THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: May 8

Saturday, January 28, 2012

May 8

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

MAY 8

PSALMS: 8, 38, 68, 98, 128

PROVERBS: 8

OLD TESTAMENT: 2 CHRONICLES 21:1 - 23:21

NEW TESTAMENT: ROMANS 11:13 - 36

PSALMS: 8

For the director of music. According to gittith. ^A A psalm of David.

¹O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

above the heavens.

²From the lips of children and infants

you have ordained praise ^B

because of your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger.

³When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

⁴what is man that you are mindful of him,

the son of man that you care for him?

⁵You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings ^C

and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

you put everything under his feet:

⁷all flocks and herds,

and the beasts of the field,

⁸the birds of the air,

and the fish of the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas. ^{^[1]}

⁹O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth! ^{^[2]}

PSALMS: 38

A psalm of David. A petition.

¹O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

²For your arrows have pierced me,

and your hand has come down upon me.

³Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

my bones have no soundness because of my sin.

⁴My guilt has overwhelmed me

like a burden too heavy to bear.

⁵My wounds fester and are loathsome

because of my sinful folly.

⁶I am bowed down and brought very low;

all day long I go about mourning.

⁷My back is filled with searing pain;

there is no health in my body.

⁸I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of heart.

⁹All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

¹⁰My heart pounds, my strength fails me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.

¹¹My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;

my neighbors stay far away.

¹²Those who seek my life set their traps,

those who would harm me talk of my ruin;

all day long they plot deception. ^{^[3]}

¹³I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear,

like a mute, who cannot open his mouth;

¹⁴I have become like a man who does not hear,

whose mouth can offer no reply.

¹⁵I wait for you, O LORD;

you will answer, O Lord my God.

¹⁶For I said, "Do not let them gloat

or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips."

¹⁷For I am about to fall,

and my pain is ever with me.

¹⁸I confess my iniquity;

I am troubled by my sin.

¹⁹Many are those who are my vigorous enemies;

those who hate me without reason are numerous.

²⁰Those who repay my good with evil

slander me when I pursue what is good.

²¹O LORD, do not forsake me;

be not far from me, O my God.

²²Come quickly to help me,

O Lord my Savior. ^{^[4]}

PSALMS: 68

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.

¹May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;

may his foes flee before him.

²As smoke is blown away by the wind,

may you blow them away;

as wax melts before the fire,

may the wicked perish before God.

³But may the righteous be glad

and rejoice before God;

may they be happy and joyful.

⁴Sing to God, sing praise to his name,

extol him who rides on the clouds ^A--

his name is the LORD--

and rejoice before him.

⁵A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,

is God in his holy dwelling.

⁶God sets the lonely in families, ^B

he leads forth the prisoners with singing;

but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

⁷When you went out before your people, O God,

when you marched through the wasteland,

Selah

⁸the earth shook,

the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

⁹You gave abundant showers, O God;

you refreshed your weary inheritance. ^{^[5]}

¹⁰Your people settled in it,

and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.

¹¹The Lord announced the word,

and great was the company of those who proclaimed it:

¹²"Kings and armies flee in haste;

in the camps men divide the plunder.

Even while you sleep among the campfires, ^C

the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,

its feathers with shining gold."

¹⁴When the Almighty ^D scattered the kings in the land,

it was like snow fallen on Zalmon.

¹⁵The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains;

rugged are the mountains of Bashan.

¹⁶Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains,

at the mountain where God chooses to reign,

where the LORD himself will dwell forever?

¹⁷The chariots of God are tens of thousands

and thousands of thousands;

the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

¹⁸When you ascended on high,

you led captives in your train;

you received gifts from men,

even from ^E the rebellious--

that you, ^F O LORD God, might dwell there.

¹⁹Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,

who daily bears our burdens.

Selah

²⁰Our God is a God who saves;

from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death. ^{^[6]}

²¹Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,

the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

²²The Lord says, "I will bring them from Bashan;

I will bring them from the depths of the sea,

²³ that you may plunge your feet in the blood of your foes,

while the tongues of your dogs have their share."

²⁴Your procession has come into view, O God,

the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

²⁵In front are the singers, after them the musicians;

with them are the maidens playing tambourines.

²⁶Praise God in the great congregation;

praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.

²⁷There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,

there the great throng of Judah's princes,

and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

²⁸Summon your power, O God ^G;

show us your strength, O God, as you have done before.

²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem

kings will bring you gifts.

³⁰Rebuke the beast among the reeds,

the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.

Humbled, may it bring bars of silver.

Scatter the nations who delight in war.

³¹Envoys will come from Egypt;

Cush ^H will submit herself to God.

³²Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,

sing praise to the Lord,

Selah ^{^[7]}

³³to him who rides the ancient skies above,

who thunders with mighty voice.

³⁴Proclaim the power of God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

whose power is in the skies.

³⁵You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;

the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

Praise be to God! ^{^[8]}

PSALMS: 98

A psalm.

¹Sing to the LORD a new song,

for he has done marvelous things;

his right hand and his holy arm

have worked salvation for him.

²The LORD has made his salvation known

and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered his love

and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;

all the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.

⁴Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,

burst into jubilant song with music;

⁵make music to the LORD with the harp,

with the harp and the sound of singing,

⁶with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn--

shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

⁷Let the sea resound, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,

let the mountains sing together for joy;

⁹let them sing before the LORD,

for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples with equity. ^{^[9]}

PSALMS: 128

A song of ascents.

¹Blessed are all who fear the LORD,

who walk in his ways.

²You will eat the fruit of your labor;

blessings and prosperity will be yours.

³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

within your house;

your sons will be like olive shoots

around your table.

⁴Thus is the man blessed

who fears the LORD.

⁵May the LORD bless you from Zion

all the days of your life;

may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,

⁶and may you live to see your children's children.

Peace be upon Israel. ^{^[10]}

PROVERBS: 8

8 ¹ Does not wisdom call out?

Does not understanding raise her voice?

²On the heights along the way,

where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

³beside the gates leading into the city,

at the entrances, she cries aloud:

⁴"To you, O men, I call out;

I raise my voice to all mankind.

⁵You who are simple, gain prudence;

you who are foolish, gain understanding.

⁶Listen, for I have worthy things to say;

I open my lips to speak what is right.

⁷My mouth speaks what is true,

for my lips detest wickedness.

⁸All the words of my mouth are just;

none of them is crooked or perverse.

⁹To the discerning all of them are right;

they are faultless to those who have knowledge.

¹⁰Choose my instruction instead of silver,

knowledge rather than choice gold,

¹¹for wisdom is more precious than rubies,

and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹²"I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;

I possess knowledge and discretion.

¹³To fear the LORD is to hate evil;

I hate pride and arrogance,

evil behavior and perverse speech.

¹⁴Counsel and sound judgment are mine;

I have understanding and power.

¹⁵By me kings reign

and rulers make laws that are just;

¹⁶by me princes govern, ^{^[11]}

and all nobles who rule on earth. ^A

¹⁷I love those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

¹⁸With me are riches and honor,

enduring wealth and prosperity.

¹⁹My fruit is better than fine gold;

what I yield surpasses choice silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness,

along the paths of justice,

²¹bestowing wealth on those who love me

and making their treasuries full.

²²"The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, ^BC

before his deeds of old;

²³I was appointed ^D from eternity,

from the beginning, before the world began.

²⁴When there were no oceans, I was given birth,

when there were no springs abounding with water;

²⁵before the mountains were settled in place,

before the hills, I was given birth,

²⁶before he made the earth or its fields

or any of the dust of the world.

²⁷I was there when he set the heavens in place,

when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,

²⁸when he established the clouds above

and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,

²⁹when he gave the sea its boundary

so the waters would not overstep his command,

and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

³⁰ Then I was the craftsman at his side.

I was filled with delight day after day,

rejoicing always in his presence,

³¹ rejoicing in his whole world

and delighting in mankind. ^{^[12]}

³²"Now then, my sons, listen to me;

blessed are those who keep my ways.

³³Listen to my instruction and be wise;

do not ignore it.

³⁴Blessed is the man who listens to me,

watching daily at my doors,

waiting at my doorway.

³⁵For whoever finds me finds life

and receives favor from the LORD.

³⁶But whoever fails to find me harms himself;

all who hate me love death." ^{^[13]}

OLD TESTAMENT: 2 CHRONICLES 21:1 - 23:21

21 ¹Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king. ²Jehoram's brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. ^A ³Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.

⁴When Jehoram established himself firmly over his father's kingdom, he put all his brothers to the sword along with some of the princes of Israel. ⁵Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. ⁶He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. ⁷Nevertheless, because of the covenant the LORD had made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever.

⁸In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. ⁹So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night. ¹⁰To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah.

Libnah revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers. ¹¹He had also built high places on ^{^[14]} the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.

¹²Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said:

"This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: `You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah. ¹³ But you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your father's house, men who were better than you. ¹⁴ So now the LORD is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow.

¹⁵ You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.'"

¹⁶The LORD aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. ¹⁷They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king's palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, ^B the youngest.

¹⁸After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels.

¹⁹In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no fire in his honor, as they had for his fathers.

²⁰Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and ^{^[15]} he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one's regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

22 ¹The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram's youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders, who came with the Arabs into the camp, had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

²Ahaziah was twenty-two ^A years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.

³He too walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. ⁴He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father's death they became his advisers, to his undoing. ⁵He also followed their counsel when he went with Joram ^B son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; ⁶so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramoth ^C in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.

Then Ahaziah ^D son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab because he had been wounded.

⁷Through Ahaziah's visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah's downfall. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the ^{^[16]} house of Ahab.

⁸While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's relatives, who had been attending Ahaziah, and he killed them. ⁹He then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, "He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart." So there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the kingdom.

¹⁰When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹But Jehosheba, ^E the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba, ^F the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah's sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. ¹²He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

23 ¹In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his strength. He made a covenant with the commanders of units of a hundred: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri. ²They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites and the heads of Israelite families from all the towns. When they came to Jerusalem, ³the whole ^{^[17]} assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God.

Jehoiada said to them, "The king's son shall reign, as the LORD promised concerning the descendants of David. ⁴Now this is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who are going on duty on the Sabbath are to keep watch at the doors, ⁵a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the other men are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the LORD. ⁶No one is to enter the temple of the LORD except the priests and Levites on duty; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the other men are to guard what the LORD has assigned to them. ^A ⁷The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each man with his weapons in his hand. Anyone who enters the temple must be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes."

⁸The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men--those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty--for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions. ⁹Then he gave the commanders of units of a hundred the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of God. ¹⁰He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king--near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.

¹¹Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king's son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and ^{^[18]} proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, "Long live the king!"

¹²When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went to them at the temple of the LORD. ¹³She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and singers with musical instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted, "Treason! Treason!"

¹⁴Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops, and said to them: "Bring her out between the ranks ^B and put to the sword anyone who follows her." For the priest had said, "Do not put her to death at the temple of the LORD." ¹⁵So they seized her as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.

¹⁶Jehoiada then made a covenant that he and the people and the king ^C would be the LORD's people. ¹⁷All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

¹⁸Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the LORD in the hands of the priests, who were Levites, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the LORD as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered. ¹⁹He also stationed doorkeepers at the gates of the LORD's temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter. ^{^[19]} ²⁰He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the temple of the LORD. They went into the palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne, ²¹and all the people of the land rejoiced. And the city was quiet, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword. ^{^[20]}

NEW TESTAMENT: ROMANS 11:13 - 36

¹³I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry ¹⁴in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. ¹⁵For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ¹⁶If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, ¹⁸do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." ²⁰Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. ²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

²²Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. ²³And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

²⁵I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so ^{^[21]} that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

"The deliverer will come from Zion;

he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. ^{^[22]}

²⁷And this is ^F my covenant with them

when I take away their sins."^G

²⁸As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, ²⁹for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. ³⁰Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, ³¹so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now ^H receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. ³²For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and ^I knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

³⁴"Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?" ^J

³⁵"Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay him?" ^K

³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen. ^{^[23]}

John 3:16-21 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, F that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.G 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." H

THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION

Saturday, January 28, 2012

May 8

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John 3:16-21