THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: March 14

Monday, February 6, 2012

March 14

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

MARCH 14

PSALMS: 14, 44, 74, 104, 134

PROVERBS: 14

OLD TESTAMENT: 2 SAMUEL 20:14 - 21:22

NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 1:1 - 26

PSALMS: 14

For the director of music. Of David.

¹The fool ^A says in his heart,

"There is no God."

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;

there is no one who does good.

²The LORD looks down from heaven

on the sons of men

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

³All have turned aside,

they have together become corrupt;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.

⁴Will evildoers never learn--

those who devour my people as men eat bread

and who do not call on the LORD?

⁵There they are, overwhelmed with dread,

for God is present in the company of the righteous.

⁶You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,

but the LORD is their refuge.

⁷Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! ^{^[1]}

PSALMS: 44

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. ^A

¹We have heard with our ears, O God;

our fathers have told us

what you did in their days,

in days long ago.

²With your hand you drove out the nations

and planted our fathers;

you crushed the peoples

and made our fathers flourish.

³It was not by their sword that they won the land,

nor did their arm bring them victory;

it was your right hand, your arm,

and the light of your face, for you loved them.

⁴You are my King and my God,

who decrees ^B victories for Jacob.

⁵Through you we push back our enemies;

through your name we trample our foes.

⁶I do not trust in my bow,

my sword does not bring me victory;

⁷but you give us victory over our enemies,

you put our adversaries to shame.

⁸In God we make our boast all day long,

and we will praise your name forever.

Selah

⁹But now you have rejected and humbled us;

you no longer go out with our armies.

¹⁰You made us retreat before the enemy,

and our adversaries have plundered us. ^{^[2]}

¹¹You gave us up to be devoured like sheep

and have scattered us among the nations.

¹²You sold your people for a pittance,

gaining nothing from their sale.

¹³You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,

the scorn and derision of those around us.

¹⁴You have made us a byword among the nations;

the peoples shake their heads at us.

¹⁵My disgrace is before me all day long,

and my face is covered with shame

¹⁶at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,

because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

¹⁷All this happened to us,

though we had not forgotten you

or been false to your covenant.

¹⁸Our hearts had not turned back;

our feet had not strayed from your path.

¹⁹But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals

and covered us over with deep darkness.

²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

²¹would not God have discovered it,

since he knows the secrets of the heart?

²²Yet for your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep?

Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. ^{^[3]}

²⁴Why do you hide your face

and forget our misery and oppression?

²⁵We are brought down to the dust;

our bodies cling to the ground.

²⁶Rise up and help us;

redeem us because of your unfailing love. ^{^[4]}

PSALMS: 74

A maskil ^A of Asaph.

¹Why have you rejected us forever, O God?

Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?

²Remember the people you purchased of old,

the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed--

Mount Zion, where you dwelt.

³Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,

all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

⁴Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;

they set up their standards as signs.

⁵They behaved like men wielding axes

to cut through a thicket of trees.

⁶They smashed all the carved paneling

with their axes and hatchets.

⁷They burned your sanctuary to the ground;

they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.

⁸They said in their hearts, "We will crush them completely!"

They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

⁹We are given no miraculous signs;

no prophets are left,

and none of us knows how long this will be.

¹⁰How long will the enemy mock you, O God?

Will the foe revile your name forever?

¹¹Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?

Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

¹²But you, O God, are my king from of old;

you bring salvation upon the earth. ^{^[5]}

¹³It was you who split open the sea by your power;

you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.

¹⁴It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan

and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.

¹⁵It was you who opened up springs and streams;

you dried up the ever flowing rivers.

¹⁶The day is yours, and yours also the night;

you established the sun and moon.

¹⁷It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;

you made both summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember how the enemy has mocked you, O LORD,

how foolish people have reviled your name.

¹⁹Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;

do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.

²⁰Have regard for your covenant,

because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

²¹Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;

may the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;

remember how fools mock you all day long.

²³Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,

the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually. ^{^[6]}

PSALMS: 104

¹Praise the LORD, O my soul.

O LORD my God, you are very great;

you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

²He wraps himself in light as with a garment;

he stretches out the heavens like a tent

³and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.

He makes the clouds his chariot

and rides on the wings of the wind.

⁴He makes winds his messengers, ^A

flames of fire his servants.

⁵He set the earth on its foundations;

it can never be moved.

⁶You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷But at your rebuke the waters fled,

at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

⁸they flowed over the mountains,

they went down into the valleys,

to the place you assigned for them.

⁹You set a boundary they cannot cross;

never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰He makes springs pour water into the ravines;

it flows between the mountains.

¹¹They give water to all the beasts of the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹²The birds of the air nest by the waters;

they sing among the branches.

¹³He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;

the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

¹⁴He makes grass grow for the cattle,

and plants for man to cultivate--

bringing forth food from the earth: ^{^[7]}

¹⁵wine that gladdens the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine,

and bread that sustains his heart.

¹⁶The trees of the LORD are well watered,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷There the birds make their nests;

the stork has its home in the pine trees.

¹⁸The high mountains belong to the wild goats;

the crags are a refuge for the coneys. ^B

¹⁹The moon marks off the seasons,

and the sun knows when to go down.

²⁰You bring darkness, it becomes night,

and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

²¹The lions roar for their prey

and seek their food from God.

²²The sun rises, and they steal away;

they return and lie down in their dens.

²³Then man goes out to his work,

to his labor until evening.

²⁴How many are your works, O LORD!

In wisdom you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

²⁵There is the sea, vast and spacious,

teeming with creatures beyond number--

living things both large and small.

²⁶There the ships go to and fro,

and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. ^{^[8]}

²⁷These all look to you

to give them their food at the proper time.

²⁸When you give it to them,

they gather it up;

when you open your hand,

they are satisfied with good things.

²⁹When you hide your face,

they are terrified;

when you take away their breath,

they die and return to the dust.

³⁰When you send your Spirit,

they are created,

and you renew the face of the earth.

³¹May the glory of the LORD endure forever;

may the LORD rejoice in his works--

³²he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,

who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³I will sing to the LORD all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to him,

as I rejoice in the LORD.

³⁵But may sinners vanish from the earth

and the wicked be no more.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Praise the LORD. ^C ^{^[9]}

PSALMS: 134

A song of ascents.

¹Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD

who minister by night in the house of the LORD.

²Lift up your hands in the sanctuary

and praise the LORD.

³May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,

bless you from Zion. ^{^[10]}

PROVERBS: 14

14 ¹ The wise woman builds her house,

but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

²He whose walk is upright fears the LORD,

but he whose ways are devious despises him.

³A fool's talk brings a rod to his back,

but the lips of the wise protect them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,

but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.

⁵A truthful witness does not deceive,

but a false witness pours out lies.

⁶The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,

but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

⁷Stay away from a foolish man,

for you will not find knowledge on his lips.

⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,

but the folly of fools is deception.

⁹Fools mock at making amends for sin,

but goodwill is found among the upright.

¹⁰Each heart knows its own bitterness,

and no one else can share its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed,

but the tent of the upright will flourish. ^{^[11]}

¹²There is a way that seems right to a man,

but in the end it leads to death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may ache,

and joy may end in grief.

¹⁴The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways,

and the good man rewarded for his.

¹⁵A simple man believes anything,

but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.

¹⁶A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil,

but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

¹⁷A quick-tempered man does foolish things,

and a crafty man is hated.

¹⁸The simple inherit folly,

but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹Evil men will bow down in the presence of the good,

and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,

but the rich have many friends.

²¹He who despises his neighbor sins,

but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

²²Do not those who plot evil go astray?

But those who plan what is good find ^A love and faithfulness. ^{^[12]}

²³All hard work brings a profit,

but mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The wealth of the wise is their crown,

but the folly of fools yields folly.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives,

but a false witness is deceitful.

²⁶He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress,

and for his children it will be a refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,

turning a man from the snares of death.

²⁸A large population is a king's glory,

but without subjects a prince is ruined.

²⁹A patient man has great understanding,

but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

³⁰A heart at peace gives life to the body,

but envy rots the bones.

³¹He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,

but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

³²When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down,

but even in death the righteous have a refuge.

³³Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning

and even among fools she lets herself be known. ^{B ^[13]}

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation,

but sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵A king delights in a wise servant,

but a shameful servant incurs his wrath. ^{^[14]}

OLD TESTAMENT: 2 SAMUEL 20:14 - 21:22

¹⁴Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maacah ^A and through the entire region of the Berites, who gathered together and followed him. ¹⁵All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maacah. They built a siege ramp up to the city, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down, ¹⁶a wise woman called from the city, "Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him." ¹⁷He went toward her, and she asked, "Are you Joab?"

"I am," he answered.

She said, "Listen to what your servant has to say."

"I'm listening," he said.

¹⁸She continued, "Long ago they used to say, `Get your answer at Abel,' and that settled it. ¹⁹We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the LORD's inheritance?"

²⁰"Far be it from me!" Joab replied, "Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy!

²¹That is not the case. A man named Sheba son of Bicri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Hand over this one man, and I'll withdraw from the city."

The woman said to Joab, "His head will be thrown to you from the wall."

²²Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bicri and threw it to Joab. So he sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem. ^{^[15]}²³Joab was over Israel's entire army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; ²⁴Adoniram ^B was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; ²⁵Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ²⁶and Ira the Jairite was David's priest.

21 ¹During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death."

²The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) ³David asked the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you will bless the LORD's inheritance?"

⁴The Gibeonites answered him, "We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death."

"What do you want me to do for you?" David asked.

⁵They answered the king, "As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, ⁶let seven of his male descendants be ^{^[16]}given to us to be killed and exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul--the Lord's chosen one."

So the king said, "I will give them to you."

⁷The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul. ⁸But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah's daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, ^A whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. ⁹He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed and exposed them on a hill before the LORD. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.

¹⁰Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds of the air touch them by day or the wild animals by night.

¹¹When David was told what Aiah's daughter Rizpah, Saul's concubine, had done, ¹²he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had taken them secretly from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) ¹³David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.

¹⁴They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb ^{^[17]} of Saul's father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.

¹⁵Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. ¹⁶And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels ^B and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.

¹⁷But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, saying, "Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished."

¹⁸In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.

¹⁹In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim ^C the Bethlehemite killed Goliath^D the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's rod.

²⁰In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot--twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. ²¹When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David's brother, killed him.

²²These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men. ^{^[18]}

NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 1:1 - 26

1 ¹In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach ²until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. ⁴On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵ For John baptized with ^A water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

⁶So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

⁷He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

⁹After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk ^B from the city. ¹³When they ^{^[19]} arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. ¹⁴They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the believers ^C (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) ¹⁶and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus—¹⁷he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."

¹⁸(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰"For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms,

"`May his place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in it,' ^D

and,

"`May another take his place of leadership.' ^E ^{^[20]}

²¹Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²²beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."

²³So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen ²⁵to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." ²⁶Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles. ^{^[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. 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

Monday, February 6, 2012

March 14

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John 3:16-21