Tuesday 14 July 2009<!--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>
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<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1 Samuel 19:1-18<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Saul spoke to his son Jonathan and to all his servants about killing David. But Saul’s son Jonathan took great delight in David. Jonathan told David, ‘My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.’ Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, ‘The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you; for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause?’ Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, ‘As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.’ So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Again there was war, and David went out to fight the Philistines. He launched a heavy attack on them, so that they fled before him. Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music. Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Saul sent messengers to David’s house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal told him, ‘If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.’ So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped. Michal took an idol* and laid it on the bed; she put a net* of goats’ hair on its head, and covered it with the clothes. When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, ‘He is sick.’ Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, ‘Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.’ When the messengers came in, the idol* was in the bed, with the covering* of goats’ hair on its head. Saul said to Michal, ‘Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?’ Michal answered Saul, ‘He said to me, “Let me go; why should I kill you?” ’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Acts 12:1-17</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.) When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And the chains fell off his wrists. The angel said to him, ‘Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.’ He did so. Then he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’ Peter* went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she insisted that it was so. They said, ‘It is his angel.’ Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, ‘Tell this to James and to the believers.’* Then he left and went to another place.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Mark 2:1-12</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people* came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic— ‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 26, 28</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 26</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Vindicate me, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I have walked in my integrity,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Prove me, O Lord, and try me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>test my heart and mind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For your steadfast love is before my eyes,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I walk in faithfulness to you.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I do not sit with the worthless,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor do I consort with hypocrites;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hate the company of evildoers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and will not sit with the wicked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I wash my hands in innocence,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and go around your altar, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and telling all your wondrous deeds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the place where your glory abides.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not sweep me away with sinners,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor my life with the bloodthirsty,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">those in whose hands are evil devices,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and whose right hands are full of bribes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But as for me, I walk in my integrity;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>redeem me, and be gracious to me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My foot stands on level ground;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 28</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">To you, O Lord, I call;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my rock, do not refuse to hear me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for if you are silent to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hear the voice of my supplication,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as I cry to you for help,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">as I lift up my hands</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>towards your most holy sanctuary.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not drag me away with the wicked,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with those who are workers of evil,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who speak peace with their neighbours,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>while mischief is in their hearts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Repay them according to their work,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and according to the evil of their deeds;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">repay them according to the work of their hands;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>render them their due reward.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or the work of his hands,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">he will break them down and build them up no more.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blessed be the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is my strength and my shield;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in him my heart trusts;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so I am helped, and my heart exults,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and with my song I give thanks to him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is the strength of his people;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he is the saving refuge of his anointed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O save your people, and bless your heritage;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>be their shepherd, and carry them for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 36, 39</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 36</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Transgression speaks to the wicked</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>deep in their hearts;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">there is no fear of God</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>before their eyes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For they flatter themselves in their own eyes</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they have ceased to act wisely and do good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They plot mischief while on their beds;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are set on a way that is not good;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they do not reject evil.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your faithfulness to the clouds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your judgements are like the great deep;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How precious is your steadfast love, O God!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They feast on the abundance of your house,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and you give them drink from the river of your delights.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For with you is the fountain of life;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in your light we see light.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your salvation to the upright of heart!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or the hand of the wicked drive me away.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There the evildoers lie prostrate;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are thrust down, unable to rise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 39</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I said, ‘I will guard my ways</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that I may not sin with my tongue;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will keep a muzzle on my mouth</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as long as the wicked are in my presence.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was silent and still;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I held my peace to no avail;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my distress grew worse,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my heart became hot within me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While I mused, the fire burned;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>then I spoke with my tongue:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Lord, let me know my end,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and what is the measure of my days;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let me know how fleeting my life is.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have made my days a few handbreadths,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Surely everyone stands as a mere breath.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they heap up, and do not know who will gather.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My hope is in you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deliver me from all my transgressions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Do not make me the scorn of the fool.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am silent; I do not open my mouth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for it is you who have done it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Remove your stroke from me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am worn down by the blows* of your hand.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘You chastise mortals</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in punishment for sin,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">consuming like a moth what is dear to them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>surely everyone is a mere breath.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><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">‘Hear my prayer, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and give ear to my cry;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not hold your peace at my tears.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For I am your passing guest,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>an alien, like all my forebears.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>before I depart and am no more.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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