M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

27 But David kept thinking to himself, “Someday Saul is going to get me. I’ll try my luck among the Philistines until Saul gives up and quits hunting for me; then I will finally be safe again.”

^2-3 So David took his six hundred men and their families to live at Gath under the protection of King Achish. He had his two wives with him—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. ⁴ Word soon reached Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he quit hunting for him.

⁵ One day David said to Achish, “My lord, if it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.”

⁶ So Achish gave him Ziklag (which still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day), ⁷ and they lived there among the Philistines for a year and four months. ⁸ He and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur along the road to Egypt ever since ancient times. ⁹ They didn’t leave one person alive in the villages they hit and took for themselves the sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning to their homes.

¹⁰ “Where did you make your raid today?” Achish would ask.

And David would reply, “Against the south of Judah and the people of Jerahmeel and the Kenites.”

¹¹ No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines. ¹² Achish believed David and thought that the people of Israel must hate him bitterly by now. “Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!” the king thought.

8 Next is your question about eating food that has been sacrificed to idols. On this question everyone feels that only his answer is the right one! But although being a “know-it-all” makes us feel important, what is really needed to build the church is love. ² If anyone thinks he knows all the answers, he is just showing his ignorance. ³ But the person who truly loves God is the one who is open to God’s knowledge.

⁴ So now, what about it? Should we eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god, and that there is only one God, and no other. ⁵ According to some people, there are a great many gods, both in heaven and on earth. ⁶ But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created all things^[a] and made us to be his own; and one Lord Jesus Christ, who made everything and gives us life.

⁷ However, some Christians don’t realize this. All their lives they have been used to thinking of idols as alive, and have believed that food offered to the idols is really being offered to actual gods. So when they eat such food it bothers them and hurts their tender consciences. ⁸ Just remember that God doesn’t care whether we eat it or not. We are no worse off if we don’t eat it, and no better off if we do. ⁹ But be careful not to use your freedom to eat it, lest you cause some Christian brother to sin whose conscience^[b] is weaker than yours.

¹⁰ You see, this is what may happen: Someone who thinks it is wrong to eat this food will see you eating at a temple restaurant, for you know there is no harm in it. Then he will become bold enough to do it too, although all the time he still feels it is wrong. ¹¹ So because you “know it is all right to do it,” you will be responsible for causing great spiritual damage to a brother with a tender conscience for whom Christ died. ¹² And it is a sin against Christ to sin against your brother by encouraging him to do something he thinks is wrong. ¹³ So if eating meat offered to idols is going to make my brother sin, I’ll not eat any of it as long as I live because I don’t want to do this to him.

6 Again a message came from the Lord:

² “Son of dust, look over toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. ³ Say to them, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the message of the Lord God against you and against the rivers and valleys. I, even I the Lord, will bring war upon you to destroy your idols. ^4-7 All your cities will be smashed and burned, and the idol altars abandoned. Your gods will be shattered; the bones of their worshipers will lie scattered among the altars. Then at last you will know I am the Lord.

⁸ “‘But I will let a few of my people escape—to be scattered among the nations of the world. ⁹ Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me, for I will take away their adulterous hearts—their love of idols—and I will blind their lecherous eyes that long for other gods. Then at last they will loathe themselves for all this wickedness. ¹⁰ They will realize that I alone am God and that I wasn’t fooling when I told them that all this would happen to them.’”

¹¹ The Lord God says: “Raise your hands in horror and shake your head^[a] with deep remorse and say, ‘Alas for all the evil we have done!’ For you are going to perish from war and famine and disease. ¹² Disease will strike down those in exile; war will destroy those in the land of Israel; and any who remain will die by famine and siege. So at last I will expend my fury on you. ¹³ When your slain lie scattered among your idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and great oak where they offered incense to their gods—you will realize that I alone am God. ¹⁴ I will crush you and make your cities desolate from the wilderness in the south to Riblah in the north. Then you will know I am the Lord.”

44 ^1-2 O God, we have heard of the glorious miracles you did in the days of long ago. Our forefathers have told us how you drove the heathen nations from this land and gave it all to us, spreading Israel from one end of the country to the other. ³ They did not conquer by their own strength and skill, but by your mighty power and because you smiled upon them and favored them.

⁴ You are my King and my God. Decree victories for your people. ⁵ For it is only by your power and through your name that we tread down our enemies; ⁶ I do not trust my weapons. They could never save me. ⁷ Only you can give us the victory over those who hate us.

⁸ My constant boast is God. I can never thank you enough! ⁹ And yet for a time, O Lord, you have tossed us aside in dishonor and have not helped us in our battles. ¹⁰ You have actually fought against us and defeated us before our foes. Our enemies have invaded our land and pillaged the countryside. ¹¹ You have treated us like sheep in a slaughter pen and scattered us among the nations. ¹² You sold us for a pittance. You valued us at nothing at all. ¹³ The neighboring nations mock and laugh at us because of all the evil you have sent. ¹⁴ You have made the word Jew a byword of contempt and shame among the nations, disliked by all. ^15-16 I am constantly despised, mocked, taunted, and cursed by my vengeful enemies.

¹⁷ And all this has happened, Lord, despite our loyalty to you. We have not violated your covenant. ¹⁸ Our hearts have not deserted you! We have not left your path by a single step. ¹⁹ If we had, we could understand your punishing us in the barren wilderness and sending us into darkness and death. ²⁰ If we had turned away from worshiping our God and were worshiping idols, ²¹ would God not know it? Yes, he knows the secrets of every heart. ²² But that is not our case. For we are facing death threats constantly because of serving you! We are like sheep awaiting slaughter.

²³ Waken! Rouse yourself! Don’t sleep, O Lord! Are we cast off forever? ²⁴ Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our sorrows and oppression? ²⁵ We lie face downward in the dust. ²⁶ Rise up, O Lord, and come and help us. Save us by your constant love.