THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - October 19 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

OCTOBER 19

PSALMS: 19, 49, 79, 109, 139

PROVERBS: 19

OLD TESTAMENT: GENESIS 18:16 - 19:38

NEW TESTAMENT: MATTHEW 6:25 - 7:14

PSALMS: 19

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

² Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

³ There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard. ^A

⁴ Their voice ^B goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

⁵ which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is hidden from its heat.

⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect,

reviving the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

⁸ The precepts of the LORD are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

⁹ The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever.

The ordinances of the LORD are sure

and altogether righteous. ¹

¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the comb.

¹¹ By them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

¹² Who can discern his errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then will I be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. ²

PSALMS: 49

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹ Hear this, all you peoples;

listen, all who live in this world,

² both low and high,

rich and poor alike:

³ My mouth will speak words of wisdom;

the utterance from my heart will give understanding.

⁴ I will turn my ear to a proverb;

with the harp I will expound my riddle:

⁵ Why should I fear when evil days come,

when wicked deceivers surround me--

⁶ those who trust in their wealth

and boast of their great riches?

⁷ No man can redeem the life of another

or give to God a ransom for him--

⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,

no payment is ever enough--

⁹ that he should live on forever

and not see decay.

¹⁰ For all can see that wise men die;

the foolish and the senseless alike perish

and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹ Their tombs will remain their houses ^A forever,

their dwellings for endless generations,

though they had ^B named lands after themselves. ³

¹² But man, despite his riches, does not endure;

he is ^C like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,

and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

Selah

¹⁴ Like sheep they are destined for the grave, ^D

and death will feed on them.

The upright will rule over them in the morning;

their forms will decay in the grave, ^E

far from their princely mansions.

¹⁵ But God will redeem my life ^F from the grave;

he will surely take me to himself.

Selah

¹⁶ Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,

when the splendor of his house increases;

¹⁷ for he will take nothing with him when he dies,

his splendor will not descend with him.

¹⁸ Though while he lived he counted himself blessed--

and men praise you when you prosper--

¹⁹ he will join the generation of his fathers,

who will never see the light of life.

²⁰ A man who has riches without understanding

is like the beasts that perish. ⁴

PSALMS: 79

A psalm of Asaph.

¹ O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;

they have defiled your holy temple,

they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

² They have given the dead bodies of your servants

as food to the birds of the air,

the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.

³ They have poured out blood like water

all around Jerusalem,

and there is no one to bury the dead.

⁴ We are objects of reproach to our neighbors,

of scorn and derision to those around us.

⁵ How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever?

How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶ Pour out your wrath on the nations

that do not acknowledge you,

on the kingdoms

that do not call on your name;

⁷ for they have devoured Jacob

and destroyed his homeland.

⁸ Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers;

may your mercy come quickly to meet us,

for we are in desperate need.

⁹ Help us, O God our Savior,

for the glory of your name;

deliver us and forgive our sins

for your name's sake.

¹⁰ Why should the nations say,

"Where is their God?" ⁵

Before our eyes, make known among the nations

that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.

¹¹ May the groans of the prisoners come before you;

by the strength of your arm

preserve those condemned to die.

¹² Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times

the reproach they have hurled at you, O Lord.

¹³ Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

will praise you forever;

from generation to generation

we will recount your praise. ⁶

PSALMS: 109

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

¹ O God, whom I praise,

do not remain silent,

² for wicked and deceitful men

have opened their mouths against me;

they have spoken against me with lying tongues.

³ With words of hatred they surround me;

they attack me without cause.

⁴ In return for my friendship they accuse me,

but I am a man of prayer.

⁵ They repay me evil for good,

and hatred for my friendship.

⁶ Appoint ^A an evil man ^B to oppose him;

let an accuser ^C stand at his right hand.

⁷ When he is tried, let him be found guilty,

and may his prayers condemn him.

⁸ May his days be few;

may another take his place of leadership.

⁹ May his children be fatherless

and his wife a widow.

¹⁰ May his children be wandering beggars;

may they be driven ^D from their ruined homes.

¹¹ May a creditor seize all he has;

may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

¹² May no one extend kindness to him

or take pity on his fatherless children.

¹³ May his descendants be cut off, ⁷

their names blotted out from the next generation.

¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD;

may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

¹⁵ May their sins always remain before the LORD,

that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁶ For he never thought of doing a kindness,

but hounded to death the poor

and the needy and the brokenhearted.

¹⁷ He loved to pronounce a curse--

may it ^E come on him;

he found no pleasure in blessing--

may it be ^F far from him.

¹⁸ He wore cursing as his garment;

it entered into his body like water,

into his bones like oil.

¹⁹ May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,

like a belt tied forever around him.

²⁰ May this be the LORD's payment to my accusers,

to those who speak evil of me.

²¹ But you, O Sovereign LORD,

deal well with me for your name's sake;

out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.

²² For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is wounded within me.

²³ I fade away like an evening shadow;

I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴ My knees give way from fasting;

my body is thin and gaunt.

²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they shake their heads. ⁸

²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God;

save me in accordance with your love.

²⁷ Let them know that it is your hand,

that you, O LORD, have done it.

²⁸ They may curse, but you will bless;

when they attack they will be put to shame,

but your servant will rejoice.

²⁹ My accusers will be clothed with disgrace

and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.

³⁰ With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD;

in the great throng I will praise him.

³¹ For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,

to save his life from those who condemn him. ⁹

PSALMS: 139

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

¹ O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.

² You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O LORD.

⁵ You hem me in--behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, ^A you are there.

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,"

¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you. ¹⁰

¹³ For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

¹⁷ How precious to ^B me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸ Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake,

I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you would slay the wicked, O God!

Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;

your adversaries misuse your name.

²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,

and abhor those who rise up against you?

²² I have nothing but hatred for them;

I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting. ¹¹

PROVERBS: 19

19 ¹ Better a poor man whose walk is blameless

than a fool whose lips are perverse.

² It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,

nor to be hasty and miss the way.

³ A man's own folly ruins his life,

yet his heart rages against the LORD.

⁴ Wealth brings many friends,

but a poor man's friend deserts him.

⁵ A false witness will not go unpunished,

and he who pours out lies will not go free.

⁶ Many curry favor with a ruler,

and everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts.

⁷ A poor man is shunned by all his relatives--

how much more do his friends avoid him!

Though he pursues them with pleading,

they are nowhere to be found. ^A

⁸ He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;

he who cherishes understanding prospers.

⁹ A false witness will not go unpunished,

and he who pours out lies will perish.

¹⁰ It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury--

how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!

¹¹ A man's wisdom gives him patience;

it is to his glory to overlook an offense. ¹²

¹² A king's rage is like the roar of a lion,

but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³ A foolish son is his father's ruin,

and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.

¹⁴ Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,

but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵ Laziness brings on deep sleep,

and the shiftless man goes hungry.

¹⁶ He who obeys instructions guards his life,

but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die.

¹⁷ He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD,

and he will reward him for what he has done.

¹⁸ Discipline your son, for in that there is hope;

do not be a willing party to his death.

¹⁹ A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty;

if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.

²⁰ Listen to advice and accept instruction,

and in the end you will be wise.

²¹ Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

²² What a man desires is unfailing love ^B;

better to be poor than a liar. ¹³

²³ The fear of the LORD leads to life:

Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

²⁴ The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;

he will not even bring it back to his mouth!

²⁵ Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence;

rebuke a discerning man, and he will gain knowledge.

²⁶ He who robs his father and drives out his mother

is a son who brings shame and disgrace.

²⁷ Stop listening to instruction, my son,

and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸ A corrupt witness mocks at justice,

and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

²⁹ Penalties are prepared for mockers,

and beatings for the backs of fools. ¹⁴

OLD TESTAMENT: GENESIS 18:16 - 19:38

¹⁶ When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸ Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. ¹⁹ For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."

²⁰ Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

²² The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. ^{E 23} Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare ^F the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge ^G of all the earth do right?"

²⁶ The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

²⁷ Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, ²⁸ what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?"

"If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."

²⁹ Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?"

He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."

³⁰ Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?"

He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

³¹ Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?"

He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."

³² Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?"

He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."

³³ When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. ¹⁵

19 ¹ The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ² "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."

"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."

³ But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. ⁴ Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house. 

⁵ They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

⁶ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

⁹ "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

¹⁰ But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 

¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

¹² The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here--sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,

¹³ because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry ^A his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."

¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"

¹⁸ But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, ^B please! ¹⁹ Your ^C servant has found favor in your ^D eyes, and you ^E have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. ²⁰ Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it--it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared." ¹⁶

²¹ He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. ²² But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. ^F)

²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land. ²⁶ But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. ²⁸ He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

³⁰ Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. ³¹ One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. ³² Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."

³³ That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁴ The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." ³⁵ So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁶ So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab ^G; he is the father of the Moabites of today. ³⁸ The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi ^H; he is the father of the Ammonites of today. ¹⁷

NEW TESTAMENT: MATTHEW 6:25 - 7:14

²⁵ "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ^B?

²⁸ "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 

³¹ So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

7 ¹ "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³ "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

⁶ "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

⁷ "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ¹⁸

¹³ "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. ¹⁹

1 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

2 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

3 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

4 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

5 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

6 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

7 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

8 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

9 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

10 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

11 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

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15 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

16 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

17 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

18 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

19 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

 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