THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: January 18

Sunday, October 25, 2009

January 18

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

JANUARY 18

PSALMS: 18, 48, 78, 108, 138

PROVERBS: 18

OLD TESTAMENT

DEUTERONOMY 33:1 - 29

NEW TESTAMENT

LUKE 13:1 - 21

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

DEUTERONOMY 33:1 - 29

331This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death. 2He said:

"The LORD came from Sinai

and dawned over them from Seir;

he shone forth from Mount Paran.

He came withA myriads of holy ones

from the south, from his mountain slopes.B

3Surely it is you who love the people;

all the holy ones are in your hand.

At your feet they all bow down,

and from you receive instruction,

4the law that Moses gave us,

the possession of the assembly of Jacob.

5He was king over JeshurunC

when the leaders of the people assembled,

along with the tribes of Israel.

6"Let Reuben live and not die,

norD his men be few."

7And this he said about Judah:

"Hear, O LORD, the cry of Judah;

bring him to his people.

With his own hands he defends his cause.

Oh, be his help against his foes!" [18]

8About Levi he said:

"Your Thummim and Urim belong

to the man you favored.

You tested him at Massah;

you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.

9He said of his father and mother,

`I have no regard for them.'

He did not recognize his brothers

or acknowledge his own children,

but he watched over your word

and guarded your covenant.

10He teaches your precepts to Jacob

and your law to Israel.

He offers incense before you

and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

11Bless all his skills, O LORD,

and be pleased with the work of his hands.

Smite the loins of those who rise up against him;

strike his foes till they rise no more."

12About Benjamin he said:

"Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him,

for he shields him all day long,

and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders." [19]

13About Joseph he said:

"May the LORD bless his land

with the precious dew from heaven above

and with the deep waters that lie below;

14with the best the sun brings forth

and the finest the moon can yield;

15with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains

and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;

16with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness

and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince amongE his brothers.

17In majesty he is like a firstborn bull;

his horns are the horns of a wild ox.

With them he will gore the nations,

even those at the ends of the earth.

Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim;

such are the thousands of Manasseh."

18About Zebulun he said:

"Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

and you, Issachar, in your tents.

19They will summon peoples to the mountain

and there offer sacrifices of righteousness; [20]

they will feast on the abundance of the seas,

on the treasures hidden in the sand."

20About Gad he said:

"Blessed is he who enlarges Gad's domain!

Gad lives there like a lion,

tearing at arm or head.

21He chose the best land for himself;

the leader's portion was kept for him.

When the heads of the people assembled,

he carried out the LORD's righteous will,

and his judgments concerning Israel."

22About Dan he said:

"Dan is a lion's cub,

springing out of Bashan."

23About Naphtali he said:

"Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the LORD

and is full of his blessing;

he will inherit southward to the lake."

24About Asher he said:

[21]"Most blessed of sons is Asher;

let him be favored by his brothers,

and let him bathe his feet in oil.

25The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,

and your strength will equal your days.

26"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,

who rides on the heavens to help you

and on the clouds in his majesty.

27The eternal God is your refuge,

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

He will drive out your enemy before you,

saying, `Destroy him!'

28So Israel will live in safety alone;

Jacob's spring is secure

in a land of grain and new wine,

where the heavens drop dew.

29Blessed are you, O Israel!

Who is like you,

a people saved by the LORD?

He is your shield and helper

and your glorious sword.

Your enemies will cower before you,

and you will trample down their high places.F" [22]

NEW TESTAMENT

LUKE 13:1 - 21

131Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

6Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, `For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'

8" `Sir,' the man replied, `leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "

10On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

14Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."

15The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you [23]on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"

17When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

18Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches."

20Again he asked, "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amountA of flour until it worked all through the dough." [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

January 18

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John 3:16-21