M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samuel’s Instructions to Saul
10 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and told him this:
Hasn’t the Lord anointed you to be ruler over his inheritance?[a] 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will tell you, “The donkeys that you have been looking for have been found. Now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and is worried about the two of you. He is asking, ‘What should I do about my son?’”
3 As you go on farther from there, you will come to the oak tree at Tabor. Three men going up to God’s house at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a container of wine. 4 They will greet you, ask how you are doing, and give you two loaves of bread, which you are to accept from their hand.
5 After that, you will come to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine garrison. When you come to the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place. Musicians with a harp, a hand drum, a flute, and a lyre will be going in front of them, and they will be prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you with power, and you will prophesy with them, and you will become a changed man. 7 When you have received these signs, do whatever is appropriate for the occasion,[b] for God is with you.
8 Go down to Gilgal ahead of me. Watch for me. I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice fellowship offerings. Wait seven days, until I come to you. Then I will let you know what you are to do.
9 As Saul was turning away from Samuel to leave, God gave him a changed heart, and all those signs were fulfilled that day.
10 When they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets met Saul, and the Spirit of God came upon him with power, and he prophesied among them. 11 When everyone who had known him previously saw that Saul was prophesying along with the prophets, the people were surprised and said to each other, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets?”
12 Someone from that area responded, “Who is their father?” Therefore it became a saying: “Is even Saul among the prophets?”
13 When Saul had finished prophesying, he arrived at the high place.
14 Saul’s uncle asked Saul and his servant, “Where did you go?”
Saul said, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized that we were not succeeding, we went to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”
16 Saul said to his uncle, “He made it clear to us that the donkeys had been found.”
But Saul did not tell his uncle anything about the matter of the kingship, about which Samuel had also spoken.
17 Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. 18 He said to the people of Israel, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. 19 But today you have rejected your God, the one who saves you out of all your disasters and your distress, and you have said to him, ‘You must set a king over us.’ Now line up in the presence of the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”
20 So Samuel brought forward all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.[c] 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was chosen.[d] Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen, but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore they asked the Lord again, “Has the man arrived here yet?”
The Lord answered, “He has. Look, he is is hiding among the baggage.”
23 So they ran and brought him from there. When he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the people. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”
All the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel told the people the regulations concerning the kingship, and he wrote them on a scroll, which was placed before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each man to his own house. 26 Saul went home to Gibeah, and the army went with him, those men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But certain worthless good-for-nothings said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and brought him no gift, but Saul said nothing.
God Placed Our Judgment on Christ
8 So then, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a] 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me[b] free from the law of sin and death. 3 Indeed, what the law was unable to do, because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, when he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin.[c] God condemned sin in his flesh, 4 so that the righteous decree of the law would be fully satisfied in us who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.[d]
Living in Harmony With the Spiritual Nature
5 To be sure, those who are in harmony with the sinful flesh think about things the way the sinful flesh does, and those in harmony with the spirit think about things the way the spirit does. 6 Now, the way the sinful flesh thinks results in death, but the way the spirit thinks results in life and peace. 7 For the mind-set of the sinful flesh is hostile to God, since it does not submit to God’s law, and in fact, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the sinful flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the sinful flesh but in the spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit lives in you. And if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that person does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.
12 So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. 13 For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.
The Spirit Assures Us We Are Children of God
14 Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom[e] we call out, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.
17 Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.
Suffering Leads Us to Look Ahead to Heaven
18 For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope 21 that even creation itself will be set free from slavery to corruption, in order to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 For we know that all of creation is groaning with birth pains right up to the present time. 23 And not only creation, but also we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,[f] groan inwardly while we eagerly await our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 Indeed, it was for this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for something we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patient endurance.
26 In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we should pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that are not expressed in words. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints, according to God’s will.
28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose, 29 because those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called. Those he called, he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified.
Nothing Can Separate Us From God’s Love
31 What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?
33 Who will bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies! 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus,[g] who died and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God’s right hand and who is also interceding for us! 35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written:
For your sake we are being put to death all day long.
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.[h]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors[i] through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A Prophecy Against Philistia
47 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.
2 This is what the Lord says.
See, waters rise up out of the north,
and they will become an overflowing stream.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
the cities and those who live there.
The people will cry out,
and everyone who lives in the land will wail
3 at the sound of the stamping hoofs of his steeds,
at the rumbling of his chariots,
at the roar of his wheels.
Fathers will not turn back for their sons,
because their hands will hang limp,
4 on account of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who survives.
For the Lord will destroy the Philistines,
the surviving remnant from the shores of Caphtor.[a]
5 Baldness is coming to Gaza.
Ashkelon will be destroyed.
You survivors left on the plain,
how long will you cut yourselves?
6 O sword of the Lord!
How long until you rest?
Return to your scabbard.
Rest and be still.
7 How can you rest since the Lord has commanded this?
Against Ashkelon and against the shore of the sea,
he has assigned the sword.
Psalm 23
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Heading
A psalm by David.
The Shepherd Provides for His People
1 The Lord is my shepherd.
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
The Shepherd Protects His People
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
The Royal Host Provides for His People
5 You set a table for me in the presence of my foes.
You drench my head with oil.[a]
My cup is overflowing.
6 Surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.[b]
Psalm 24
The King of Glory
Heading
By David. A psalm.
The King of Glory Owns the Whole World
1 The earth is the Lord’s
and everything that fills it,
the world and all who live in it,
2 because he founded it on the seas,
and he established it on the rivers.[c]
The King of Glory Is Served by a Holy People
3 Who may go up to the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
whose soul is not set on what is false,
who does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God who saves him.
6 Such are the people of Jacob who look for the Lord,
who seek your face.[d] Interlude
The King of Glory Comes
7 Lift up your heads, you gates.
Lift yourselves up, you ancient doors,
and the King of Glory will come in.
8 Who is this King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates.
Lift up, you ancient doors,
and the King of Glory will come in.
10 Who is he, this King of Glory?
The Lord of Armies—he is the King of Glory. Interlude[e]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.