THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - May 4 - Full Text - May the 4th be with you!

Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

MAY 4

PSALMS: 4, 34, 64, 94, 124

PROVERBS: 4

OLD TESTAMENT: 2 CHRONICLES 11:1 - 13:22

NEW TESTAMENT: ROMANS 8:26 - 39

PSALMS: 4

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

¹ Answer me when I call to you,

O my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress;

be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

² How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame ^A?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods ^B?

Selah

³ Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;

the LORD will hear when I call to him.

⁴ In your anger do not sin;

when you are on your beds,

search your hearts and be silent.

Selah

⁵ Offer right sacrifices

and trust in the LORD.

⁶ Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"

Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

⁷ You have filled my heart with greater joy

than when their grain and new wine abound.

⁸ I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for you alone, O LORD,

make me dwell in safety. ¹

PSALMS: 34

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.

¹ I ^A will extol the LORD at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

² My soul will boast in the LORD;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³ Glorify the LORD with me;

let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

⁶ This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

⁹ Fear the LORD, you his saints,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹² Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days, ²

¹³ keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking lies.

¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their cry;

¹⁶ the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;

he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ A righteous man may have many troubles,

but the LORD delivers him from them all;

²⁰ he protects all his bones,

not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;

the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

²² The LORD redeems his servants;

no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him. ³

PSALMS: 64

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint;

protect my life from the threat of the enemy.

² Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,

from that noisy crowd of evildoers.

³ They sharpen their tongues like swords

and aim their words like deadly arrows.

⁴ They shoot from ambush at the innocent man;

they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.

⁵ They encourage each other in evil plans,

they talk about hiding their snares;

they say, "Who will see them ^A?"

⁶ They plot injustice and say,

"We have devised a perfect plan!"

Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.

⁷ But God will shoot them with arrows;

suddenly they will be struck down.

⁸ He will turn their own tongues against them

and bring them to ruin;

all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

⁹ All mankind will fear;

they will proclaim the works of God

and ponder what he has done.

¹⁰ Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD

and take refuge in him;

let all the upright in heart praise him!⁴

PSALMS: 94

¹ O LORD, the God who avenges,

O God who avenges, shine forth.

² Rise up, O Judge of the earth;

pay back to the proud what they deserve.

³ How long will the wicked, O LORD,

how long will the wicked be jubilant?

⁴ They pour out arrogant words;

all the evildoers are full of boasting.

⁵ They crush your people, O LORD;

they oppress your inheritance.

⁶ They slay the widow and the alien;

they murder the fatherless.

⁷ They say, "The LORD does not see;

the God of Jacob pays no heed."

⁸ Take heed, you senseless ones among the people;

you fools, when will you become wise?

⁹ Does he who implanted the ear not hear?

Does he who formed the eye not see?

¹⁰ Does he who disciplines nations not punish?

Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?

¹¹ The LORD knows the thoughts of man;

he knows that they are futile.

¹² Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD,

the man you teach from your law;

¹³ you grant him relief from days of trouble,

till a pit is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴ For the LORD will not reject his people;

he will never forsake his inheritance.

¹⁵ Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.⁵

¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the wicked?

Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?

¹⁷ Unless the LORD had given me help,

I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.

¹⁸ When I said, "My foot is slipping,"

your love, O LORD, supported me.

¹⁹ When anxiety was great within me,

your consolation brought joy to my soul.

²⁰ Can a corrupt throne be allied with you--

one that brings on misery by its decrees?

²¹ They band together against the righteous

and condemn the innocent to death.

²² But the LORD has become my fortress,

and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.

²³ He will repay them for their sins

and destroy them for their wickedness;

the LORD our God will destroy them. ⁶

PSALMS: 124

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ If the LORD had not been on our side--

let Israel say--

² if the LORD had not been on our side

when men attacked us,

³ when their anger flared against us,

they would have swallowed us alive;

⁴ the flood would have engulfed us,

the torrent would have swept over us,

⁵ the raging waters

would have swept us away.

⁶ Praise be to the LORD,

who has not let us be torn by their teeth.

⁷ We have escaped like a bird

out of the fowler's snare;

the snare has been broken,

and we have escaped.

⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth. ⁷

PROVERBS: 4

4 ¹ Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction;

pay attention and gain understanding.

² I give you sound learning,

so do not forsake my teaching.

³ When I was a boy in my father's house,

still tender, and an only child of my mother,

⁴ he taught me and said,

"Lay hold of my words with all your heart;

keep my commands and you will live.

⁵ Get wisdom, get understanding;

do not forget my words or swerve from them.

⁶ Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;

love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷ Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.

Though it cost all you have, ^A get understanding.

⁸ Esteem her, and she will exalt you;

embrace her, and she will honor you.

⁹ She will set a garland of grace on your head

and present you with a crown of splendor."

¹⁰ Listen, my son, accept what I say,

and the years of your life will be many.

¹¹ I guide you in the way of wisdom

and lead you along straight paths.

¹² When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;

when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³ Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;

guard it well, for it is your life.

¹⁴ Do not set foot on the path of the wicked

or walk in the way of evil men.

¹⁵ Avoid it, do not travel on it;

turn from it and go on your way.

¹⁶ For they cannot sleep till they do evil; ⁸

they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall.

¹⁷ They eat the bread of wickedness

and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,

shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

¹⁹ But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

they do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰ My son, pay attention to what I say;

listen closely to my words.

²¹ Do not let them out of your sight,

keep them within your heart;

²² for they are life to those who find them

and health to a man's whole body.

²³ Above all else, guard your heart,

for it is the wellspring of life.

²⁴ Put away perversity from your mouth;

keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead,

fix your gaze directly before you.

²⁶ Make level ^B paths for your feet

and take only ways that are firm.

²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or the left;

keep your foot from evil. ⁹

OLD TESTAMENT: 2 CHRONICLES 11:1 - 13:22

11 ¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the house of Judah and Benjamin--a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men--to make war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam.

² But this word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: ³ "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴`This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.'" So they obeyed the words of the LORD and turned back from marching against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah: ⁶ Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. These were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. 

¹¹ He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

¹³ The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him.

¹⁴ The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.

¹⁵ And he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made. ¹⁶ Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷ They strengthened the kingdom of Judah ¹⁰ and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, walking in the ways of David and Solomon during this time.

¹⁸ Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David's son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse's son Eliab. ¹⁹ She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. ²⁰ Then he married Maacah daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah to be the chief prince among his brothers, in order to make him king. ²³ He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and took many wives for them.

12 ¹ After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel ^A with him abandoned the law of the LORD. ² Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. 

³ With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites ^B that came with him from Egypt, ⁴ he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

⁵ Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the ¹¹ leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, "This is what the LORD says, `You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.'"

⁶ The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is just."

⁷ When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: "Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. ⁸ They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands."

⁹ When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made. ¹⁰ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

¹² Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD's anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.

¹³ King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. ¹² His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. ¹⁴ He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.

¹⁵ As for the events of Rehoboam's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.

13 ¹ In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah,

² and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother's name was Maacah, ^A a daughter ^B of Uriel of Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah went into battle with a force of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, "Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵ Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master. 

⁷ Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was ¹³ young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.

⁸ "And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David's descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. ⁹ But didn't you drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

¹⁰ "As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. ¹¹ Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have forsaken him. ¹² God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. Men of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed."

¹³ Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets ¹⁵ and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them ¹⁴into their hands. ¹⁷ Abijah and his men inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel's able men. ¹⁸ The men of Israel were subdued on that occasion, and the men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.

¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the LORD struck him down and he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² The other events of Abijah's reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo. ¹⁵

NEW TESTAMENT: ROMANS 8:26 - 39

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 

²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, ^J who ^K have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

¹⁶ "For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." ^L

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, ^M neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹⁷

1 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

2 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

3 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

4 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

5 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

6 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

7 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

8 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

9 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

10 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

11 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

12 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

13 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

14 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

15 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

16 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

17 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

 John 3:16-21 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, F that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.G 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." H