Morning Readings
The Judge in Heaven
Psalms 8:3-8
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them? [a]
5 You have made them [b] a little lower than the heavenly beings [c]
and crowned them [d] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their [e] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
Footnotes:
- Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
- Psalm 8:5 Or him
- Psalm 8:5 Or than God
- Psalm 8:5 Or him
- Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his
Psalms 9:1-14
1 I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.
7 The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.
13 LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may declare your praises
in the gates of Daughter Zion,
and there rejoice in your salvation.
Psalms 10:4-16
4 In their pride the wicked do not seek him;
in all their thoughts there is no room for God.
5 Their ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by [a] them;
they sneer at all their enemies.
6 They say to themselves, "Nothing will ever shake us."
They swear, "No one will ever do us harm."
7 Their mouths are full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under their tongues.
8 They lie in wait near the villages;
from ambush they murder the innocent.
Their eyes watch in secret for their victims;
9 like a lion in cover they lie in wait.
They lie in wait to catch the helpless;
they catch the helpless and drag them off in their nets.
10 [The innocent] are crushed, they collapse;
they fall victim to superior strength.
11 The wicked say to themselves, "God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees."
12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why do the wicked revile God?
Why do they say to themselves,
"He won't call us to account"?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arms of the wicked and the evildoers;
call them to account for their wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
Footnotes:
- Psalm 10:5 See Septuagint; Hebrew / they are haughty, and your laws are far from
Evening Readings
Money and its Dangers
1 Timothy 6:6-21
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Final Charge to Timothy
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might forever. Amen.
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Leaves for Plucking
John 8:31-32
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
If, on our daily course, our mind
Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice."
