THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: January 21

Sunday, October 25, 2009

January 21

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

JANUARY 21

PSALMS: 21, 31, 51, 81, 111, 141

PROVERBS: 21

OLD TESTAMENT

JOSHUA 5:1 - 7:15

NEW TESTAMENT

LUKE 15:1 - 32

PSALMS: 21

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength.

How great is his joy in the victories you give!

2You have granted him the desire of his heart

and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Selah

3You welcomed him with rich blessings

and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

4He asked you for life, and you gave it to him--

length of days, for ever and ever.

5Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;

you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.

6Surely you have granted him eternal blessings

and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

7For the king trusts in the LORD;

through the unfailing love of the Most High

he will not be shaken.

8Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;

your right hand will seize your foes.

9At the time of your appearing

you will make them like a fiery furnace.

In his wrath the LORD will swallow them up,

and his fire will consume them.

10You will destroy their descendants from the earth,

their posterity from mankind.

11Though they plot evil against you

and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed;

12for you will make them turn their backs

when you aim at them with drawn bow.[1]

13Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength;

we will sing and praise your might. [2]

PSALMS: 51

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

2Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

3For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.

4Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are proved right when you speak

and justified when you judge.

5Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6Surely you desire truth in the inner partsA;

you teachB me wisdom in the inmost place.

7Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity. [3]

10Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will turn back to you.

14Save me from bloodguilt, O God,

the God who saves me,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

16You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17The sacrifices of God areC a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart,

O God, you will not despise.

18In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;

build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19Then there will be righteous sacrifices,

whole burnt offerings to delight you;

then bulls will be offered on your altar. [4]

PSALMS: 81

For the director of music. According to gittith.A Of Asaph.

1Sing for joy to God our strength;

shout aloud to the God of Jacob!

2Begin the music, strike the tambourine,

play the melodious harp and lyre.

3Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon,

and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;

4this is a decree for Israel,

an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

5He established it as a statute for Joseph

when he went out against Egypt,

where we heard a language we did not understand.B

6He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders;

their hands were set free from the basket.

7In your distress you called and I rescued you,

I answered you out of a thundercloud;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Selah

8"Hear, O my people, and I will warn you--

if you would but listen to me, O Israel!

9You shall have no foreign god among you;

you shall not bow down to an alien god.

10I am the LORD your God,

who brought you up out of Egypt.

Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. [5]

11"But my people would not listen to me;

Israel would not submit to me.

12So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts

to follow their own devices.

13"If my people would but listen to me,

if Israel would follow my ways,

14how quickly would I subdue their enemies

and turn my hand against their foes!

15Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,

and their punishment would last forever.

16But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;

with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." [6]

PSALMS: 111

1PraiseA the LORD.B

I will extol the LORD with all my heart

in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

2Great are the works of the LORD;

they are pondered by all who delight in them.

3Glorious and majestic are his deeds,

and his righteousness endures forever.

4He has caused his wonders to be remembered;

the LORD is gracious and compassionate.

5He provides food for those who fear him;

he remembers his covenant forever.

6He has shown his people the power of his works,

giving them the lands of other nations.

7The works of his hands are faithful and just;

all his precepts are trustworthy.

8They are steadfast for ever and ever,

done in faithfulness and uprightness.

9He provided redemption for his people;

he ordained his covenant forever--

holy and awesome is his name.

10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

all who follow his precepts have good understanding.

To him belongs eternal praise. [7]

PSALMS: 141

A psalm of David.

1O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me.

Hear my voice when I call to you.

2May my prayer be set before you like incense;

may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

3Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

4Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,

to take part in wicked deeds

with men who are evildoers;

let me not eat of their delicacies.

5Let a righteous manA strike me--it is a kindness;

let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head.

My head will not refuse it.

Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;

6their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,

and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

7They will say, "As one plows and breaks up the earth,

so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.B"

8But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;

in you I take refuge--do not give me over to death.

9Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,

from the traps set by evildoers.

10Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I pass by in safety. [8]

PROVERBS: 21

211 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD;

he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

2All a man's ways seem right to him,

but the LORD weighs the heart.

3To do what is right and just

is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

4Haughty eyes and a proud heart,

the lamp of the wicked, are sin!

5The plans of the diligent lead to profit

as surely as haste leads to poverty.

6A fortune made by a lying tongue

is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.A

7The violence of the wicked will drag them away,

for they refuse to do what is right.

8The way of the guilty is devious,

but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

9Better to live on a corner of the roof

than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

10The wicked man craves evil;

his neighbor gets no mercy from him. [9]

11When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom;

when a wise man is instructed, he gets knowledge.

12The Righteous OneB takes note of the house of the wicked

and brings the wicked to ruin.

13If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,

he too will cry out and not be answered.

14A gift given in secret soothes anger,

and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.

15When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous

but terror to evildoers.

16A man who strays from the path of understanding

comes to rest in the company of the dead.

17He who loves pleasure will become poor;

whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich.

18The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,

and the unfaithful for the upright.

19Better to live in a desert

than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.

20In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil,

but a foolish man devours all he has.

21He who pursues righteousness and love

finds life, prosperityC and honor. [10]

22A wise man attacks the city of the mighty

and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust.

23He who guards his mouth and his tongue

keeps himself from calamity.

24The proud and arrogant man--"Mocker" is his name;

he behaves with overweening pride.

25The sluggard's craving will be the death of him,

because his hands refuse to work.

26All day long he craves for more,

but the righteous give without sparing.

27The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable--

how much more so when brought with evil intent!

28A false witness will perish,

and whoever listens to him will be destroyed forever.D

29A wicked man puts up a bold front,

but an upright man gives thought to his ways.

30There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan

that can succeed against the LORD.

31The horse is made ready for the day of battle,

but victory rests with the LORD.[11]

OLD TESTAMENT

JOSHUA 5:1 - 7:15

51Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

2At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again." 3So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.A

4Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt--all the men of military age--died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. 5All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. 6The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

9Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called GilgalB to this day. [12]

10On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12The manna stopped the day afterC they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

13Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"

14"Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my LordD have for his servant?"

15The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

61Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

2Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5When you hear them sound a long [13]blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."

6So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." 7And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."

8When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. 9The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" 11So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.

12Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

15On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that [14]day they circled the city seven times. 16The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17The city and all that is in it are to be devotedA to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostituteB and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."

20When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

22Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." 23So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

24Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. 25But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she [15]hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho--and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

26At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:

"At the cost of his firstborn son

will he lay its foundations;

at the cost of his youngest

will he set up its gates."

27So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

71But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted thingsA; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri,B the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD's anger burned against Israel.

2Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, "Go up and spy out the region." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

3When they returned to Joshua, they said, "Not all the people will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there." 4So about three thousand men went up; but they were routed [16]

NEW TESTAMENT

LUKE 15:1 - 32

151Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coinsA and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, `Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild [17]living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17"When he came to his senses, he said, `How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father.

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21"The son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.B'

22"But the father said to his servants, `Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.

27`Your brother has come,' he replied, `and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' [18]

28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, `Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

31" `My son,' the father said, `you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "[19]by the men of Ai, 5who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarriesC and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

6Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. 7And Joshua said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? 9The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?"

10The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

13"Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, `Consecrate yourselves [20]in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it.

14" `In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD takes shall come forward clan by clan; the clan that the LORD takes shall come forward family by family; and the family that the LORD takes shall come forward man by man. 15He who is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the LORD and has done a disgraceful thing in Israel!' " [21]

^{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 21

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John 3:16-21