11:27-33 ; Mark 12:1-17
Psalm 47:1-9
Proverbs 10:24-25

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Quote for Reflection:

… whenever any doubt shall arise in our mind about the forgiveness of sins, let us learn to repel it courageously with this shield, that it is an undoubted truth, and deserves to be received without controversy. -- John Calvin


March 5

TRUST THAT IS A MUST
Psalm 62:5

Trust in God will always be characterized by looking away from self. David revealed this very plainly in Psalm 62. Having stated that his soul trusted in God alone for his salvation, he commands his soul to wait upon God. In verse 1, he stated, ''Truly my soul waiteth upon God,'' and then after reviewing the woes of the wicked's attack upon him, he gives in verse 5 this command to his soul, "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him."

And it is so important that we say this to our souls. For our souls must say this to our whole being. That our mouths say that we trust in God means nothing, if the soul does not say it. And when the soul says that it trusts in God, it commands our whole being to look up to Him for all of our salvation. That soul does not simply say that it is a good idea to trust only in God. Our souls must not simply suggest to our whole being that we look nowhere for salvation but unto God. Our soul must command our whole being to wait in silence upon God.

Our versification exhorts such trust in these words:

    On Him, ye people evermore
    Rely with confidence:
    Before Him pour ye out your heart,
    For God is our defense.

Tell your soul then to trust in God when the unbeliever attacks you or Satan tempts you. Say it when it looks as though God has forsaken and forgotten you. Say it when all goes well, as far as your flesh is concerned. For then you are in danger of forgetting and forsaking Him and of trusting in self or in earthly things.

Trust in God is a must. There is not one moment when this is not absolutely essential for our well-being. Our souls must be ordered to trust in God alone. David speaks of his expectation or hope. But there is no hope of salvation unless our souls wait upon God. Rely on Him with confidence, for He is our defense. And a more sure and safer defense you cannot find than the almighty, unchangeable God.

Read: Psalm 118
Psalter versification: 161:5

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

 

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 110
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Numbers 4 ; Numbers 5:1-31
Mark 12:18-37
Psalm 48:1-14
Proverbs 10:26

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Quote for Reflection:

   … While we do not believe that God's people are actually justified in eternity, we do believe that there is a very close relationship between election and justification. They are justified by faith, not by election. Nevertheless, their justification cannot be separated from their election. … Such a close connection there is between election and justification, that we know our election by way of our justification. Experiencing through faith the forgiveness of sins, we also know that we have this forgiveness from Him who ‘hath not seen iniquity in Jacob’ nor ‘perverseness in Israel.’ -- Rev. R. Hanko


March 6

TRUST IN GOD ALONE
Psalm 62:10

The standard of living today is so much higher than when David wrote Psalm 62. Even Solomon in all his glory did not have many of the things our flesh enjoys today. He may have had servants to fan him on a hot, sultry day, but he did not know the comfort of air conditioning. He had means to warm his body on a cold wintry day, but he did not enjoy central heating. His chariot ride did not equal the speed, comfort, and smoothness of our automobiles; and he could not fly to a distant point in his realm by jet aircraft as we can. We have so much more than David or Solomon.

How much more necessary then today are David's words In Psalm 62:10, namely, "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them." Or as one of our versifications has it:

We may enjoy the conveniences God gives us, but we must not let these lessen our trust in Him. these earthly treasures do not bring us one smallest step toward our everlasting home. And instead of bringing us into closer fellowship with God, they so often make us forget Him. As our earthly goods increase, so often our trust in God wilt decrease. We look around at these earthly treasures instead of looking up to Him Who is our rock, salvation, and defense.

How true it is that "If wealth increase, yet on your gold ye set your hearts in vain." These cannot take away one sin. They cannot give us the shortest breath of spiritual life. These cannot enrich our fellowship with God, or buy us the smallest part of a place in His house of many mansions. All this is purchased by the blood of Christ; and our trust for it must all be in God and in what He did through His Son.

The only hope we have of not being swept into the lake of fire, and to escape Satan's clever attacks is trusting in God alone. Tell your soul then not to let these earthly things turn you away from God, but to see these earthly objects as God-given means whereby we are to serve Him.  From Him they came. In His service they mast be used.

Read: Matthew 6:24-34
Psalter versification: 161:7


Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

 

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 158
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Numbers 6 ; Numbers 7:1-89
Mark 12:38-44 ; Mark 13:1-13
Psalm 49:1-20
Proverbs 10:27-28

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Quote for Reflection:

   … But if they in spirit amid dark clouds, took a flight into the celestial country, what ought we to do at this day? For Christ stretches forth his hand to us, as it were openly, from heaven, to raise us up to himself. If the land of Canaan did not engross their attention, how much more weaned from things below ought we to be, who have no promised habitation in this world? -- John Calvin


March 7

THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE WORLDLY WISE
Psalm 53:1
 

One may be very rich in earthly goods and desperately poor in spiritual life.  And one may he honored as one full of worldly wisdom, and by God be called a fool. Men there are who teach in colleges and universities and have high sounding titles and a string of degrees behind their names. Yet, through David, God calls them fools in Psalm 53:1. There we read: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."

These men deny that God created the world. Their explanation of the world's existence is that intense heat and cold acted upon gaseous vapors. But they make no attempt to explain where that gaseous vapor, cold, and heat came from, and thus only push the question back without answering it.

Such men take God's name in vain in order to emphasize their words even while they insist that He does not exist. What folly it is to spend time and money to fight an enemy whom you declare nonexistent!

Very correctly our versification of David's words has it:

We had better be careful, however, because there is so much of this sinfulness and foolishness in us. In our hearts as we are by nature, is this same folly, and often it comes across our lips.

How often have you ascribed this or that to luck or called this or that good luck or bad luck? You never said ''I was lucky?"  Or, "It was just a case of tough luck?'' Whenever we ascribe anything to luck, David is used by God to point his finger at us and to tell us that we are behaving as fools.

It is sin and folly to deny God in anything that happens. And by that word "luck" we deny that the everywhere present and almighty God has caused this or that to take place. We rule Him out, and our god is luck!

By all means let us start today to praise God, and never let that word "luck'' fall from our lips, except when we condemn its use.

Read: Psalm 53
Psalter versification: 146:1
 

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 240
Why not sing along??

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

 

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Numbers 8 ; Numbers 9:1-23
Mark 13:14-37
Psalm 50:1-23
Proverbs 10:29-30

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Quote for Reflection:

   … Knowing himself as claimed by a God of sovereign mercy, the redeemed one has peace and joy unspeakable, and he glories in the cross and will glory in God forever more.         -- George Ophoff


March 8

A FOOLISH DELIGHT
Psalm 53:1

It is not difficult to agree with David when in Psalm 53:1 he declares that those who say in their hearts that there is no God are fools. But we ourselves so often need to be warned of our own folly. For there are times when we also say that there is no God.

To realize this we ought first of all to note that David is speaking of those who say in their hearts that there is no God. His words are, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good" Psalm 53:1.

We ought also to note further that when one says in one's heart that there is no God, that one behaves in a corrupt way, does abominable iniquity, and does nothing that is pleasing in God's sight.

We ought then to hang our heads in shame when we realize that every time we commit a sin, we do so because our hearts say that there is no God Whose laws we must keep. Never mind in what form that sin comes, every sin is an act that results from a heart that says that there is no God Whom we must serve. Every sin is abominable iniquity. In every sin we say in our hearts that we are God and have no one above us who can tell us what to do.

Listen then once again to the versification in our Psalter:

The very reason why the heart says that there is no God is that this heart delights in evil and finds no joy in doing God's will.

What is more, such a heart also says that there is no Christ. For, if there is no God, there is no Son of God, Who came in our flesh to save us from our sins and to make us sons of God. In fact that heart says that it wants no salvation from sin. What a foolish delight that is!

The question, therefore, is whether it is only with our lips that we say that we are Christians. Let us also say it with the heart and reveal in our walk of life that we delight in that which is good in God's eyes.

Read: Proverbs 4
Psalter versification: 146:1
 

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 121
Why not sing along??

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

 

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Numbers 10 ; Numbers 11:1-23
Mark 14:1-21
Psalm 51:1-19
Proverbs 10:31-32

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Quote for Reflection:

A Father’s Example:  “Be an example . . .in words, in temper, in diligence, in temperance, in faith, in charity, in kindness, in humility.  Do not think your children will practice what they do not see you do. You are their model picture--and they will copy what you are! Your reasoning and your lecturing, your wise commands and your good advice--all this they may not understand. But they can understand your life!  Children are very quick observers--very quick in seeing through some kinds of hypocrisy, very quick in finding out what you really think and feel, very quick in adopting all your ways and opinions. You will often find as the father is, so is the son.”  --J. Ryle


March 9

WHEN A CORRUPT HEART SPEAKS
Psalm 53:1

With the lips one can say what one with the mind knows is not true. Satan knew full well that there is only one true God and what God had told man about the trees of the garden. Yet with the lips he told Eve that eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would not bring death but a wonderful blessing.

And we ought again to bear in mind that David in Psalm 53:1 is speaking of what one says in the heart, and not in his mind. Satan knows full well that there is one God. But that did not keep him from denying God, In his mind he was convinced, in fact so convinced that there is a God, that he uses the same name of God, namely, Elohim, the Almighty One, when he spoke to Eve, as David does here in Psalm 53:1.

The very fact that all men have an idol reveals that they all know in the mind that there is a God, with power above them and upon which they depend. They even take His name on their lips in their songs, such as "God Bless America."

But what they say in their hearts controls their lives. In that spiritual control center they say that they hate God. That is why David says that they are corrupt, have done abominable iniquity and do no good, when in their hearts they say that there is no God.

Saying in the heart that there is no God is to say to all our members that we need not and should not obey God, and that we are a god unto ourselves. That is why the versification sings:

    They all are gone aside,
    Corruption doth abound;
    There is not one that doeth good,
    Not even one is found.

Do not then expect the unbeliever to do good. Do not expect the world to improve, and crime and sin to be put down by man. We are headed for the days of the Antichrist, who is called "The Man of Sin" in II Thessalonians 2:3.

Never mind how much knowledge increases and man understands more of this creation wherein God has placed us. The vile heart of man will make him do more "abominable iniquity" than we now know.

Read: II Thessalonians 2
Psalter versification: 146:3
 

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 233
Why not sing along??

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

 

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Numbers 11:24-35 ; Numbers 13:1-33
Mark 14:22-52
Psalm 52:1-9
Proverbs 11:1-3

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Quote for Reflection:

    Mistakes in Seeking Guidance:  “Earnest Christians seeking guidance often go wrong.  Why is this?  Often the reason is that their notion of the nature and method of divine guidance is distorted.  They look for a will-o’-the-wisp; they overlook the guidance that is ready at hand and lay themselves open to all sorts of delusions.  Their basic mistake is to think of guidance as essentially inward prompting by the Holy Spirit, apart from the written Word. This, which is as old as the false prophets of the Old Testament…is a seed-bed in which all forms of fanaticism and folly grow.”  --J. Packer


March 10

HATED FOR CHRIST'S SAKE
Psalm 53:4


 
Yesterday we noted that to say in the heart that there is no God is to say in the depth of our being that we hate God. And this means that in the heart we also hate those who confess God and serve Him.

As David writes in Psalm 53:4, "Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up My people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God." Or as our versification sings it:

    These men of evil deeds
    Will thy no knowledge gain,
    Who feed upon my people's woes,
    And prayer to God disdain?

Do you know this hatred of the unbeliever who says that there eye is no God? If not, you should seriously search your own heart and look carefully at your walk of life. Are you saying before the world with your words, but also with your deeds, that there is a God, and that you love Him?

These fools who say that there is no God, David says, do not call upon Him. Or as the versification has it, they ''prayer disdain.''  But what about you? Yes, in your home, with your family and in church among fellow saints, you bow your head in prayer and call upon God. But do you do that before unbelievers as well? Do you do so in public places at work or in a restaurant? Do you openly look to Him to bless that food, and give thanks to Him for His gifts?

In the measure that you do, the world will have no use for you and will feed upon your woes. You will soon begin to suffer their ridicule and find that they want no fellowship with you.

And the closer we come to the end of time, the more David's words will be our experience. Figuratively they will eat us up as they eat bread.

Jesus said it in John 15:18, ''If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.''  The world hates us because we display Christ before them. And they who crucified Christ will think nothing of eating us up as they eat bread. But there is a God, and He will bless us. He will make the world know its folly, and reveal to the unbelievers what wisdom He gave to us in His grace.

Read: Matthew 5:1-16
Psalter versification: 146:4
 

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 376
Why not sing along??

Daily  Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism

 

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Numbers 14:1-15 : Numbers 6
Mark 14:53-72
Psalm 53:1-6
Proverbs 11:4

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Quote for Reflection:

Seeking God’s Guidance: "In all thy ways acknowledge Him." (Prov. 3:6) This means, first, we must ask God's permission for all that we do, and not act without His leave; only then do we conduct our-selves as dutiful children and respectful servants. It means, second, that we seek God's guidance in every under-taking, acknowledging our ignorance and owning our complete dependence upon Him. "In every thing by prayer and supplication" (Phil. 4:6): only so is God's lordship over us owned in a practical way. It means, third, seeking God's glory in all our ways: "whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). Ah, if we only did so, how very different many of our "ways" would be! If we more frequently paused and inquired, Will this be for God's glory? we should be withheld from much sinning and from much folly, with all its painful consequences. It means, fourth, seeking God's blessing upon every-thing. Here is another simple and sufficient rule: anything on which I cannot ask God's blessing is WRONG.”  --A. Pink



Last modified, 10-Jan-2007