Wednesday 21 July 2021 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wednesday 21 July 2021 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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1 Samuel 25:23-44

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, and
fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground. She fell at his
feet and said, ‘Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let
your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant.
My lord, do not take seriously this ill-natured fellow Nabal; for as
his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but
I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 
‘Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live,
since the Lord has restrained you from blood-guilt and from taking
vengeance with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek
to do evil to my lord be like Nabal. And now let this present that
your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who
follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant; for the
Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is
fighting the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you
as long as you live. If anyone should rise up to pursue you and to
seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of
the living under the care of the Lord your God; but the lives of your
enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. When the
Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken
concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord
shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed
blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the Lord has
dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.’ 
David said to Abigail, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who
sent you to meet me today! Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be
you, who have kept me today from blood-guilt and from avenging myself
by my own hand! For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who
has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to
meet me, truly by morning there would not have been left to Nabal as
much as one male.’ Then David received from her hand what she had
brought him; he said to her, ‘Go up to your house in peace; see, I
have heeded your voice, and I have granted your petition.’ 
Abigail came to Nabal; he was holding a feast in his house, like the
feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very
drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light. In the
morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these
things, and his heart died within him; he became like a stone. About
ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. 
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ‘Blessed be the Lord
who has judged the case of Nabal’s insult to me, and has kept back
his servant from evil; the Lord has returned the evildoing of Nabal
upon his own head.’ Then David sent and wooed Abigail, to make her
his wife. When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said
to her, ‘David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.’
She rose and bowed down, with her face to the ground, and said,
‘Your servant is a slave to wash the feet of the servants of my
lord.’ Abigail got up hurriedly and rode away on a donkey; her five
maids attended her. She went after the messengers of David and became
his wife. 
David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel; both of them became his wives.
Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of
Laish, who was from Gallim. 
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Acts 14:19-28

But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds.
Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that
he was dead. But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went
into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 
After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many
disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch.
There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them
to continue in the faith, saying, ‘It is through many persecutions
that we must enter the kingdom of God.’ And after they had appointed
elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted
them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. 
Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had
spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they
sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of
God for the work that they had completed. When they arrived, they
called the church together and related all that God had done with
them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. And they
stayed there with the disciples for some time.
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Mark 4:35-41

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go
across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took
him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat
was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the
cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not
care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and
said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and
there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have
you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to
one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey
him?’ 
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 119:49-72

Psalm 119:49-72

Remember your word to your servant,
   in which you have made me hope. 
This is my comfort in my distress,
   that your promise gives me life. 
The arrogant utterly deride me,
   but I do not turn away from your law. 
When I think of your ordinances from of old,
   I take comfort, O Lord. 
Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
   those who forsake your law. 
Your statutes have been my songs
   wherever I make my home. 
I remember your name in the night, O Lord,
   and keep your law. 
This blessing has fallen to me,
   for I have kept your precepts. 

The Lord is my portion;
   I promise to keep your words. 
I implore your favour with all my heart;
   be gracious to me according to your promise. 
When I think of your ways,
   I turn my feet to your decrees; 
I hurry and do not delay
   to keep your commandments. 
Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
   I do not forget your law. 
At midnight I rise to praise you,
   because of your righteous ordinances. 
I am a companion of all who fear you,
   of those who keep your precepts. 
The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;
   teach me your statutes. 

You have dealt well with your servant,
   O Lord, according to your word. 
Teach me good judgement and knowledge,
   for I believe in your commandments. 
Before I was humbled I went astray,
   but now I keep your word. 
You are good and do good;
   teach me your statutes. 
The arrogant smear me with lies,
   but with my whole heart I keep your precepts. 
Their hearts are fat and gross,
   but I delight in your law. 
It is good for me that I was humbled,
   so that I might learn your statutes. 
The law of your mouth is better to me
   than thousands of gold and silver pieces. 
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 49, 53

Psalm 49

Hear this, all you peoples;
   give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 
both low and high,
   rich and poor together. 
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
   the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. 
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
   I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp. 

Why should I fear in times of trouble,
   when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me, 
those who trust in their wealth
   and boast of the abundance of their riches? 
Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life,
   there is no price one can give to God for it. 
For the ransom of life is costly,
   and can never suffice, 
that one should live on for ever
   and never see the grave. 

When we look at the wise, they die;
   fool and dolt perish together
   and leave their wealth to others. 
Their graves are their homes for ever,
   their dwelling-places to all generations,
   though they named lands their own. 
Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
   they are like the animals that perish. 

Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
   the end of those who are pleased with their lot.
          Selah 
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
   Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,
   and their form shall waste away;
   Sheol shall be their home. 
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
   for he will receive me.
          Selah 

Do not be afraid when some become rich,
   when the wealth of their houses increases. 
For when they die they will carry nothing away;
   their wealth will not go down after them. 
Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy
   —for you are praised when you do well for yourself— 
they will go to the company of their ancestors,
   who will never again see the light. 
Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
   they are like the animals that perish.

Psalm 53

Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’
   They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts;
   there is no one who does good. 

God looks down from heaven on humankind
   to see if there are any who are wise,
   who seek after God. 

They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse;
   there is no one who does good,
   no, not one. 

Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,
   who eat up my people as they eat bread,
   and do not call upon God? 

There they shall be in great terror,
   in terror such as has not been.
For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;
   they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them. 

O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
   When God restores the fortunes of his people,
   Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad. 
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