Midday Devotion

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
¹ Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
² O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
³ But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.
⁴ Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
⁵ Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.
⁶ There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”
⁷ You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
⁸ In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (ESV)

¹ Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
² Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise?
³ Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!
⁴ Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them,
⁵ that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.
⁶ Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
⁷ Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
⁸ Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
¹⁰ So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
¹¹ And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.
¹² Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.
¹³ But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.
¹⁴ But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert;
¹⁵ he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.
¹⁶ When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,
¹⁷ the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
¹⁸ Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
¹⁹ They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image.
²⁰ They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
²² wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
²³ Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise.
²⁵ They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD.
²⁶ Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
²⁷ and would make their offspring fall among the nations, scattering them among the lands.
²⁸ Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
²⁹ they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed.
³¹ And that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever.
³² They angered him at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account,
³³ for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips.
³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,
³⁵ but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did.
³⁶ They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons;
³⁸ they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.
³⁹ Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.
⁴⁰ Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage;
⁴¹ he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity.
⁴⁴ Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry.
⁴⁵ For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
⁴⁶ He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive.
⁴⁷ Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
⁴⁸ Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD! (ESV)

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
⁶ If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (ESV)

¹ The LORD said to Moses,
² “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.
³ And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze,
⁴ blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair,
⁵ tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood,
⁶ oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense,
⁷ onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.
⁸ And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.
⁹ Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
¹⁰ “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.
¹¹ You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it.
¹² You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.
¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
¹⁴ And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them.
¹⁵ The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.
¹⁶ And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you.
¹⁷ “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.
¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat.
¹⁹ Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends.
²⁰ The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.
²¹ And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you.
²² There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. (ESV)

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
¹⁸ And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,
¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.
²⁰ And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
²² When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?
²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
²⁷ After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
²⁸ And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
³⁰ And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
³³ And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”
³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
³⁵ The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”
³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” (ESV)

¹ “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it,
² you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there.
³ And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’
⁴ Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.
⁵ “And you shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
⁶ And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor.
⁷ Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
⁸ And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders.
⁹ And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
¹⁰ And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God.
¹¹ And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.
¹² “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled,
¹³ then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.
¹⁴ I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me.
¹⁵ Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
¹⁶ “This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.
¹⁷ You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice.
¹⁸ And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments,
¹⁹ and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.”

¹ Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today.
² And on the day you cross over the Jordan to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster.
³ And you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
⁴ And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster.
⁵ And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them;
⁶ you shall build an altar to the LORD your God of uncut stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God,
⁷ and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God.
⁸ And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”
⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of the LORD your God.
¹⁰ You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.”
¹¹ That day Moses charged the people, saying,
¹² “When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.
¹³ And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
¹⁴ And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice:
¹⁵ “‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
¹⁶ “‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
¹⁷ “‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
¹⁸ “‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
¹⁹ “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
²⁰ “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
²¹ “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
²² “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
²³ “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
²⁴ “‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
²⁵ “‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
²⁶ “‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹ “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
² And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
³ Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
⁴ Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.
⁵ Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
⁶ Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
⁷ “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
⁸ The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
⁹ The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.
¹⁰ And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.
¹¹ And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
¹² The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
¹³ And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,
¹⁴ and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. (ESV)

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.
¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.
¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;
¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
¹⁷ Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,
²¹ nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
²² And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
²³ And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.
²⁴ For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
²⁵ But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
²⁶ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.
²⁷ They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
²⁸ Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
²⁹ but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—
³⁰ so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
³¹ On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.
³² Remember Lot’s wife.
³³ Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.
³⁵ There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”
³⁷ And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” (ESV)

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
¹ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.
⁶ The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
⁸ Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah (ESV)