Psalm 110

this is a Psalm of David.

1  The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
2  The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
3  Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4  The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
5  The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6  He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head. 

In this psalm King David uses many incidents in the history of his people to illustrate how God speaks to His people, and also as prophecies about the Lord Jesus. It is very obvious that this shepherd boy is an artist and not a technician and he expects us to know the things he has learned. It is also obvious that some of the things he mentions speak about the future, they are about the Lord Jesus Christ who came to Earth hundreds of years later than David.

Jesus Himself referred to this psalm when He asked the Jewish teachers how God could be God to this One who was already God Himself, for He knew that this King was not the man David but the God-Man who was indeed a progeny of David but also the Son of God.

Jesus also knew that He was the King of Israel and that not now but after a wait He would rule over His enemies just like it says in Psalm 2. And then we have the wonderful news that during that waiting period many people will choose to willingly repent and believe in Him and be born again into His Kingdom.

Verse 4 prophesies of Jesus that He would also be our high priest to represent us and pray for us to God His Father, He is far more beautiful and holy than the priests David knew because Jesus lives for ever and yet He suffered all the trials and temptations that we ever will have. That is God’s sure promise to those who choose today for this is when we must be willing to come to Him.

Now is the time to find that Jesus is the beautiful Saviour and the holy and merciful High Priest. In that way we will escape the day of His judgement that is spoken of in verses 5 and 6 for that day will come just as surely as He came the first time to pay for the sins of the whole world. Will you be willing to repent and believe today or will you wait for the day of wrath and judgement?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him might be saved. He that believes on Him will be saved, but he that does not believe is already condemned.

Fairbanks Morse hit and miss engine

A few years ago when we went by way of Eatonia we looked at an old elevator engine near the railroad tracks in Eatonia. It was a one cylinder Fairbanks Morse, probably about 12 hp rigged up with a vee belt to a water pump and a car radiator. Of course it was interesting because it was the kind of engine that was used in all the elevators on the prairies to move the grain from the pit up to the top of the building, and it was very interesting to me because my father had a smaller model of Fairbanks Morse in our pump house. On seeing this video I realized that the idea of a "hit and miss" engine has nothing comparable today so I will describe the one we had to pump water and turn the grinder and the post drill and other things.

The engine did not have a magneto but a model T coil for the spark, and that could be run either with a six volt car battery or with a four-pack of telephone batteries. I think I have seen both used just like on the old Model T which used either, until the self starter.

But the hit and miss name came from the speed control, the governor. Can't remember where it was on the engine but it was a little shaft with variable position weights on it that would lift by centrifugal force depending on the speed, and as they lifted they moved a lever which was connected to the front of the engine where the exhaust and intake valves were along with the spark plug. It may have been integral with the rod and lever which pushed the exhaust valve open for the exhaust stroke. So when the gyro sensed that the rpm was up to or past the running speed the lever would keep the exhaust valve open all the time instead of regulating the valve according to the power stroke and the exhaust stroke. That meant that there was no compression and no suction to draw fuel into the cylinder so there was no explosion, only the "miss". As the flywheel momentum died either by inertia or load and the gyro mechanism slowed the lever allowed the exhaust valve too close for the power stroke and there was a "hit" until the proper running speed was regained.

Along with this exhaust valve arrangement the intake valve worked automatically with no mechanical help. The spring on that valve was fairly light and the slightest negative pressure on the intake stroke would pull it open leaving enough vacuum to draw the fuel up from the tank below. Probably not a very fuel efficient system, but it worked. Also for starting one could reach both the intake valve spring — careful not to get your finger on the near-by spark plug — and the flywheel. It was then free-wheeling until the flywheel had enough energy to carry it through the compression stroke, so let go the intake valve and it would chug along as it should, hitting and missing depending on the load.

Here is a picture of what ours looked like or maybe a later model, but we had no shield over the crank and I cannot remember the flywheel shaft extending out on this side of the engine, only the other side where the drive pulley was. The picture even shows some sort of magneto. Notice the cylinder oil system. You would have to make sure there was oil in the cup and turn the valve when you ran the engine. If I remember correctly there was also a similar one on the crank too, or was it a grease cup like those on the main bearings, dunno.

YouTube video of 3 HP hit and miss engine

This guy explains it a bit but on a much bigger one.

YouTube video with a Fairbanks Morse 15 HP hit and miss engine

Don Casselman