Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The Daily Reading for May 4, 2016

Leviticus 26:1-20
You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no carved images or pillars, and you shall not place figured stones in your land, to worship at them; for I am the LORD your God. You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. If you follow my statutes and keep my commandments and observe them faithfully, I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land. And I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one shall make you afraid; I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword shall go through your land. You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. I will look with favor upon you and make you fruitful and multiply you; and I will maintain my covenant with you. You shall eat old grain long stored, and you shall have to clear out the old to make way for the new. I will place my dwelling in your midst, and I shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. But if you will not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant, I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down by your enemies; your foes shall rule over you, and you shall flee though no one pursues you. And if in spite of this you will not obey me, I will continue to punish you sevenfold for your sins. I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper. Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.


Ephesians 1:1-10
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.


Morning Psalms

Psalm 119:
97   Oh, how I love your law! all the day long it is in my mind.
98   Your commandment has made me wiser than my enemies, and it is always with me.
99   I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your decrees are my study.
100   I am wiser than the elders, because I observe your commandments.
101   I restrain my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your word.
102   I do not shrink from your judgments, because you yourself have taught me.
103   How sweet are your words to my taste! they are sweeter than honey to my mouth.
104   Through your commandments I gain understanding; therefore I hate every lying way.


Psalm 119:
105   Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path.
106   I have sworn and am determined to keep your righteous judgments.
107   I am deeply troubled; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word.
108   Accept, O LORD, the willing tribute of my lips, and teach me your judgments.
109   My life is always in my hand, yet I do not forget your law.
110   The wicked have set a trap for me, but I have not strayed from your commandments.
111   Your decrees are my inheritance for ever; truly, they are the joy of my heart.
112   I have applied my heart to fulfill your statutes for ever and to the end.


Psalm 119:
113   I hate those who have a divided heart, but your law do I love.
114   You are my refuge and shield; my hope is in your word.
115   Away from me, you wicked! I will keep the commandments of my God.
116   Sustain me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be disappointed in my hope.
117   Hold me up, and I shall be safe, and my delight shall be ever in your statutes.
118   You spurn all who stray from your statutes; their deceitfulness is in vain.
119   In your sight all the wicked of the earth are but dross; therefore I love your decrees.
120   My flesh trembles with dread of you; I am afraid of your judgments.


Evening Psalms

Psalm 68
1   Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him.
2   Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3   But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; let them also be merry and joyful.
4   Sing to God, sing praises to his Name; exalt him who rides upon the heavens; YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before him!
5   Father of orphans, defender of widows, God in his holy habitation!
6   God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom; but the rebels shall live in dry places.
7   O God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,
8   The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain, at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9   You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; you refreshed the land when it was weary.
10   Your people found their home in it; in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor.
11   The Lord gave the word; great was the company of women who bore the tidings:
12   Kings with their armies are fleeing away; the women at home are dividing the spoils.
13   Though you lingered among the sheepfolds, you shall be like a dove whose wings are covered with silver, whose feathers are like green gold.
14   When the Almighty scattered kings, it was like snow falling in Zalmon.
15   O mighty mountain, O hill of Bashan! O rugged mountain, O hill of Bashan!
16   Why do you look with envy, O rugged mountain, at the hill which God chose for his resting place? truly, the LORD will dwell there for ever.
17   The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands; the Lord comes in holiness from Sinai.
18   You have gone up on high and led captivity captive; you have received gifts even from your enemies, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
19   Blessed be the Lord day by day, the God of our salvation, who bears our burdens.
20   He is our God, the God of our salvation; God is the LORD, by whom we escape death.