M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 27
David’s Flight to the Philistines.[a] 1 David thought to himself, “One of these days I will perish at Saul’s hands. I might as well escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul will give up hope of catching me anywhere in the territory of Israel, and I will escape out of his hand.”
2 David and his six hundred followers went over to Achish, the son of Maoch, the king of Gath. 3 David stayed with Achish at Gath. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam, the Jezreelite, and Abigail, Nabal’s wife, of Carmel. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he did not go out after him anymore.
5 David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your sight, then let me be given a place in one of your country towns to live. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” 6 That day Achish gave him Ziklag. Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah up to the present. 7 David lived in the territory of the Philistines for one year and four months.
David’s Raids. 8 David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Gezrites, and the Amalekites. (From the days of old these were the people who lived in the land running from Shur down to the land of Egypt.) 9 When David attacked a place, he did not leave a man or a woman alive. He took the sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels, and clothes, and he would then return to Achish.
10 [b]When Achish would ask, “Where have you gone raiding today,” David would say to him, “To the south of Judah, or to the south of the Jerahmeelites, or to the south of the Kenites.”
11 David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring them to Gath, for he thought they might say, “This is what David did.” He did this the whole time that he was living among the Philistines. 12 Achish trusted David saying, “He has become so utterly hateful to his people, Israel, that he will be my servant forever.”
Christians and Pagan Customs[a]
The Question of Meat Sacrificed to Idols
Chapter 8
An Idol Is Not Nothing. 1 Now concerning the question of meat that has been sacrificed to idols, we are well aware that all of us possess knowledge. However, while knowledge puffs up, love builds up. 2 Anyone who believes that his knowledge about something is complete will soon discover that his knowledge is flawed, 3 but anyone who loves God is known by him.
4 Now in regard to the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, we know that idols are nothing in the world and that there is only one God. 5 Indeed, even though there are so-called gods in heaven and on earth—and there are in fact many gods and many lords— 6 for us there is
one God, the Father,
from whom all things are
and for whom we exist,[b]
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things are
and through whom we exist.
Do Not Cause a Brother To Fall. 7 However, not everyone possesses this knowledge. There are some who have become so accustomed to idolatry up until now that when they consume meat that has been sacrificed to an idol, their conscience in its weakness is defiled.
8 Obviously, food cannot bring us closer to God. We do not lack anything if we do not eat, and we have no advantage if we do. 9 Just take care that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 If someone who regards you as knowledgeable observes you eating in an idol’s temple, will he not, burdened by a weak conscience, be influenced to eat food that has been sacrificed to idols?
11 Therefore, through your knowledge, this weak believer is brought to destruction, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 And when you sin against your brethren and wound their weak consciences, you sin against Christ. 13 Hence, if food can lead my brother to sin, I will never again eat meat lest I cause the downfall of one of my brethren.
Chapter 6
Against the Mountains of Israel. 1 This word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. 3 Say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I am going to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Your altars will be demolished and your incense stands will be shattered, and I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.
5 I will lay the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols, and I will scatter their bones all around your altars. 6 Wherever you live, your towns will be destroyed and your high places will be laid waste, your idols will be shattered and destroyed, your incense stands will be smashed, and all of the idols you have made will be obliterated. 7 As the slain will fall in your midst, you will know that I am the Lord.
8 However, among the nations I will spare some of you who will manage to escape the sword and be scattered throughout foreign lands. 9 Those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where you were carried away as captives—how I crushed their adulterous hearts for having deserted me and by their wanton eyes for lusting after idols. Then they will loathe themselves for all the evils that they have done with their abominable practices. 10 And they will know that I, the Lord, was not uttering a vain warning when I threatened to inflict this disaster upon them.
11 Thus says the Lord God: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry, “Alas!” because of all the loathsome abominations of the house of Israel, for which the people will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence. 12 Those who are far off will die of pestilence; those who are near will fall by the sword; any who survive and are spared will die of famine. Thus, I will exhaust my wrath upon them.
13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among the idols around their altars, on every high hill, on every mountaintop, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered sweet-smelling sacrifices to any of their idols. 14 I will stretch out my hand against them and reduce every place where they have settled to a desolate waste, from the desert to Riblah.[a] Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Psalm 44[a]
Past Glory and Present Need of God’s People
1 For the director.[b] A maskil of the sons of Korah.
2 [c]O God, we have heard with our ears,
our ancestors have told us,
of the deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old.
3 To establish them in the land,
you drove out the nations with your own hand;
you crushed the peoples
so that our ancestors could flourish.
4 It was not their own swords that won them the land,
nor did their own arms make them victorious;
rather, it was your right hand and your arm
and the light of your face,[d]
because you loved them.
5 You are my[e] King and my God,
who bestowed victories upon Jacob.
6 Through you we throw back our enemies;
through your name[f] we crush our assailants.
7 It is not in my bow that I trust,
nor can my sword ensure my victory.
8 It is you who saved us from our enemies;
you scattered in confusion those who hate us.
9 In God we boast the whole day long,
and we will praise your name forever. Selah
10 [g]But now you have rejected and humiliated us,
and you no longer accompany our armies.[h]
11 You have forced us to retreat[i] before the enemy;
those who hate us plunder us unceasingly.
12 You have handed us over like sheep to be slaughtered
and scattered us among the nations.
13 You have sold your people for nothing,
receiving no gain from their sale.
14 You have subjected us to the contempt of our neighbors,
to the mockery and scorn of all who are near.
15 You have made us a byword to the nations;
the peoples shake their heads[j] at us.
16 All day long I am confronted by my disgrace,
and my face is covered with shame
17 as I hear the shouts of taunting and abuse
and see the hateful enemy seeking revenge.
18 All this has happened to us
even though we have not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.[k]
19 Our hearts[l] have not turned back,
nor have our feet wandered from your path.
20 Yet you have crushed us,
forced us to live among the jackals,[m]
and covered us with darkness.
21 If we had forgotten the name[n] of our God
or lifted up our hands to a foreign god,
22 would not God have discovered it,
he who knows the secrets of the heart?
23 For your sake we are put to death all day long;
we are treated like sheep destined to be slaughtered.[o]
24 Awake, O Lord. Why[p] do you sleep?
Rise up, and do not abandon us forever.
25 Why do you hide your face[q]
and continue to ignore our misery and our sufferings?
26 We have been brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.[r]
27 Rise up and come to our aid;
redeem us for the sake of your kindness.[s]
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