Friday 30 January 2009<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><!--StartFragment-->
<p class="MsoNormal">DAILY LECTIONARY</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Isaiah 50:1-11</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thus says the Lord:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Where is your mother’s bill of divorce</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with which I put her away?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Or which of my creditors is it</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to whom I have sold you?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No, because of your sins you were sold,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and for your transgressions your mother was put away.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why was no one there when I came?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Why did no one answer when I called?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Or have I no power to deliver?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By my rebuke I dry up the sea,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I make the rivers a desert;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">their fish stink for lack of water,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and die of thirst.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I clothe the heavens with blackness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and make sackcloth their covering.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord God has given me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the tongue of a teacher,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that I may know how to sustain</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the weary with a word.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning by morning he wakens—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>wakens my ear</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to listen as those who are taught.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord God has opened my ear,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I was not rebellious,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I did not turn backwards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I gave my back to those who struck me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I did not hide my face</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from insult and spitting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord God helps me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>therefore I have not been disgraced;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">therefore I have set my face like flint,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I know that I shall not be put to shame;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he who vindicates me is near.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who will contend with me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let us stand up together.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who are my adversaries?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let them confront me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is the Lord God who helps me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who will declare me guilty?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All of them will wear out like a garment;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the moth will eat them up.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who among you fears the Lord</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and obeys the voice of his servant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who walks in darkness</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and has no light,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">yet trusts in the name of the Lord</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and relies upon his God?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But all of you are kindlers of fire,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>lighters of firebrands.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Walk in the flame of your fire,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and among the brands that you have kindled!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is what you shall have from my hand:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you shall lie down in torment.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Galatians 3:15-22</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Brothers and sisters,* I give an example from daily life: once a person’s will* has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring;* it does not say, ‘And to offsprings’,* as of many; but it says, ‘And to your offspring’,* that is, to one person, who is Christ. My point is this: the law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring* would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ* might be given to those who believe. ******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mark 6:47-56</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When evening came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the lake. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 40, 54</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 40</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I waited patiently for the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he inclined to me and heard my cry.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He drew me up from the desolate pit,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>out of the miry bog,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and set my feet upon a rock,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>making my steps secure.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He put a new song in my mouth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a song of praise to our God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many will see and fear,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and put their trust in the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are those who make</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord their trust,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who do not turn to the proud,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to those who go astray after false gods.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have multiplied, O Lord my God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>none can compare with you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Were I to proclaim and tell of them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they would be more than can be counted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but you have given me an open ear.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Burnt-offering and sin-offering</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have not required.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then I said, ‘Here I am;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the scroll of the book it is written of me.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I delight to do your will, O my God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your law is within my heart.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have told the glad news of deliverance</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the great congregation;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">see, I have not restrained my lips,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as you know, O Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the great congregation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not, O Lord, withhold</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your mercy from me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">let your steadfast love and your faithfulness</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>keep me safe for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For evils have encompassed me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>without number;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my iniquities have overtaken me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>until I cannot see;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they are more than the hairs of my head,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my heart fails me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord, make haste to help me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let all those be put to shame and confusion</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who seek to snatch away my life;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">let those be turned back and brought to dishonour</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who desire my hurt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let those be appalled because of their shame</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who say to me, ‘Aha, Aha!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But may all who seek you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>rejoice and be glad in you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">may those who love your salvation</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>say continually, ‘Great is the Lord!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for me, I am poor and needy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the Lord takes thought for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You are my help and my deliverer;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not delay, O my God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 54</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Save me, O God, by your name,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and vindicate me by your might.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hear my prayer, O God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give ear to the words of my mouth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the insolent have risen against me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the ruthless seek my life;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they do not set God before them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But surely, God is my helper;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord is the upholder of* my life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will repay my enemies for their evil.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In your faithfulness, put an end to them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With a freewill-offering I will sacrifice to you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For he has delivered me from every trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 51</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 51</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Have mercy on me, O God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>according to your steadfast love;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">according to your abundant mercy</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>blot out my transgressions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and cleanse me from my sin.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For I know my transgressions,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my sin is ever before me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Against you, you alone, have I sinned,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and done what is evil in your sight,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so that you are justified in your sentence</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and blameless when you pass judgement.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Indeed, I was born guilty,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a sinner when my mother conceived me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You desire truth in the inward being;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let me hear joy and gladness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hide your face from my sins,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and blot out all my iniquities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Create in me a clean heart, O God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and put a new and right* spirit within me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not cast me away from your presence,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do not take your holy spirit from me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Restore to me the joy of your salvation,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and sustain in me a willing* spirit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then I will teach transgressors your ways,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and sinners will return to you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O God of my salvation,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, open my lips,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my mouth will declare your praise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For you have no delight in sacrifice;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The sacrifice acceptable to God* is a broken spirit;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">then you will delight in right sacrifices,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>then bulls will be offered on your altar.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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