THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - March 14 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

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.

¹ The fool ^A says in his heart,

"There is no God."

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;

there is no one who does good.

² The LORD looks down from heaven

on the sons of men

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

³ All have turned aside,

they have together become corrupt;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.

⁴ Will evildoers never learn--

those who devour my people as men eat bread

and who do not call on the LORD?

⁵ There they are, overwhelmed with dread,

for God is present in the company of the righteous.

⁶ You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,

but the LORD is their refuge.

⁷ Oh, 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

¹ We have heard with our ears, O God;

our fathers have told us

what you did in their days,

in days long ago.

² With your hand you drove out the nations

and planted our fathers;

you crushed the peoples

and made our fathers flourish.

³ It 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.

⁴ You are my King and my God,

who decrees ^B victories for Jacob.

⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;

through your name we trample our foes.

⁶ I do not trust in my bow,

my sword does not bring me victory;

⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,

you put our adversaries to shame.

⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,

and we will praise your name forever.

Selah

⁹ But now you have rejected and humbled us;

you no longer go out with our armies.

¹⁰ You made us retreat before the enemy,

and our adversaries have plundered us. ²

¹¹ You gave us up to be devoured like sheep

and have scattered us among the nations.

¹² You sold your people for a pittance,

gaining nothing from their sale.

¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,

the scorn and derision of those around us.

¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations;

the peoples shake their heads at us.

¹⁵ My disgrace is before me all day long,

and my face is covered with shame

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

because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

¹⁷ All this happened to us,

though we had not forgotten you

or been false to your covenant.

¹⁸ Our hearts had not turned back;

our feet had not strayed from your path.

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

and covered us over with deep darkness.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

²¹ would not God have discovered it,

since he knows the secrets of the heart?

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

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³ Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep?

Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. ³

²⁴ Why do you hide your face

and forget our misery and oppression?

²⁵ We are brought down to the dust;

our bodies cling to the ground.

²⁶ Rise up and help us;

redeem us because of your unfailing love. ⁴

PSALMS: 74

A maskil ^A of Asaph.

¹ Why have you rejected us forever, O God?

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

² Remember the people you purchased of old,

the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed--

Mount Zion, where you dwelt.

³ Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,

all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

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

they set up their standards as signs.

⁵ They behaved like men wielding axes

to cut through a thicket of trees.

⁶ They smashed all the carved paneling

with their axes and hatchets.

⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground;

they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.

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

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

⁹ We are given no miraculous signs;

no prophets are left,

and none of us knows how long this will be.

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

Will the foe revile your name forever?

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

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

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

you bring salvation upon the earth. ⁵

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

you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.

¹⁴ It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan

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

¹⁵ It was you who opened up springs and streams;

you dried up the ever flowing rivers.

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

you established the sun and moon.

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

you made both summer and winter.

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

how foolish people have reviled your name.

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

do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.

²⁰ Have regard for your covenant,

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

²¹ Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;

may the poor and needy praise your name.

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

remember how fools mock you all day long.

²³ Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,

the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually. ⁶

PSALMS: 104

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul.

O LORD my God, you are very great;

you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

² He wraps himself in light as with a garment;

he stretches out the heavens like a tent

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

He makes the clouds his chariot

and rides on the wings of the wind.

⁴ He makes winds his messengers, ^A

flames of fire his servants.

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations;

it can never be moved.

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

the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷ But at your rebuke the waters fled,

at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

⁸ they flowed over the mountains,

they went down into the valleys,

to the place you assigned for them.

⁹ You set a boundary they cannot cross;

never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰ He makes springs pour water into the ravines;

it flows between the mountains.

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

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹² The birds of the air nest by the waters;

they sing among the branches.

¹³ He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;

the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

¹⁴ He makes grass grow for the cattle,

and plants for man to cultivate--

bringing forth food from the earth: ⁷

¹⁵ wine that gladdens the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine,

and bread that sustains his heart.

¹⁶ The trees of the LORD are well watered,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷ There the birds make their nests;

the stork has its home in the pine trees.

¹⁸ The high mountains belong to the wild goats;

the crags are a refuge for the coneys. ^B

¹⁹ The moon marks off the seasons,

and the sun knows when to go down.

²⁰ You bring darkness, it becomes night,

and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

²¹ The lions roar for their prey

and seek their food from God.

²² The sun rises, and they steal away;

they return and lie down in their dens.

²³ Then man goes out to his work,

to his labor until evening.

²⁴ How many are your works, O LORD!

In wisdom you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious,

teeming with creatures beyond number--

living things both large and small.

²⁶ There the ships go to and fro,

and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. ⁸

²⁷ These all look to you

to give them their food at the proper time.

²⁸ When you give it to them,

they gather it up;

when you open your hand,

they are satisfied with good things.

²⁹ When you hide your face,

they are terrified;

when you take away their breath,

they die and return to the dust.

³⁰ When you send your Spirit,

they are created,

and you renew the face of the earth.

³¹ May the glory of the LORD endure forever;

may the LORD rejoice in his works--

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

who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I 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.

³⁵ But 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.

¹ Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD

who minister by night in the house of the LORD.

² Lift up your hands in the sanctuary

and praise the LORD.

³ May 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.

² He whose walk is upright fears the LORD,

but he whose ways are devious despises him.

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

but the lips of the wise protect them.

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

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

⁵ A truthful witness does not deceive,

but a false witness pours out lies.

⁶ The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,

but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

⁷ Stay away from a foolish man,

for you will not find knowledge on his lips.

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

but the folly of fools is deception.

⁹ Fools mock at making amends for sin,

but goodwill is found among the upright.

¹⁰ Each heart knows its own bitterness,

and no one else can share its joy.

¹¹ The house of the wicked will be destroyed,

but the tent of the upright will flourish. ¹¹

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

but in the end it leads to death.

¹³ Even in laughter the heart may ache,

and joy may end in grief.

¹⁴ The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways,

and the good man rewarded for his.

¹⁵ A simple man believes anything,

but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.

¹⁶ A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil,

but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

¹⁷ A quick-tempered man does foolish things,

and a crafty man is hated.

¹⁸ The simple inherit folly,

but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

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

and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰ The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,

but the rich have many friends.

²¹ He who despises his neighbor sins,

but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

²² Do not those who plot evil go astray?

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

²³ All hard work brings a profit,

but mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴ The wealth of the wise is their crown,

but the folly of fools yields folly.

²⁵ A truthful witness saves lives,

but a false witness is deceitful.

²⁶ He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress,

and for his children it will be a refuge.

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

turning a man from the snares of death.

²⁸ A large population is a king's glory,

but without subjects a prince is ruined.

²⁹ A patient man has great understanding,

but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

³⁰ A heart at peace gives life to the body,

but envy rots the bones.

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

but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

³² When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down,

but even in death the righteous have a refuge.

³³ Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning

and even among fools she lets herself be known. B ¹³

³⁴ Righteousness exalts a nation,

but sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵ A king delights in a wise servant,

but a shameful servant incurs his wrath. ¹⁴

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

¹⁴ Sheba 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. ¹⁵ All 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, ¹⁶ a wise woman called from the city, "Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him." ¹⁷ He 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.

¹⁸ She continued, "Long ago they used to say, `Get your answer at Abel,' and that settled it. ¹⁹ We 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!

²¹ That 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."

²² Then 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 23}Joab was over Israel's entire army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; ²⁴ Adoniram ^B was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; ²⁵ Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ²⁶ and Ira the Jairite was David's priest.

21 ¹ During 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."

² The 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.)

³ David asked the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you will bless the LORD's inheritance?"

⁴ The 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.

⁵ They 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, ⁶ let 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."

⁷ The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul. ⁸ But 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. ⁹ He 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.

¹⁰ Rizpah 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.

¹¹ When David was told what Aiah's daughter Rizpah, Saul's concubine, had done,

¹² he 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.) ¹³ David 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.

¹⁴ They 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.

¹⁵ Once 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. ¹⁶ And 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.

¹⁷ But 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."

¹⁸ In 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.

¹⁹ In 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.

²⁰ In 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. ²¹ When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David's brother, killed him.

²² These 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 ¹ In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach ² until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³ After 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. ⁴ On 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."

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

⁷ He 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."

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

¹⁰ They 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."

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk ^B from the city. ¹³ When 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. ¹⁴ They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the believers ^C (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) ¹⁶ and 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—¹⁷ he 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. ¹⁹ Everyone 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}

²¹ Therefore 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, ²² beginning 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."

²³ So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen ²⁵ to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." ²⁶ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles. ²¹

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

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 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