Monday, May 9, 2022

The Daily Bible Readings for Tuesday, May 10, 2022

 

The Daily Bible Readings
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Psalm 100; Ezekiel 45:1-9; Acts 9:32-35
with commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Today’s Verse of the Day:
Matthew 18:15

If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
Nathan used a story that reminded David of his youth to break through the king’s resistance and bring him to a place of repentance (2 Sam. 12:4). We must correct others in love with the hope of restoring them; and a prayer-bathed, Spirit-led approach will accomplish far more than our self-righteous arguments ever can (Matt. 18:15; 2 Cor. 7:9, 10).

Today’s Lectionary Readings:
From the Psalter
Psalm 100
We are God’s Sheep


1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2    Worship the Lord with gladness;
     come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
     It is he who made us, and we are his;
     we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
     and his courts with praise;
     give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
     his faithfulness continues through all generations.


Commentary
An exhortation to praise God, and rejoice in him.

This song of praise should be considered as a prophecy, and even used as a prayer, for the coming of that time when all people shall know that the Lord he is God, and shall become his worshipers, and the sheep of his pasture. Great encouragement is given us, in worshiping God, to do it cheerfully. If, when we strayed like wandering sheep, he has brought us again to his fold, we have indeed abundant cause to bless his name. The matter of praise, and the motives to it, are very important. Know ye what God is in himself, and what he is to you. Know it; consider and apply it, then you will be more close and constant, more inward and serious, in his worship. The covenant of grace set down in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, with so many rich promises, to strengthen the faith of every weak believer, makes the matter of God's praise and of his people's joys so sure, that how sad soever our spirits may be when we look to ourselves, yet we shall have reason to praise the Lord when we look to his goodness and mercy, and to what he has said in his word for our comfort.

From the Prophetic Books of Major Prophets
Ezekiel 45:1-9
God Promises a Sanctuary


45:1 “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide; the entire area will be holy. 2 Of this, a section 500 cubits square is to be for the sanctuary, with 50 cubits around it for open land. 3 In the sacred district, measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. In it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 An area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide will belong to the Levites, who serve in the temple, as their possession for towns to live in.

6 “‘You are to give the city as its property an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.

7 “‘The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city. It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side, running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions. 8 This land will be his possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the people of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes.

9 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Commentary
God Promises a Sanctuary.

In the period here foretold, the worship and the ministers of God will be provided for; the princes will rule with justice, as holding their power under Christ; the people will live in peace, ease, and godliness. These things seem to be represented in language taken from the customs of the times in which the prophet wrote. Christ is our Passover that is sacrificed for us: we celebrate the memorial of that sacrifice, and feast upon it, triumphing in our deliverance out of the Egyptian slavery of sin, and our preservation from the destroying sword of Divine justice, in the Lord's supper, which is our passover feast; as the whole Christian life is, and must be, the feast of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.


From the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 9:32-35
The Healing of Paralyzed Aeneas


9:32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Commentary
Cure of Eneas.

Christians are saints, or holy people; not only the eminent ones, as Saint Peter and Saint Paul, but every sincere professor of the faith of Christ. Christ chose patients whose diseases were incurable in the course of nature, to show how desperate was the case of fallen mankind. When we were wholly without strength, as this poor man, he sent his word to heal us. Peter does not pretend to heal by any power of his own, but directs Eneas to look up to Christ for help. Let none say, that because it is Christ, who, by the power of his grace, works all our works in us, therefore we have no work, no duty to do; for though Jesus Christ makes thee whole, yet thou must arise, and use the power he gives thee.



Today’s Lectionary Readings are selected from the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, a three-year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2022, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2021 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org. The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible.

The Morning Prayer for Tuesday, May 10, 2022

 

The Morning Prayer
Tuesday, May 10, 2022


Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!
Psalm 14:7, NIV


Lord our God, our Father in heaven, bless us who have become united in our hope in you and in our expectation of your help on this earth, where people live in all kinds of foolish ways. Bless your Word within us. Grant us your Holy Spirit to restore life and gladness to our hearts, even in grief and suffering. Grant this not only in the distress of the whole world, but also in our own lives as long as we remain on this earth. Let signs be seen on every hand that you help us and give us a strength we can rely on. You help us in all circumstances every day, every year, ever anew. For this we thank you and praise your name. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Tuesday, May 10, 2022

 

Verse of the Day
Tuesday, May 10, 2022


Matthew 18:15
If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
Nathan used a story that reminded David of his youth to break through the king’s resistance and bring him to a place of repentance (2 Sam. 12:4). We must correct others in love with the hope of restoring them; and a prayer-bathed, Spirit-led approach will accomplish far more than our self-righteous arguments ever can (Matt. 18:15; 2 Cor. 7:9, 10).

Read the Full Chapter



Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Our Daily Bread — Engraved Grief

 

Engraved Grief

Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, . . . inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! Job 19:23–24

READ Job 19:19–27



After receiving the devastating diagnosis of a rare and incurable brain cancer, Caroline found renewed hope and purpose through providing a unique service: volunteering photography services for critically ill children and their families. Through this service, families could capture the precious moments shared with their children, both in grief and “the moments of grace and beauty we assume don’t exist in those desperate places.” She observed that “in the hardest moments imaginable, those families . . . choose to love, despite and because of it all.”

There’s something unspeakably powerful about capturing the truth of grief—both the devastating reality of it and the ways in which we experience beauty and hope in the midst of it.

Much of the book of Job is like a photograph of grief—capturing honestly Job’s journey through devastating loss (1:18–19). After sitting with Job for several days, his friends wearied of his grief, resorting to minimizing it or explaining it away as God’s judgment. But Job would have none of it, insisting that what he was going through mattered, and wishing that the testimony of his experience would be “engraved in rock forever!” (19:24).

Through the book of Job, it was “engraved”—in a way that points us in our grief to the living God (vv. 26–27), who meets us in our pain, carrying us through death into resurrection life.

By Monica La Rose
REFLECT & PRAY


How can facing pain honestly bring healing? When have you experienced unexpected grace and beauty within great grief?

Compassionate God, help me to witness honestly to those who are experiencing pain and offer the hope You provide.

Read Out of the Ashes: God’s Presence in Job’s Pain.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Who was Job? We can glean from his writings that he was well-traveled and could draw on extensive experience and knowledge. He was no doubt knowledgeable of the constellations (9:9; 38:31), plants (8:11–19), weather and precipitation, and various animals (chs. 39–41) mentioned in the book.

Scholars can’t pinpoint the exact time the book was written. Yet Job has a patriarchal setting, which has led some to suggest a date as early as the time of Abraham. But Job also alludes to (or quotes) Scripture (Job 7:17–18 [Psalm 8:4]; 12:21, 24 [Psalm 107:40]), which suggests that the writer had access to these writings and therefore would indicate a much later date. The book’s setting is the land of Uz, which scholars say is probably ancient Edom or Aram/Syria (Job 1:1). Uz was near a desert (v. 19) and the land was suitable for raising livestock (v. 3).

Alyson Kieda