THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 27 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

FEBRUARY 27

PSALMS: 27, 57, 87, 117, 147

PROVERBS: 27

OLD TESTAMENT: 1 SAMUEL 24:1 - 25:44

NEW TESTAMENT: JOHN 10:22 - 42

Psalms 27

Of David.

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation--

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life--

of whom shall I be afraid?

² When evil men advance against me

to devour my flesh, ^A

when my enemies and my foes attack me,

they will stumble and fall.

³ Though an army besiege me,

my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

even then will I be confident.

⁴ One thing I ask of the LORD,

this is what I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD

and to seek him in his temple.

⁵ For in the day of trouble

he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle

and set me high upon a rock.

⁶ Then my head will be exalted

above the enemies who surround me;

at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make music to the LORD. ¹

⁷ Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;

be merciful to me and answer me.

⁸ My heart says of you, "Seek his ^B face!"

Your face, LORD, I will seek.

⁹ Do not hide your face from me,

do not turn your servant away in anger;

you have been my helper.

Do not reject me or forsake me,

O God my Savior.

¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,

the LORD will receive me.

¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD;

lead me in a straight path

because of my oppressors.

¹² Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,

for false witnesses rise up against me,

breathing out violence.

¹³ I am still confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the LORD.

PSALMS: 57

¹ Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,

for in you my soul takes refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings

until the disaster has passed.

² I cry out to God Most High,

to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

³ He sends from heaven and saves me,

rebuking those who hotly pursue me;

Selah

God sends his love and his faithfulness.

⁴ I am in the midst of lions;

I lie among ravenous beasts--

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

let your glory be over all the earth.

⁶ They spread a net for my feet--

I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path--

but they have fallen into it themselves.

Selah ²

⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and make music.

⁸ Awake, my soul!

Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

⁹ I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;

I will sing of you among the peoples.

¹⁰ For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

let your glory be over all the earth. ³

PSALMS: 87

Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.

¹ He has set his foundation on the holy mountain;

² the LORD loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

³ Glorious things are said of you,

O city of God:

Selah

⁴ "I will record Rahab ^A and Babylon

among those who acknowledge me--

Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush ^B--

and will say, `This ^C one was born in Zion.'"

⁵ Indeed, of Zion it will be said,

"This one and that one were born in her,

and the Most High himself will establish her."

⁶ The LORD will write in the register of the peoples:

"This one was born in Zion."

Selah

⁷ As they make music they will sing,

"All my fountains are in you." ⁴

PSALMS: 117

¹ Praise the LORD, all you nations;

extol him, all you peoples.

² For great is his love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.

Praise the LORD. ^{A 5}

PSALMS: 147

¹ Praise the LORD. ^A

How good it is to sing praises to our God,

how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

² The LORD builds up Jerusalem;

he gathers the exiles of Israel.

³ He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

⁴ He determines the number of the stars

and calls them each by name.

⁵ Great is our Lord and mighty in power;

his understanding has no limit.

⁶ The LORD sustains the humble

but casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷ Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;

make music to our God on the harp.

⁸ He covers the sky with clouds;

he supplies the earth with rain

and makes grass grow on the hills.

⁹ He provides food for the cattle

and for the young ravens when they call.

¹⁰ His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,

nor his delight in the legs of a man;

¹¹ the LORD delights in those who fear him,

who put their hope in his unfailing love. ⁶

¹² Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem;

praise your God, O Zion,

¹³ for he strengthens the bars of your gates

and blesses your people within you.

¹⁴ He grants peace to your borders

and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

¹⁵ He sends his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

¹⁶ He spreads the snow like wool

and scatters the frost like ashes.

¹⁷ He hurls down his hail like pebbles.

Who can withstand his icy blast?

¹⁸ He sends his word and melts them;

he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

¹⁹ He has revealed his word to Jacob,

his laws and decrees to Israel.

²⁰ He has done this for no other nation;

they do not know his laws.

Praise the LORD. ⁷

PROVERBS: 27

27 ¹ Do not boast about tomorrow,

for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

² Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

someone else, and not your own lips.

³ Stone is heavy and sand a burden,

but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.

⁴ Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,

but who can stand before jealousy?

⁵ Better is open rebuke

than hidden love.

⁶ Wounds from a friend can be trusted,

but an enemy multiplies kisses.

⁷ He who is full loathes honey,

but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

⁸ Like a bird that strays from its nest

is a man who strays from his home.

⁹ Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,

and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.

¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father,

and do not go to your brother's house when disaster strikes you--

better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

¹¹ Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;

then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt. ⁸

¹² The prudent see danger and take refuge,

but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

¹³ Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;

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

¹⁴ If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning,

it will be taken as a curse.

¹⁵ A quarrelsome wife is like

a constant dripping on a rainy day;

¹⁶ restraining her is like restraining the wind

or grasping oil with the hand.

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,

so one man sharpens another.

¹⁸ He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,

and he who looks after his master will be honored.

¹⁹ As water reflects a face,

so a man's heart reflects the man.

²⁰ Death and Destruction ^A are never satisfied,

and neither are the eyes of man.

²¹ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,

but man is tested by the praise he receives.

²² Though you grind a fool in a mortar,

grinding him like grain with a pestle,

you will not remove his folly from him. ⁹

²³ Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,

give careful attention to your herds;

²⁴ for riches do not endure forever,

and a crown is not secure for all generations.

²⁵ When the hay is removed and new growth appears

and the grass from the hills is gathered in,

²⁶ the lambs will provide you with clothing,

and the goats with the price of a field.

²⁷ You will have plenty of goats' milk

to feed you and your family

and to nourish your servant girls. ¹⁰

OLD TESTAMENT: 1 SAMUEL 24:1 - 25:44

24 ¹ After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, "David is in the Desert of En Gedi." ² So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

³ He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. ⁴ The men said, "This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said ^A to you, `I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'" Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

⁵ Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe.

⁶ He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD."

⁷ With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

⁸ Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. ⁹ He said to Saul, "Why do you listen when men say, `David is bent on harming you'? <sup>10</sup> This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, `I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the LORD's anointed.' ¹¹ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but ¹¹ did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. ¹² May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. ¹³ As the old saying goes, `From evildoers come evil deeds,' so my hand will not touch you.

¹⁴ "Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? ¹⁵ May the LORD be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand."

¹⁶ When David finished saying this, Saul asked, "Is that your voice, David my son?" And he wept aloud. ¹⁷ "You are more righteous than I," he said. "You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. ¹⁸ You have just now told me of the good you did to me; the LORD delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. ¹⁹ When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today. ²⁰ I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. ²¹ Now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father's family."

²² So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold. ¹²

25 ¹ Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah.

Then David moved down into the Desert of Maon. ^{A 2} A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. ³ His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.

⁴ While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. ⁵ So he sent ten young men and said to them, "Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. ⁶ Say to him: `Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!

⁷ "`Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. ⁸ Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my young men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.'"

⁹ When David's men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David's name. Then they waited.

¹⁰ Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. ¹¹Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?"

¹² David's men turned around and went back. When they arrived, ¹³ they reported every word. ¹³ David said to his men, "Put on your swords!" So they put on their swords, and David put on his. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴ One of the servants told Nabal's wife Abigail: "David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. ¹⁵ Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. ¹⁶ Night and day they were a wall around us all the time we were herding our sheep near them. ¹⁷ Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him."

¹⁸ Abigail lost no time. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs ^B of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she told her servants, "Go on ahead; I'll follow you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. ²¹ David had just said, "It's been useless--all my watching over this fellow's property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. ²² May God deal with David, ^C be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!" ¹⁴

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said: "My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. ²⁵ May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name--his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent.

²⁶ "Now since the LORD has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. ²⁷ And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you.

²⁸ Please forgive your servant's offense, for the LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the LORD's battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹ Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. ³⁰ When the LORD has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel, ³¹ my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD has brought my master success, remember your servant."

³² David said to Abigail, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. ³³ May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day ¹⁵ and from avenging myself with my own hands. ³⁴ Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak."

³⁵ Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, "Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request."

³⁶ When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until daybreak.

³⁷ Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Praise be to the LORD, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal's wrongdoing down on his own head."

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. ⁴⁰ His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, "David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife."

⁴¹ She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, "Here is your maidservant, ready to serve you and wash the feet of my master's servants." ⁴² Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five maids, went with David's messengers and became his wife. ⁴³ David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives.

⁴⁴ But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's ¹⁶ wife, to Paltiel ^D son of Laish, who was from Gallim. ¹⁷

NEW TESTAMENT: JOHN 10:22 - 42

²² Then came the Feast of Dedication ^B at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. ²⁴ The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, ^C tell us plainly."

²⁵ Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.

²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ^D; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one."

³¹ Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, ³² but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"

³³ "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

³⁴ Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, `I have said you are gods' ^E?

³⁵ If he called them `gods,' to whom the word of God came--and the Scripture cannot be broken— <sup>36</sup> what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, `I am God's Son'? ³⁷ Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. ³⁸ But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." ³⁹ Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where ¹⁸ John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed ⁴¹ and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." ⁴² And in that place many believed in Jesus. 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

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

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

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

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