Psalm 73 Why do the wicked prosper ?

A psalm of Asaph.

1 Surely God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
    I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.[a]
5 They are free from common human burdens;
    they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
    they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity[b];
    their evil imaginations have no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
    with arrogance, they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
    and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
    and drink up waters in abundance.[c]
11 They say, “How would God know?
    Does the Highest know anything?”

12 This is what the wicked are like—
    always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

13 Surely in vain, I have kept my heart pure
    and have washed my hands in innocence.
14 All-day long I have been afflicted,
    and every morning brings new punishments.

15 If I had spoken out like that,
    I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
    it troubled me deeply
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;    then I understood their final destiny.

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
    you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
    completely swept away by terrors!
20 They are like a dream when one awakes;
    when you arise, Lord,
    you will despise them as fantasies.

21 When my heart was grieved
    and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant;
    I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward, you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.

²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;
    you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
²⁸ But as for me, it is good to be near God.
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;    I will tell of all your deeds.

2009 ~ Saturday, September 26, Site seeing in Nashville, TN with sibling

2009 Saturday, September 26, Smithsonian Free Day Nashville, Tennessee 

Becky drove to my house, and I went to Nashville, TN, through Lawrenceburg and Columbia, up Interstate 65.

We stopped at McDonald's in Columbia, TN, to use the bathroom. 

In downtown Nashville, I made a wrong turn and took a right off Interstate 65 instead of going left, which took me out of town,n so I had to turn around and go back into the downtown area. 

Our first stop was the Parthenon in Nashville. The Parthenon is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. 

The Entry Cost was $5.50 each. The Parthenon had two galleries, the east and west. 

The Parthenon

The Parthenon, Lake Watauga, and rose arbor are all Centennial Park features.

The Parthenon stands proudly as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park. The recreation of the 42-foot statue of Athena is the focus of the Parthenon, just as it was in ancient Greece. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals.

The Parthenon also serves as Nashville's art museum. The focus of the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th- and 20th-century American artists, donated by James M. Cowan. Additional gallery spaces serve as venues for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.

The address is 2600 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203.

Athena 

The Parthenon's permanent collection focuses on a group of 63 paintings by 19th- and 20th-century American artists, donated by James M. Cowan. 
Additional gallery spaces serve as venues for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.

The address is 2600 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203.

Tennessee State Capitol

Next, we rode to Tennessee's State Capitol, where a walk-a-thon was going on. 

I had to drive around several blocks before I found a park. My sister and I walked to the capitol, I took many pictures.

From the capital build, we walked to the Tennessee State Museum. 

The address is 505 Dederick Street, Nashville, TN 37243. There was no charge to visit the Museum. A brochure about the Museum was given. The Museum's upper level houses the earliest known migration of prehistoric people to Tennessee during the Paleolithic period. 

Artifacts from the Paleolithic, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods are on exhibit. The Museum displays bones from a mastodon that roamed Tennessee 10,000 years ago.

The room gradually slopes down into the Mezzanine, life in Tennessee, before the Civil War, the antebellum period. This was life on the frontier and the state transforming into an urban society. A painting and a 3,500-year-old Egyptian mummy were brought to Tennessee in 1859. 

My sister said I am so hungry that I can eat that mummy. I turned toward the paintings on the wall, and my sister walked down to the lower level. 

I stopped by the curator's desk on the second level to ask about taking pictures of the hanging portraits.

The woman at the desk said she overheard my sister say she was hungry enough to eat their mummy. We both laughed. 

The lower level featured exhibits on the Civil War and Reconstruction, with displays of firearms, quilts, silver, battle flags, uniforms, a Victorian painting gallery, and objects from the Tennessee Centennial Exposition of 1897.

On the lower level, they were showing a film and serving popcorn and a drink. My sister said she wanted real food, so we hurried to the Museum and used her lunch.

We stopped at Cocina Mexican Grill & Fresh Deli, located at 

Union Station's address is 501-A Union Street, just a few streets down from the Museum. It was a slow day, and the worker or owner came over and talked to us. I had cheese dip, and it was perfect. 

We left the Cocina Mexican Grill and walked down Fifth Street.

We stopped so I could take a picture of the Ryman auditorium and some historic markers along the way. We walked over to Broadway Street, where I took photos of a guitar with images of several entertainers, and nearby was an Elvis statue.

Prehistoric people in Tennessee 

The mummy, my sister said, was hungry enough to eat!

Civil War

Elvis Presley Statue located on Broadway Street 

Honky Tonk Guitar
Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty, Hank Williams Jr, George Jones, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Pride, Merle Haggard

 First Center for Visual Arts

Our next stop was the Frist Center for Visual Arts. It originally housed Nashville's main Post Office.

The first building became an art museum in 2001. 

Today, the Frist Center is one of the city's most innovative museums, centered on continually changing exhibits rather than permanent collections.

Next, we stopped at the Frist Center for Visual Arts. Originally housing Nashville's main post office, the historic Frist building became an art museum in 2001. Today, the Frist Center is one of the city's most innovative museums, centered on continually changing exhibits rather than permanent collections.

It did not take us long to go to the Museum, but my sister did not care much for the art. She said that there were too many naked statues and pictures. We talked to the curator at the desk and told her we had walked all the way from the Capitol building and were not sure which street to take back.

She said not to go back the way you had come because it is all uphill. 

The curator said for us to go next door to Union Station.

Union Station Hotel is located at 1001 Broadway, Nashville, TN.

Union Station - A Wyndham Historic Hotel masterfully restored Nashville lodging — built within a 100-year-old railroad station.

I took pictures both inside and outside. 

I was a beautifully restored hotel building that was once a train depot.

We walked back to the car and were going to visit the Hermitage, but we got turned around.

It had been a long day,  and we had walked a mile, so I decided to go home.

We stopped in Lawrenceburg to take some pictures of the downtown area and historic markers.

It had been a beautiful day for sightseeing, but it was getting late, and we were both tired from all that walking.

We were home by 5:50 P.M. 

Union Station Train Depot is now the Wyndham Hotel. 

Union Station Hotel is located at 1001 Broadway, Nashville, TN.

Union Station - A Wyndham Historic Hotel masterfully restored Nashville lodging — built within a 100-year-old railroad station.

Inside Union Station Wyndham Hotel 

2009 ~Thursday May 14, American Villages Montevallo, Alabama a recreated Colonial Village

The Brooks fifth-grade class traveled by school bus to Montevallo to visit the American Village; parents had to drive.

American Village is Located at 3727 Highway S 119, Montevallo, AL 35115.

At lunch, the adults and children sat under the pines at picnic tables.

After lunch, we sat in on a debate, where we listened to people discuss the Revolutionary War, Paul Revere's ride, George Washington at Valley Forge, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, the signing of the Constitution, and Betsy Ross, who made the American Flag.

At the American Village, we have the Liberty Bell, a Colonial Courthouse, Constitution Green, a replica of Washington Hall (Mount Vernon), a chapel modeled after Bruton Parish Chapel, tombstone markers, the twelve Amendments to the Constitution, and a replica of the Oval Office. 

The Pettus Randall Miniature Museum featured a collection of dioramas, including those of presidents and their first ladies. 

Having a picnic

The White House, Washington Hall, the Assembly Room, and Mt Vernon Room

The Pillory

Speaker 

Courthouse

Assembly room

Assembly room

Mt Vernon Room

Meeting House

Encampment

Encampment

Colonial Chapel, patterned after Bruton Parish Chapel
that is located in the restored area of Colonial Williamsburg, VA.

Bell Garden is centered on an exact reproduction of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

Pettus Randall Miniature Museum of American History is a separate building that houses a collection of 72 handcrafted miniatures of American presidents and first ladies and 35 uniquely detailed dioramas of critical moments (over 400 years) in our nation's history.

President House

Randall Museum

National Veterans Shrine 

That night, Hubby and I went to the RAIN concert at the VBCC in Huntsville to watch RAIN (singing songs of the Beatles).