Published by Joshua Swanson
"[1] Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
[2] Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
[3] For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
[4] Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.
[5] Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
[6] Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
[7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
[8] Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.
[9] Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
[11] Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
[12] Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.
[13] Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
[14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.
[15] O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.
[16] For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering.
[17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
[18] Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
[19] Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar." (Psalm 51:1-19)
I am a Christian, and I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior from my sins! Praise the LORD for saving such a sinful wretch like me!! Courage, Christian soldiers serving under King Jesus' banner! "What shall we then say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." (2 Timothy 2:3)
Favorite book: The Holy Bible, which is the Word of God. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
Other favorite books: The Bell Mountain Series by Lee Duigon; The Remnant Trilogy by Tim Chaffey and K. Marie Adams; The Crown & Covenant and The Faith & Freedom Trilogies by Douglas Bond; etc. I recommend these books!
View all posts by Joshua Swanson
For want of a better place to put it, here’s your next chess lesson: the Rooks (aka “Castles”).
Knights and Bishops are Minor Pieces; Rooks and Queens are Major Pieces, because they’re much more powerful. Your two Rooks start the game at opposite ends of your back rank, on the A and H squares. This is ironic: because Rooks work best when they work together, they could hardly start worse off than to be separated by the whole rest of your army. So as you make moves early in the game, you’ll want to position your Rooks so that they can work together and support each other.
The Rook moves straight ahead–forward, backward, right or left, as far as you want it to go, provided nothing else is in the way. Unlike a Bishop, a Rook has access to every square on the board and can often get there in a hurry. Think of your Rooks as self-propelled heavy artillery, well-suited to breaking open a defensive position.
Together, the Rook and the King can execute a peculiar move called “castling,” the only time in chess when you can move more than one piece at a time. There is Queen’s side or “long castling,” to the left of the King, and King’s side or “short castling” to the right of the king.
Rules of castling: Neither the King nor the Rook involved can have moved before: the castling must be their first move. None of the squares covered by the castling move may be subject to enemy attack at the time. No other piece can be in the way between the King and the Rook.
Short castling, if you are White: King on e1, Rook on h1, King moves two squares to the right, to g1, and the Rook hops over him to f1. This is all counted as a single move. For long castling, King on e1, Rook on a1, King moves two squares to the left to c1 and Rook hops over him to d1. If you’re Black, the squares are e8, de8, a8, h8, f8, and c8.
Castling tends to confuse beginners, but eventually they get it.
Reasons for castling: It puts your King in a safer position, and puts your Rook in a more advantageous position from which to cooperate with the other Rook and maneuver offensively.
There’s a lot more to it, of course, but this is probably enough for now.
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Thank you for the lesson, Mr. Duigon. I will study it using my chess board.
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