THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 20

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 20 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

FEBRUARY 20

PSALMS: 20, 50, 80, 110, 140

PROVERBS: 20

OLD TESTAMENT: 1 SAMUEL 12:1 - 13:23

NEW TESTAMENT: JOHN 7:1 - 30

PSALMS: 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

²May he send you help from the sanctuary

and grant you support from Zion.

³May he remember all your sacrifices

and accept your burnt offerings.

Selah

⁴May he give you the desire of your heart

and make all your plans succeed.

⁵We will shout for joy when you are victorious

and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the LORD grant all your requests.

⁶Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;

he answers him from his holy heaven

with the saving power of his right hand.

⁷Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

⁸They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

⁹O LORD, save the king!

Answer ^A us when we call! ^¹

PSALMS: 50

A psalm of Asaph.

¹The Mighty One, God, the LORD,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.

²From Zion, perfect in beauty,

God shines forth.

³Our God comes and will not be silent;

a fire devours before him,

and around him a tempest rages.

⁴He summons the heavens above,

and the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵"Gather to me my consecrated ones,

who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

⁶And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,

for God himself is judge.

Selah

⁷"Hear, O my people, and I will speak,

O Israel, and I will testify against you:

I am God, your God.

⁸I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices

or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

⁹I have no need of a bull from your stall

or of goats from your pens,

¹⁰for every animal of the forest is mine,

and the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know every bird in the mountains,

and the creatures of the field are mine.

¹²If I were hungry I would not tell you, ^²

for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Sacrifice thank offerings to God,

fulfill your vows to the Most High,

¹⁵and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

¹⁶But to the wicked, God says:

"What right have you to recite my laws

or take my covenant on your lips?

¹⁷You hate my instruction

and cast my words behind you.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you join with him;

you throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹⁹You use your mouth for evil

and harness your tongue to deceit.

²⁰You speak continually against your brother

and slander your own mother's son.

²¹These things you have done and I kept silent;

you thought I was altogether ^A like you.

But I will rebuke you

and accuse you to your face.

²²"Consider this, you who forget God,

or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:

²³He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,

and he prepares the way

so that I may show him ^B the salvation of God." ^³

PSALMS: 80

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Lilies of the Covenant." Of Asaph. A psalm.

¹Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock;

you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

²before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.

Awaken your might;

come and save us.

³Restore us, O God;

make your face shine upon us,

that we may be saved.

⁴O LORD God Almighty,

how long will your anger smolder

against the prayers of your people?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears;

you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

⁶You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors,

and our enemies mock us.

⁷Restore us, O God Almighty;

make your face shine upon us,

that we may be saved.

⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it,

and it took root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches. ^⁴

¹¹It sent out its boughs to the Sea, ^A

its shoots as far as the River. ^B

¹²Why have you broken down its walls

so that all who pass by pick its grapes?

¹³Boars from the forest ravage it

and the creatures of the field feed on it.

¹⁴Return to us, O God Almighty!

Look down from heaven and see!

Watch over this vine,

¹⁵the root your right hand has planted,

the son ^C you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;

at your rebuke your people perish.

¹⁷Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,

the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you;

revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹Restore us, O LORD God Almighty;

make your face shine upon us,

that we may be saved. ^⁵

PSALMS: 110

Of David. A psalm.

¹The LORD says to my Lord:

"Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet."

²The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion;

you will rule in the midst of your enemies.

³Your troops will be willing

on your day of battle.

Arrayed in holy majesty,

from the womb of the dawn

you will receive the dew of your youth. ^A

⁴The LORD has sworn

and will not change his mind:

"You are a priest forever,

in the order of Melchizedek."

⁵The Lord is at your right hand;

he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.

⁶He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead

and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.

⁷He will drink from a brook beside the way ^B;

therefore he will lift up his head. ^⁶

PSALMS: 140

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men;

protect me from men of violence,

²who devise evil plans in their hearts

and stir up war every day.

³They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's;

the poison of vipers is on their lips.

Selah

⁴Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;

protect me from men of violence

who plan to trip my feet.

⁵Proud men have hidden a snare for me;

they have spread out the cords of their net

and have set traps for me along my path.

Selah

⁶O LORD, I say to you, "You are my God."

Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy.

⁷O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer,

who shields my head in the day of battle--

⁸do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD;

do not let their plans succeed,

or they will become proud.

Selah

⁹Let the heads of those who surround me

be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.

¹⁰Let burning coals fall upon them;

may they be thrown into the fire,

into miry pits, never to rise. ^⁷

¹¹Let slanderers not be established in the land;

may disaster hunt down men of violence.

¹²I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor

and upholds the cause of the needy.

¹³Surely the righteous will praise your name

and the upright will live before you. ^⁸

PROVERBS: 20

20 ¹ Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;

whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion;

he who angers him forfeits his life.

³It is to a man's honor to avoid strife,

but every fool is quick to quarrel.

⁴A sluggard does not plow in season;

so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

⁵The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters,

but a man of understanding draws them out.

⁶Many a man claims to have unfailing love,

but a faithful man who can find?

⁷The righteous man leads a blameless life;

blessed are his children after him.

⁸When a king sits on his throne to judge,

he winnows out all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure;

I am clean and without sin"?

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures--

the LORD detests them both.

¹¹Even a child is known by his actions,

by whether his conduct is pure and right. ^⁹

¹²Ears that hear and eyes that see--

the LORD has made them both.

¹³Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;

stay awake and you will have food to spare.

¹⁴"It's no good, it's no good!" says the buyer;

then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.

¹⁵Gold there is, and rubies in abundance,

but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;

hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.

¹⁷Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man,

but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.

¹⁸Make plans by seeking advice;

if you wage war, obtain guidance.

¹⁹A gossip betrays a confidence;

so avoid a man who talks too much.

²⁰If a man curses his father or mother,

his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.

²¹An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning

will not be blessed at the end.

²²Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!"

Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you. ^¹⁰

²³The LORD detests differing weights,

and dishonest scales do not please him.

²⁴A man's steps are directed by the LORD.

How then can anyone understand his own way?

²⁵It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly

and only later to consider his vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked;

he drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man ^A;

it searches out his inmost being.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;

through love his throne is made secure.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength,

gray hair the splendor of the old.

³⁰Blows and wounds cleanse away evil,

and beatings purge the inmost being. ^¹¹

OLD TESTAMENT: 1 SAMUEL 12:1 - 13:23

12 ¹Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. ²Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day.

³Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."

⁴"You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."

⁵Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand."

"He is witness," they said.

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt. ⁷Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers.

⁸"After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹"But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the ^¹² hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. ¹⁰They cried out to the LORD and said, `We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.' ¹¹Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, ^A Barak, ^B Jephthah and Samuel, ^C and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely.

¹²"But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, `No, we want a king to rule over us'--even though the LORD your God was your king. ¹³Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. ¹⁴If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God--good! ¹⁵But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

¹⁶"Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! ¹⁷Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king."

¹⁸Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.

¹⁹The people all said to Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for ^¹³ your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king."

²⁰"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. ²¹Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ²²For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. ²³As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. ²⁴But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."

13 ¹Saul was thirty ^A years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty- ^B two years.

²Saul ^C chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

³Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!" ⁴So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines." And the people were ^¹⁴ summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand ^D chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. ⁶When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. ⁷Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. ⁸He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. ⁹So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings. ^E" And Saul offered up the burnt offering. ¹⁰Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

¹¹"What have you done?" asked Samuel.

Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, ¹²I thought, `Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

¹³"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you ^¹⁵ have not kept the LORD's command."

¹⁵Then Samuel left Gilgal ^F and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

¹⁶Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah ^G in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Micmash. ¹⁷Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the desert.

¹⁹Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!" ²⁰So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles ^H sharpened. ²¹The price was two thirds of a shekel^I for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel ^J for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

²²So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

²³Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash. ^¹⁶

NEW TESTAMENT: JOHN 7:1 - 30

7 ¹After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. ²But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, ³Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. ⁴No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world."

⁵For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

⁶Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. ⁸ You go to the Feast. I am not yet ^A going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come." ⁹Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ¹¹Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, "Where is that man?"

¹²Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, "He is a good man."

Others replied, "No, he deceives the people." ¹³But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. ¹⁵The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"

¹⁶Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from ^¹⁷ him who sent me.

¹⁷If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"

²⁰"You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"

²¹Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."

²⁵At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? ²⁶Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ ^B? ²⁷But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from."

²⁸Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, ²⁹ but I know ^¹⁸ him because I am from him and he sent me."

³⁰At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. ^¹⁹

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

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 20 - Full Text!

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John 3:16-21