THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: May 31

Friday, October 23, 2009

May 31

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

MAY 31

PSALMS: 31, 61, 91, 121

PROVERBS: 31

OLD TESTAMENT

ESTHER 8:1 - 10:3

NEW TESTAMENT

1 CORINTHIANS 12:27 - 13:13

PSALMS: 31

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

deliver me in your righteousness.

2Turn your ear to me,

come quickly to my rescue;

be my rock of refuge,

a strong fortress to save me.

3Since you are my rock and my fortress,

for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

4Free me from the trap that is set for me,

for you are my refuge.

5Into your hands I commit my spirit;

redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

6I hate those who cling to worthless idols;

I trust in the LORD.

7I will be glad and rejoice in your love,

for you saw my affliction

and knew the anguish of my soul.

8You have not handed me over to the enemy

but have set my feet in a spacious place.

9Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;

my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

my soul and my body with grief.

10My life is consumed by anguish

and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction,A

and my bones grow weak. [1]

11Because of all my enemies,

I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;

I am a dread to my friends--

those who see me on the street flee from me.

12I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;

I have become like broken pottery.

13For I hear the slander of many;

there is terror on every side;

they conspire against me

and plot to take my life.

14But I trust in you, O LORD;

I say, "You are my God."

15My times are in your hands;

deliver me from my enemies

and from those who pursue me.

16Let your face shine on your servant;

save me in your unfailing love.

17Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,

for I have cried out to you;

but let the wicked be put to shame

and lie silent in the grave.B

18Let their lying lips be silenced,

for with pride and contempt

they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

19How great is your goodness,

which you have stored up for those who fear you,

which you bestow in the sight of men

on those who take refuge in you.

20In the shelter of your presence you hide them

from the intrigues of men;

in your dwelling you keep them safe [2]

from accusing tongues.

21Praise be to the LORD,

for he showed his wonderful love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

22In my alarm I said,

"I am cut off from your sight!"

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

when I called to you for help.

23Love the LORD, all his saints!

The LORD preserves the faithful,

but the proud he pays back in full.

24Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the LORD. [3]

PSALMS: 61

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.

1Hear my cry, O God;

listen to my prayer.

2From the ends of the earth I call to you,

I call as my heart grows faint;

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

3For you have been my refuge,

a strong tower against the foe.

4I long to dwell in your tent forever

and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Selah

5For you have heard my vows, O God;

you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

6Increase the days of the king's life,

his years for many generations.

7May he be enthroned in God's presence forever;

appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.

8Then will I ever sing praise to your name

and fulfill my vows day after day. [4]

PSALMS: 91

1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.A

2I will sayB of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

3Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

4He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

8You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

9If you make the Most High your dwelling--

even the LORD, who is my refuge--

10then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

11For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

12they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent. [5]

14"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

16With long life will I satisfy him

and show him my salvation." [6]

PSALMS: 121

A song of ascents.

1I lift up my eyes to the hills--

where does my help come from?

2My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

3He will not let your foot slip--

he who watches over you will not slumber;

4indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD watches over you--

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

7The LORD will keep you from all harm--

he will watch over your life;

8the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore. [7]

PROVERBS: 31

311The sayings of King Lemuel--an oracleA his mother taught him:

2"O my son, O son of my womb,

O son of my vows,B

3do not spend your strength on women,

your vigor on those who ruin kings.

4"It is not for kings, O Lemuel--

not for kings to drink wine,

not for rulers to crave beer,

5lest they drink and forget what the law decrees,

and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

6Give beer to those who are perishing,

wine to those who are in anguish;

7let them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.

8"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

9Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy." [8]

10C A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

11Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

12She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

13She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

14She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

15She gets up while it is still dark;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her servant girls.

16She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

18She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

19In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.

21When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

26She speaks with wisdom, [9]

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

29"Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all."

30Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

31Give her the reward she has earned,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.[10]

OLD TESTAMENT

ESTHER 8:1 - 10:3

81That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman's estate.

3Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. 4Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

5"If it pleases the king," she said, "and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king's provinces. 6For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?"

7King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows. 8Now write another decree in the king's name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king's signet ring--for no document written in the king's name and sealed with his ring can be revoked."

9At once the royal secretaries were summoned--on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai's orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.A These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language. 10Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king's signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

11The king's edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate any armed force of any nationality or province that might attack them and their women and children; and to plunder the property of their enemies. 12The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 13A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

14The couriers, riding the royal horses, raced out, spurred on by the king's command. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.

15Mordecai left the king's presence wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. 16For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 17In every province and in every city, wherever the edict of the king went, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other [11]nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.

91On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. 2The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those seeking their destruction. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. 3And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king's administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. 4Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.

5The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

11The number of those slain in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12The king said to Queen Esther, "The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted."

13"If it pleases the king," Esther answered, "give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day's edict tomorrow also, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on gallows."

14So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman. 15The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

16Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

18The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. [12]

19That is why rural Jews--those living in villages--observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.

20Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, 21to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

23So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. 24For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. 25But when the plot came to the king's attention,A he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26(Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, 27the Jews took it upon themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. 28These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants.

29So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. 30And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes--words of goodwill and assurance-- 31to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. 32Esther's decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.[13]

101King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.[14]

NEW TESTAMENT

1 CORINTHIANS 12:27 - 13:13

27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tonguesD? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desireE the greater gifts.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

131If I speak in the tonguesA of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,B but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.[15]

^{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

Friday, October 23, 2009

May 31

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John 3:16-21