Bible reading for the day: 141_05-May-21_2Sa22-23_Psa572Sa 22:2 He said, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 2Sa 22:3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence. 2Sa 22:4 "I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. 2Sa 22:5 "For the waves of death encompassed me; The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me; 2Sa 22:6 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 2Sa 22:7 "In my distress I called upon the Lord, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears. 2Sa 22:8 "Then the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry. 2Sa 22:9 "Smoke went up out of His nostrils, Fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it. 2Sa 22:10 "He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet. 2Sa 22:11 "And He rode on a cherub and flew; And He appeared on the wings of the wind. 2Sa 22:12 "And He made darkness canopies around Him, A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky. 2Sa 22:13 "From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled. 2Sa 22:14 "The Lord thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice. 2Sa 22:15 "And He sent out arrows, and scattered them, Lightning, and routed them. 2Sa 22:16 "Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare By the rebuke of the Lord, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils. 2Sa 22:17 "He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. 2Sa 22:18 "He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. 2Sa 22:19 "They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support. 2Sa 22:20 "He also brought me forth into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me. 2Sa 22:21 "The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 2Sa 22:22 "For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not acted wickedly against my God. 2Sa 22:23 "For all His ordinances were before me, And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. 2Sa 22:24 "I was also blameless toward Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. 2Sa 22:25 "Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes. 2Sa 22:26 "With the kind You show Yourself kind, With the blameless You show Yourself blameless; 2Sa 22:27 With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the perverted You show Yourself astute. 2Sa 22:28 "And You save an afflicted people; But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase. 2Sa 22:29 "For You are my lamp, O Lord; And the Lord illumines my darkness. 2Sa 22:30 "For by You I can run upon a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. 2Sa 22:31 "As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. 2Sa 22:32 "For who is God, besides the Lord? And who is a rock, besides our God? 2Sa 22:33 "God is my strong fortress; And He sets the blameless in His way. 2Sa 22:34 "He makes my feet like hinds' feet, And sets me on my high places. 2Sa 22:35 "He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 2Sa 22:36 "You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your help makes me great. 2Sa 22:37 "You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped. 2Sa 22:38 "I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed. 2Sa 22:39 "And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise; And they fell under my feet. 2Sa 22:40 "For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. 2Sa 22:41 "You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me. 2Sa 22:42 "They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them. 2Sa 22:43 "Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets. 2Sa 22:44 "You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people; You have kept me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me. 2Sa 22:45 "Foreigners pretend obedience to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. 2Sa 22:46 "Foreigners lose heart, And come trembling out of their fortresses. 2Sa 22:47 "The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation, 2Sa 22:48 The God who executes vengeance for me, And brings down peoples under me, 2Sa 22:49 Who also brings me out from my enemies; You even lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man. 2Sa 22:50 "Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations, And I will sing praises to Your name. 2Sa 22:51 "He is a tower of deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever." -------- 2Sa 23:1 Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, The man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, 2Sa 23:2 "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue. 2Sa 23:3 "The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, 'He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God, 2Sa 23:4 Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, When the tender grass springs out of the earth, Through sunshine after rain.' 2Sa 23:5 "Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, Ordered in all things, and secured; For all my salvation and all my desire, Will He not indeed make it grow? 2Sa 23:6 "But the worthless, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns, Because they cannot be taken in hand; 2Sa 23:7 But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they will be completely burned with fire in their place." 2Sa 23:8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time; 2Sa 23:9 and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had withdrawn. 2Sa 23:10 He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain. 2Sa 23:11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. 2Sa 23:12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory. 2Sa 23:13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. 2Sa 23:14 David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 2Sa 23:15 David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!" 2Sa 23:16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord; 2Sa 23:17 and he said, "Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?" Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did. 2Sa 23:18 Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name as well as the three. 2Sa 23:19 He was most honored of the thirty, therefore he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the three. 2Sa 23:20 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. 2Sa 23:21 He killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 2Sa 23:22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. 2Sa 23:23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard. 2Sa 23:24 Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 2Sa 23:25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 2Sa 23:26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 2Sa 23:27 Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 2Sa 23:28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 2Sa 23:29 Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, 2Sa 23:30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, 2Sa 23:31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 2Sa 23:32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 2Sa 23:33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, 2Sa 23:34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 2Sa 23:35 Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 2Sa 23:36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 2Sa 23:37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 2Sa 23:38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 2Sa 23:39 Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all. -------- Psa 57:1 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by. Psa 57:2 I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. Psa 57:3 He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth. Psa 57:4 My soul is among lions; I must lie among those who breathe forth fire, Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows And their tongue a sharp sword. Psa 57:5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. Psa 57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They dug a pit before me; They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah. Psa 57:7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Psa 57:8 Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. Psa 57:9 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. Psa 57:10 For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens And Your truth to the clouds. Psa 57:11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.
====== TODAY ================= Day 139 -- 19 May: 2 Samuel 19-21======================= Today's Date: |