THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - August 30 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

AUGUST 30

PSALMS: 30, 60, 90, 120, 150

PROVERBS: 30

OLD TESTAMENT: EZEKIEL 39:1 - 40:27

NEW TESTAMENT: JAMES 2:18 - 3:18

PSALMS: 30

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. ^A Of David.

¹ I will exalt you, O LORD,

for you lifted me out of the depths

and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

² O LORD my God, I called to you for help

and you healed me.

³ O LORD, you brought me up from the grave ^B;

you spared me from going down into the pit.

⁴ Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;

praise his holy name.

⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor lasts a lifetime;

weeping may remain for a night,

but rejoicing comes in the morning.

⁶ When I felt secure, I said,

"I will never be shaken."

⁷ O LORD, when you favored me,

you made my mountain ^C stand firm;

but when you hid your face,

I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, O LORD, I called;

to the Lord I cried for mercy:

⁹ "What gain is there in my destruction, ^D

in my going down into the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it proclaim your faithfulness? ¹

¹⁰ Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me;

O LORD, be my help."

¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹² that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. ²

PSALMS: 60

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Lily of the Covenant." A miktam ^A of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim ^B and Aram Zobah, ^C and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

¹ You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us;

you have been angry--now restore us!

² You have shaken the land and torn it open;

mend its fractures, for it is quaking.

³ You have shown your people desperate times;

you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

⁴ But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner

to be unfurled against the bow.

Selah

⁵ Save us and help us with your right hand,

that those you love may be delivered.

⁶ God has spoken from his sanctuary:

"In triumph I will parcel out Shechem

and measure off the Valley of Succoth.

⁷ Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim is my helmet,

Judah my scepter.

⁸ Moab is my washbasin,

upon Edom I toss my sandal;

over Philistia I shout in triumph."

⁹ Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

¹⁰ Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us

and no longer go out with our armies?

¹¹ Give us aid against the enemy, ³

for the help of man is worthless.

¹² With God we will gain the victory,

and he will trample down our enemies. ⁴

PSALMS: 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place

throughout all generations.

² Before the mountains were born

or you brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³ You turn men back to dust,

saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."

⁴ For a thousand years in your sight

are like a day that has just gone by,

or like a watch in the night.

⁵ You sweep men away in the sleep of death;

they are like the new grass of the morning--

⁶ though in the morning it springs up new,

by evening it is dry and withered.

⁷ We are consumed by your anger

and terrified by your indignation.

⁸ You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹ All our days pass away under your wrath;

we finish our years with a moan.

¹⁰ The length of our days is seventy years--

or eighty, if we have the strength;

yet their span ^A is but trouble and sorrow,

for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

¹¹ Who knows the power of your anger?

For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

¹² Teach us to number our days aright, ⁵

PSALMS: 120

A song of ascents.

¹ I call on the LORD in my distress,

and he answers me.

² Save me, O LORD, from lying lips

and from deceitful tongues.

³ What will he do to you,

and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?

⁴ He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows,

with burning coals of the broom tree.

⁵ Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,

that I live among the tents of Kedar!

⁶ Too long have I lived

among those who hate peace.

⁷ I am a man of peace;

but when I speak, they are for war. ⁶

PSALMS: 150

¹ Praise the LORD. ^A

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens.

² Praise him for his acts of power;

praise him for his surpassing greatness.

³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise him with the harp and lyre,

⁴ praise him with tambourine and dancing,

praise him with the strings and flute,

⁵praise him with the clash of cymbals,

praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD. ⁷

PROVERBS: 30

30 ¹ The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh--an oracle ^A:

This man declared to Ithiel,

to Ithiel and to Ucal: ^B

² "I am the most ignorant of men;

I do not have a man's understanding.

³ I have not learned wisdom,

nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴ Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?

Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and the name of his son?

Tell me if you know!

⁵ "Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶ Do not add to his words,

or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

⁷ "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;

do not refuse me before I die:

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you

and say, `Who is the LORD?'

Or I may become poor and steal,

and so dishonor the name of my God.

¹⁰ "Do not slander a servant to his master,

or he will curse you, and you will pay for it. ⁸

¹¹ "There are those who curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers;

¹² those who are pure in their own eyes

and yet are not cleansed of their filth;

¹³ those whose eyes are ever so haughty,

whose glances are so disdainful;

¹⁴ those whose teeth are swords

and whose jaws are set with knives

to devour the poor from the earth,

the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵ "The leech has two daughters.

`Give! Give!' they cry.

"There are three things that are never satisfied,

four that never say, `Enough!':

¹⁶ the grave, ^C the barren womb,

land, which is never satisfied with water,

and fire, which never says, `Enough!'

¹⁷ "The eye that mocks a father,

that scorns obedience to a mother,

will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,

will be eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸ "There are three things that are too amazing for me,

four that I do not understand:

¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky,

the way of a snake on a rock,

20 the way of a ship on the high seas,

and the way of a man with a maiden. ⁹

²¹ "Under three things the earth trembles,

under four it cannot bear up:

²² a servant who becomes king,

a fool who is full of food,

²³ an unloved woman who is married,

and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.

²⁴ "Four things on earth are small,

yet they are extremely wise:

²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,

yet they store up their food in the summer;

²⁶ coneys ^D are creatures of little power,

yet they make their home in the crags;

²⁷ locusts have no king,

yet they advance together in ranks;

²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,

yet it is found in kings' palaces.

²⁹ "There are three things that are stately in their stride,

four that move with stately bearing:

³⁰ a lion, mighty among beasts,

who retreats before nothing;

³¹ a strutting rooster, a he-goat,

and a king with his army around him. ^E

³² "If you have played the fool and exalted yourself,

or if you have planned evil,

clap your hand over your mouth! ¹⁰

OLD TESTAMENT: EZEKIEL 39:1 - 40:27

39 ¹ "Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of ^A Meshech and Tubal. ² I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. ³ Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. ⁴ On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. ⁵ You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. ⁶ I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD.

⁷ "`I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. ⁸ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of.

⁹ "`Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up--the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. ¹⁰ They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign LORD.

¹¹ "`On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward ^B the Sea. ^C It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog. ^D

¹² "`For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. ¹³ All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign LORD.

¹⁴ "`Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. ¹⁵ As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. ¹⁶ (Also a town called Hamonah ^E will be there.) And so they will cleanse the land.'

¹⁷ "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: `Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸ You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls--all of them fattened animals from Bashan. ¹⁹ At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. ²⁰ At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,' declares the Sovereign LORD.

²¹ "I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. ²² From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. ²³ And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for ¹¹ their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. ²⁴ I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.

²⁵ "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity ^F and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. ²⁶ They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid.

²⁷ When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. ²⁸ Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. ²⁹ I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD."

40 ¹ In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city--on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me and he took me there. ² In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. ³ He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. ⁴ The man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the house of Israel everything you see."

⁵ I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man's hand was six long cubits, each of which was a cubit ^A and a handbreadth. ^B He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.

⁶ Then he went to the gate facing east. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. ^{C 7} The alcoves for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep.

⁸Then he measured the portico of the gateway; ⁹ it ^D was eight cubits deep and its jambs were two cubits thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.

¹⁰ Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side; the three had the same measurements, and the faces of the projecting walls on each ¹² side had the same measurements. ¹¹ Then he measured the width of the entrance to the gateway; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits. ¹² In front of each alcove was a wall one cubit high, and the alcoves were six cubits square. ¹³ Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from one parapet opening to the opposite one. ¹⁴ He measured along the faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway--sixty cubits. The measurement was up to the portico ^E facing the courtyard. ^{F 15} The distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits. ¹⁶The alcoves and the projecting walls inside the gateway were surmounted by narrow parapet openings all around, as was the portico; the openings all around faced inward. The faces of the projecting walls were decorated with palm trees.

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court. There I saw some rooms and a pavement that had been constructed all around the court; there were thirty rooms along the pavement. ¹⁸ It abutted the sides of the gateways and was as wide as they were long; this was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north.

²⁰ Then he measured the length and width of the gate facing north, leading into the outer court. ²¹ Its alcoves--three on each side--its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as those of the first gateway. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²² Its openings, its portico and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them. ²³ There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured from one gate to the opposite one; it was a hundred cubits.

²⁴ Then he led me to the south side and I saw a gate facing south. He measured its jambs and its portico, and they had the same measurements as the others.

²⁵ The gateway and its portico had narrow openings all around, like the openings of the others. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²⁶ Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them; it had palm tree decorations on the faces of the projecting walls on each side. ^{13 27} The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side; it was a hundred cubits. ¹⁴

NEW TESTAMENT: JAMES 2:18 - 3:18

¹⁸ But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.

²⁰ You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ^D?

²¹ Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"^E and he was called God's friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

3 ¹ Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ² We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

³ When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴ Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵ Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸ but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt ^A water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

¹⁵ Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

¹⁶ For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, ¹⁵ impartial and sincere.

¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. ¹⁶

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

 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