M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
24 After Saul had returned from chasing the Philistines, he was told that David had gone to the wilderness of Engedi. 2 He gathered 3,000 hardened fighting men from across Israel and sought David in the vicinity of the Rocks of Wild Goats. 3 When he came to the sheep shelters beside the road, a cave was there, and Saul went inside to relieve himself. Unguarded, he was especially vulnerable to attack.
Now Saul didn’t know it, but David and his men were hiding in the recesses of that very cave. David’s guards thought it was the perfect time to strike.
It seems as if much of the First Book of Samuel is taken up with Saul trying to kill David and David escaping; and when David catches Saul in the most vulnerable position, his men urge him to kill Saul. It would be nothing more than self-defense. Wouldn’t Saul kill David if Saul caught him with his pants down? Isn’t Saul turning over every stone in the wilderness looking for David so he can kill him?
David settles for a symbolic victory—he cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe while Saul is otherwise occupied—but then he feels ashamed. If David is supposed to be king someday, God will make that happen. But until that time, who is he to bring shame on the king whom God anointed as his ruler?
The exchange between David and Saul shows both men at their best. At times, David could be a schemer; Saul’s obsession and possible mental illness could obscure the good qualities that caused God to choose him in the first place. But in this exchange, each acknowledges the other. Saul sees that David could have killed him and chose not to; for the moment, he sees the truth about their relationship. In return Saul acknowledges what he knows in his heart to be true: David will someday be the king, and not he or his sons. And as Eli did earlier, Saul here accepts God’s plan, even though it will be the destruction of his line. Saul doesn’t always keep this understanding, and he will pursue David again. But Saul has his good—even noble—qualities, especially as his time grows short.
David’s Men: 4 This must be the very day the Eternal One told you about: “Watch! I will give your enemy to you, and you will do whatever you please with him.”
David crept forward quietly and moved in so close he was able to cut a corner from Saul’s robe. 5 But immediately afterward, David felt awful about what he had done.
David (to his men): 6 God forbid that I do any harm to my lord, the one chosen by the Eternal to rule. How could I even pretend to assault him, knowing he is the Eternal’s anointed king?
7 David reprimanded his men, refusing to allow them to attack Saul. At last Saul finished and went outside the cave.
8 David followed him at a safe distance. When Saul exited the cave, David called out.
David: My lord, the king!
Saul turned around to see David bowing low, his face touching the ground to show his respect.
David: 9 My lord, why do you listen to those who say I plan to harm you? 10 Look! Today the Eternal One placed you at my mercy in that cave. I could have done anything to you, and some said I should kill you. But I refused. I said, “I will not raise my hand against my lord, the Eternal’s anointed king.”
11 Father, do you see what I am holding in my hand? It is the corner of your robe. Recognize and understand that I have not committed evil or treason against you—that I cut this off and did not kill you. I have not wronged you, even though you are hunting me and trying to kill me.
12 May the Eternal One judge between us. If the Eternal chooses to avenge me and punish you, then let Him, but I will not take revenge against you. 13 As the old proverb says, “From the wicked flows wickedness.” But I will not harm you.
14 Whom did the king of Israel come out in pursuit of, anyway? A dead dog? A lone flea? Someone as insignificant as I am? 15 May the Eternal One judge between us. May He see who has done wrong and argue my case and uphold justice on my behalf.
16 David’s voice fell silent. Saul could hardly believe his eyes and ears.
Saul: Is that really you, David my son? (weeping loudly) 17 It’s true that you are more righteous than I am—you have repaid me with good when I handed you only evil. 18 Today you demonstrated how you dealt kindly with me by not killing me when the Eternal gave you power over me. 19 Who has ever come across his enemy in such a vulnerable position and yet allowed him to go away safely? So may the Eternal reward you richly for the good you have done for me today.
20 Now I know that you will surely be king someday, and that you will establish the kingdom of Israel. 21 So swear to me—by the Eternal One—that when that time comes, you will not destroy my descendants, and you won’t wipe my name from my family tree.
22 David swore this to Saul. Saul went home, and David and his men returned to their hideout.
5 Because of my deep love for you, I must express my concern about the report brought to me regarding the lewd and immoral behavior exhibited in your community. This scandal has come to my attention because this kind of thing is unheard of even among the outsiders around us: I understand a man is having sexual relations with his father’s wife. 2 You have turned into an arrogant lot who refuse to see the tragedy right in front of your eyes and mourn for it. If you would face these hard realities, the one living in this sin would be removed from the community.
3 Despite the fact that I am not physically present with you, I am there in spirit and already have spoken judgment against the man who has engaged in this conduct. 4 When you gather in the name of the Lord Jesus and I am present with you in spirit, and the infinite power of our Lord Jesus is present also, 5 I direct you to release this man over to Satan so his rebellious nature will be destroyed and his spirit might be rescued in the day the Lord Jesus returns.
6 Your proud boasting in this matter is terrible. Don’t you understand that the tiniest infraction can bring about an unwelcome chain of events? That just a little yeast causes all the dough to rise? 7 Get rid of all the old yeast; then you’ll become new dough, just as you are already a people without sin’s leavening influence. You see, the Anointed One is our Passover lamb; He has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let the real feast begin. Get rid of all the old yeast, the yeast of hatred and evil. Throw it out so we can feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Sexual sin is always painful, but incest decimates families and communities, and it leaves people isolated and angry. The danger for believers who understand the reality of sin is that they may lose sight of redemption and become complacent in their brokenness. In Corinth the believers have become so complacent that they are ignoring the incest in their community. The church’s reputation is beginning to suffer among outsiders.
Church discipline if properly done accomplishes two things: first, it protects the community from harm caused by the sin; second, it can lead to a restoration of the sinner to God and the community. Ignoring the sin actually makes the lives of the sinners worse. Real love confronts the sin and leads the sinners toward redemption and wholeness.
9 In the letter I wrote to you previously, I made it clear that you are not to band together with those who have embraced immoral lives. 10 Don’t misunderstand; I’m not telling you to hole up and hunker down from the rest of the world. That’s impossible. The world is filled with immoral people consumed by their desire for more; they steal from one another without hesitation and will worship man-made idols with no shame at all. If you attempted to avoid these people, you would have to leave the world itself. 11 What I was saying is that you should not associate with someone who calls himself a brother or sister but lives contrary to all we stand for: committing immoral sexual acts, consumed with desire for more, worshiping tangible lifeless things, using profanity, drinking into oblivion, swindling and cheating others. Do not even sit at the table with a person like this. 12 Why would I ever attempt to judge those outside the church? Aren’t we called to judge those within the church? 13 God judges the outsiders. Your job is this: “Expel the wicked from your own community.”[a]
The scroll Ezekiel is handed is a transcript of what he will report about Jerusalem’s fate to his fellow exiles in Babylonia. Although scrolls typically have writing on only one side (the front), the prophet sees that this scroll is covered with writing on both sides. This signals not only the overflowing anger that God harbors for His people but also the scope of the disaster that will overwhelm God’s rebellious nation.
3 The Voice (to Ezekiel): Son of man, eat what you find here—consume the scroll you see before you. Then go and preach to the people of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.
The Voice: 3 Son of man, swallow this scroll I am giving you, and let it fill your stomach.
So I ate it, and these words of God tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
The Voice: 4 Son of man, go to the people of Israel and preach My message to them. 5-6 You are not being sent to a far away nation with an unintelligible language. I am sending you to the people of Israel. But if I had sent you to foreign peoples with unintelligible languages, surely they would listen to you. 7 But the people of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they refuse to listen to Me. As I told you, the Israelites are a hard-headed, stubborn-hearted people. 8 But I have set your jaw just as tightly and furrowed your brow just as deeply as theirs. 9 I have made your head as hard as any rock. Do not be scared or intimidated by them, even though they are a rebellious lot.
10 Son of man, take to heart all the words I am speaking to you. Listen carefully to what I am saying. 11 Now go to your people, the exiles in Babylonia, and give them My message. Proclaim to them, “This is what the Eternal Lord has to say.” It doesn’t matter whether they listen to you.
12 Suddenly the Spirit picked me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me—it seemed to say, “May the glory of the Eternal One be praised in His holy place!” 13 The sound I heard was the sound made by the wings of the four living creatures brushing up against one another and the rumble made by the spinning wheels beside them. 14 The Spirit picked me up and carried me away. I was at once resentful and impassioned, but I couldn’t escape because the hold the Eternal had on me was strong.
The name Ezekiel means “God strengthens.” God makes Ezekiel strong enough to face many challenges and accomplish his mission, but his strength is no match for God’s.
15 The Spirit took me to a group of the exiles who lived by the Chebar Canal at Tel-abib. I sat there among them in a daze for seven days.
16 After those seven days of confusion, the word of the Eternal finally came to me.
Eternal One: 17 Son of man, I have appointed you a sentry for the people of Israel. Listen to what I say, then deliver My warning to them. 18 If I send this message to a wicked person—“You will die”—but then you fail to warn him or help him to reconsider his wickedness so that he may not die, then he will die as a result of his evil deeds. It will be your fault for not warning him. His blood will be on your hands. 19 But if you do forewarn a wicked person and give him My message, and yet he does not change his wicked thoughts and actions, then he will die as a result of his evil deeds. But you will have saved your own life by doing what I directed. 20 Or again, when a righteous person turns his back on righteousness and falls into evil, then I will place a stumbling block before him, and he will surely die as well. Since you haven’t alerted him, he will die for his evil ways. None of the righteous things he did will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for his death. 21 But if you do forewarn a righteous person not to give in to sin, and he does not sin, he will certainly live because he listened to your warning, and you will have saved your own life by doing what I directed.
22 There the hand of the Eternal came upon me, and His voice spoke to me:
Eternal One: Get up, and venture out to the plain near Tel-abib. I will speak to you there.
23 So I stood up and ventured out to the plain where I saw the glory of the Eternal looming there—the same glory I had seen earlier by the Chebar Canal. I was overwhelmed, so I fell down with my face on the ground. 24 The Spirit entered me, lifted me to my feet, and spoke to me.
Eternal One: Go inside your house and shut the door behind you. 25 Son of man, they will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot get out of your house and walk among your fellow exiles. 26 I will stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth so that you cannot speak to warn them because they are a rebellious lot. 27 But when I speak to you the next time, I will reopen your mouth, and you will proclaim to them, “This is what the Eternal Lord has to say.” At that point, it’s each person’s choice whether to listen. Some will listen; others will refuse because they are a rebellious lot.
Psalm 39
For the worship leader, Jeduthun.[a] A song of David.
As an individual lament, Psalm 39 grieves over the brevity of life. The superscription recalls David’s appointment of Jeduthun as one of the tabernacle’s leading musicians (1 Chronicles 16:41–42).
1 I promised, “I’ll be careful on life’s journey
not to sin with my words;
I’ll seal my lips
when wicked people are around.”
2 I kept my mouth shut;
I had nothing to say—not even anything good—
which came to grieve me more and more.
3 I felt my heart become hot inside me
as I thought on these things; a fire ignited and burned.
Then I said,
4 “Eternal One, let me understand my end
and how brief my earthly existence is;
help me realize my life is fleeting.
5 You have determined the length of my days,
and my life is nothing compared to You.
Even the longest life is only a breath.”
[pause][b]
6 In truth, each of us journeys through life like a shadow.
We busy ourselves accomplishing nothing, piling up assets we can never keep;
We can’t even know who will end up with those things.
7 In light of all this, Lord, what am I really waiting for?
You are my hope.
8 Keep me from all the wrong I would do;
don’t let the foolish laugh at me.
9 I am quiet; I keep my mouth closed
because this has come from You.
10 Take Your curse from me;
I can’t endure Your punishment.
11 You discipline us for our sins.
Like a moth, You consume everything we treasure;
it’s evident we are merely a breath.
[pause]
12 Hear me, O Eternal One;
listen to my pleading,
and don’t ignore my tears
Because I am estranged from You—
a wanderer like my fathers before me.
13 Look away from me so I might have a chance to recover my joy and smile again
before I lay this life down and am no more.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.