THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: February 18

Sunday, October 25, 2009

February 18

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

FEBRUARY 18

PSALMS: 18, 48, 78, 108, 138

PROVERBS: 18

OLD TESTAMENT

1 SAMUEL 8:1 - 9:27

NEW TESTAMENT

JOHN 6:22 - 42

PSALMS: 18

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1I love you, O LORD, my strength.

2The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.

He is my shield and the hornA of my salvation, my stronghold.

3I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,

and I am saved from my enemies.

4The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5The cords of the graveB coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6In my distress I called to the LORD;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

7The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

8Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

9He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

10He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind. [1]

11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him--

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

13The LORD thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.C

14He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies,

great bolts of lightning and routed them.

15The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, O LORD,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

16He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

17He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the LORD was my support.

19He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

20The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

21For I have kept the ways of the LORD;

I have not done evil by turning from my God.

22All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

23I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

24The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.[2]

25To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

26to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

27You save the humble

but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

28You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

29With your help I can advance against a troopD;

with my God I can scale a wall.

30As for God, his way is perfect;

the word of the LORD is flawless.

He is a shield

for all who take refuge in him.

31For who is God besides the LORD?

And who is the Rock except our God?

32It is God who arms me with strength

and makes my way perfect.

33He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he enables me to stand on the heights.

34He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35You give me your shield of victory,

and your right hand sustains me;

you stoop down to make me great.

36You broaden the path beneath me,

so that my ankles do not turn.

37I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

38I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet. [3]

39You armed me with strength for battle;

you made my adversaries bow at my feet.

40You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

41They cried for help, but there was no one to save them--

to the LORD, but he did not answer.

42I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind;

I poured them out like mud in the streets.

43You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

you have made me the head of nations;

people I did not know are subject to me.

44As soon as they hear me, they obey me;

foreigners cringe before me.

45They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

46The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!

47He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

48who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from violent men you rescued me.

49Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD;

I will sing praises to your name.

50He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,

to David and his descendants forever. [4]

PSALMS: 48

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise,

in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

2It is beautiful in its loftiness,

the joy of the whole earth.

Like the utmost heights of ZaphonA is Mount Zion,

theB city of the Great King.

3God is in her citadels;

he has shown himself to be her fortress.

4When the kings joined forces,

when they advanced together,

5they saw her and were astounded;

they fled in terror.

6Trembling seized them there,

pain like that of a woman in labor.

7You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish

shattered by an east wind.

8As we have heard,

so have we seen

in the city of the LORD Almighty,

in the city of our God:

God makes her secure forever.

Selah

9Within your temple, O God,

we meditate on your unfailing love.

10Like your name, O God,

your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;

your right hand is filled with righteousness. [5]

11Mount Zion rejoices,

the villages of Judah are glad

because of your judgments.

12Walk about Zion, go around her,

count her towers,

13consider well her ramparts,

view her citadels,

that you may tell of them to the next generation.

14For this God is our God for ever and ever;

he will be our guide even to the end. [6]

PSALMS: 78

A maskilA of Asaph.

1O my people, hear my teaching;

listen to the words of my mouth.

2I will open my mouth in parables,

I will utter hidden things, things from of old--

3what we have heard and known,

what our fathers have told us.

4We will not hide them from their children;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,

his power, and the wonders he has done.

5He decreed statutes for Jacob

and established the law in Israel,

which he commanded our forefathers

to teach their children,

6so the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born,

and they in turn would tell their children.

7Then they would put their trust in God

and would not forget his deeds

but would keep his commands.

8They would not be like their forefathers--

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

whose hearts were not loyal to God,

whose spirits were not faithful to him.

9The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,

turned back on the day of battle;

10they did not keep God's covenant

and refused to live by his law.

11They forgot what he had done,

the wonders he had shown them.

12He did miracles in the sight of their fathers

in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

13He divided the sea and led them through;

he made the water stand firm like a wall.

14He guided them with the cloud by day

and with light from the fire all night.

15He split the rocks in the desert

and gave them water as abundant as the seas;

16he brought streams out of a rocky crag

and made water flow down like rivers.

17But they continued to sin against him,

rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

18They willfully put God to the test

by demanding the food they craved.

19They spoke against God, saying,

"Can God spread a table in the desert?

20When he struck the rock, water gushed out,

and streams flowed abundantly.

But can he also give us food?

Can he supply meat for his people?"

21When the LORD heard them, he was very angry;

his fire broke out against Jacob,

and his wrath rose against Israel,

22for they did not believe in God

or trust in his deliverance.

23Yet he gave a command to the skies above

and opened the doors of the heavens;

24he rained down manna for the people to eat, [7]

he gave them the grain of heaven.

25Men ate the bread of angels;

he sent them all the food they could eat.

26He let loose the east wind from the heavens

and led forth the south wind by his power.

27He rained meat down on them like dust,

flying birds like sand on the seashore.

28He made them come down inside their camp,

all around their tents.

29They ate till they had more than enough,

for he had given them what they craved.

30But before they turned from the food they craved,

even while it was still in their mouths,

31God's anger rose against them;

he put to death the sturdiest among them,

cutting down the young men of Israel.

32In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;

in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.

33So he ended their days in futility

and their years in terror.

34Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;

they eagerly turned to him again.

35They remembered that God was their Rock,

that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36But then they would flatter him with their mouths,

lying to him with their tongues;

37their hearts were not loyal to him,

they were not faithful to his covenant.

38Yet he was merciful;

he forgave their iniquities

and did not destroy them.

Time after time he restrained his anger

and did not stir up his full wrath. [8]

39He remembered that they were but flesh,

a passing breeze that does not return.

40How often they rebelled against him in the desert

and grieved him in the wasteland!

41Again and again they put God to the test;

they vexed the Holy One of Israel.

42They did not remember his power--

the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,

43the day he displayed his miraculous signs in Egypt,

his wonders in the region of Zoan.

44He turned their rivers to blood;

they could not drink from their streams.

45He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,

and frogs that devastated them.

46He gave their crops to the grasshopper,

their produce to the locust.

47He destroyed their vines with hail

and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

48He gave over their cattle to the hail,

their livestock to bolts of lightning.

49He unleashed against them his hot anger,

his wrath, indignation and hostility--

a band of destroying angels.

50He prepared a path for his anger;

he did not spare them from death

but gave them over to the plague.

51He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,

the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.

52But he brought his people out like a flock;

he led them like sheep through the desert.

53He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;

but the sea engulfed their enemies.

54Thus he brought them to the border of his holy land, [9]

to the hill country his right hand had taken.

55He drove out nations before them

and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;

he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

56But they put God to the test

and rebelled against the Most High;

they did not keep his statutes.

57Like their fathers they were disloyal and faithless,

as unreliable as a faulty bow.

58They angered him with their high places;

they aroused his jealousy with their idols.

59When God heard them, he was very angry;

he rejected Israel completely.

60He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,

the tent he had set up among men.

61He sent the ark of his might into captivity,

his splendor into the hands of the enemy.

62He gave his people over to the sword;

he was very angry with his inheritance.

63Fire consumed their young men,

and their maidens had no wedding songs;

64their priests were put to the sword,

and their widows could not weep.

65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,

as a man wakes from the stupor of wine.

66He beat back his enemies;

he put them to everlasting shame.

67Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,

he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;

68but he chose the tribe of Judah, [10]

Mount Zion, which he loved.

69He built his sanctuary like the heights,

like the earth that he established forever.

70He chose David his servant

and took him from the sheep pens;

71from tending the sheep he brought him

to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,

of Israel his inheritance.

72And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;

with skillful hands he led them. [11]

PSALMS: 108

A song. A psalm of David.

1My heart is steadfast, O God;

I will sing and make music with all my soul.

2Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

3I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations;

I will sing of you among the peoples.

4For great is your love, higher than the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,

and let your glory be over all the earth.

6Save us and help us with your right hand,

that those you love may be delivered.

7God has spoken from his sanctuary:

"In triumph I will parcel out Shechem

and measure off the Valley of Succoth.

8Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim is my helmet,

Judah my scepter.

9Moab is my washbasin,

upon Edom I toss my sandal;

over Philistia I shout in triumph."

10Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

11Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us

and no longer go out with our armies?

12Give us aid against the enemy,

for the help of man is worthless.

13With God we will gain the victory, [12]

and he will trample down our enemies. [13]

PSALMS: 138

Of David.

1I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;

before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

2I will bow down toward your holy temple

and will praise your name

for your love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.

3When I called, you answered me;

you made me bold and stouthearted.

4May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD,

when they hear the words of your mouth.

5May they sing of the ways of the LORD,

6Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly,

but the proud he knows from afar.

7Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve my life;

you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,

with your right hand you save me.

8The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;

your love, O LORD, endures forever--

do not abandon the works of your hands. [14]

PROVERBS: 18

181 An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends;

he defies all sound judgment.

2A fool finds no pleasure in understanding

but delights in airing his own opinions.

3When wickedness comes, so does contempt,

and with shame comes disgrace.

4The words of a man's mouth are deep waters,

but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

5It is not good to be partial to the wicked

or to deprive the innocent of justice.

6A fool's lips bring him strife,

and his mouth invites a beating.

7A fool's mouth is his undoing,

and his lips are a snare to his soul.

8The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;

they go down to a man's inmost parts.

9One who is slack in his work

is brother to one who destroys.

10The name of the LORD is a strong tower;

the righteous run to it and are safe.

11The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;

they imagine it an unscalable wall.[15]

12Before his downfall a man's heart is proud,

but humility comes before honor.

13He who answers before listening--

that is his folly and his shame.

14A man's spirit sustains him in sickness,

but a crushed spirit who can bear?

15The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge;

the ears of the wise seek it out.

16A gift opens the way for the giver

and ushers him into the presence of the great.

17The first to present his case seems right,

till another comes forward and questions him.

18Casting the lot settles disputes

and keeps strong opponents apart.

19An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city,

and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.

20From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled;

with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.

21The tongue has the power of life and death,

and those who love it will eat its fruit.

22He who finds a wife finds what is good

and receives favor from the LORD. [16]

23A poor man pleads for mercy,

but a rich man answers harshly.

24A man of many companions may come to ruin,

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. [17]

OLD TESTAMENT

1 SAMUEL 8:1 - 9:27

81When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

4So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to leadA us, such as all the other nations have."

6But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

10Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and [18]cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattleB and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

19But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

21When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."

Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."

91There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. 2He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites--a head taller than any of the others. [19]

3Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys." 4So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

5When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, "Come, let's go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."

6But the servant replied, "Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let's go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take."

7Saul said to his servant, "If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?"

8The servant answered him again. "Look," he said, "I have a quarter of a shekelA of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take." 9(Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, "Come, let us go to the seer," because the prophet of today used to be called a seer.)

10"Good," Saul said to his servant. "Come, let's go." So they set out for the town where the man of God was.

11As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and they asked them, "Is the seer here?"

12"He is," they answered. "He's ahead of you. Hurry now; he has just come to our town today, for the people have a sacrifice at the [20]high place. 13As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not begin eating until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward, those who are invited will eat. Go up now; you should find him about this time."

14They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

15Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel: 16"About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel; he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked upon my people, for their cry has reached me."

17When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people."

18Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, "Would you please tell me where the seer's house is?"

19"I am the seer," Samuel replied. "Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. 20As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and all your father's family?"

21Saul answered, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?"

22Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and [21]seated them at the head of those who were invited--about thirty in number. 23Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the piece of meat I gave you, the one I told you to lay aside."

24So the cook took up the leg with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "Here is what has been kept for you. Eat, because it was set aside for you for this occasion, from the time I said, `I have invited guests.' " And Saul dined with Samuel that day.

25After they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel talked with Saul on the roof of his house. 26They rose about daybreak and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get ready, and I will send you on your way." When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together. 27As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us"--and the servant did so--"but you stay here awhile, so that I may give you a message from God."[22]

NEW TESTAMENT

JOHN 6:22 - 42

22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

30So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: `He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'C"

32Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who [23]comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

34"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

41At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, `I came down from heaven'?" [24]

^{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. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever 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 ¹⁹This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But 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

THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION

Sunday, October 25, 2009

February 18

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