M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Is Dismissed by the Philistines
29 The Philistines gathered all their armies together at Aphek, and the Israelites camped beside the spring at Jezre’el. 2 As the serens[a] of the Philistines were marching past with their units of a hundred and units of a thousand, David and his men were marching in the rear of the column with Achish.
3 The officers of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”
Achish said to the officers of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me for some time now?[b] I have found no fault in him from the day he defected, right up to today.”
4 But the officers of the Philistines were angry with him, and the officers of the Philistines said, “Make this man return to the place that you have assigned to him. He must not go down to battle with us, or else he might become an adversary against us during the battle. What better way for this man to reconcile himself to his master than with the heads of these men of ours? 5 Isn’t this David, about whom they sang to one another as they danced, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?’”
6 Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been straightforward with me. As far as I am concerned,[c] it would be good to have you accompany me[d] on this campaign, because I have not found anything wrong with you from the day you came to me right up to this day. Nevertheless, in the opinion of the serens you are a liability. 7 So now return. Go in peace, so that you do not displease the serens of the Philistines.”
8 David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I came into your presence until this day that would disqualify me from going and fighting against the enemies of my lord the king?”
9 Achish answered David, “I know that, as far as I am concerned, you are as good as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the officers of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up to the battle with us.’ 10 So get up early in the morning, along with the servants of your master who have come with you. Get up early in the morning, and leave as soon as it is light.”[e]
11 So David got up early, and he and his men left early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went up to Jezre’el.
David and the Amalekites
30 David and his men arrived at Ziklag on the third day.
In the meantime the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down. 2 They had taken the women captive, along with everyone who was there, from the least to the greatest.[f] They did not kill anyone, but they carried them off and went on their way.
3 So when David and his men came to the city, they saw that it had been burned and that their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the troops who were with him wept loudly, until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives had been taken captive, namely, Ahinoam from Jezre’el and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal from Carmel. 6 David was under a great deal of pressure because his men were talking about stoning him. The spirit of every one of them was very bitter because of their sons and daughters, but David found strength in the Lord his God.
7 David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring the special vest[g] of the priest here to me.” So Abiathar brought the special vest to David. 8 David inquired of the Lord, “Should I pursue this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?”
The Lord answered him, “Pursue! You will certainly overtake them and recover everything.”
9 So David set out with the six hundred men who were with him. When they came to the stream[h] called the Besor, the men who were unable to keep up stayed there. 10 David pursued with four hundred men, because two hundred stayed behind, so exhausted that they could not get across the ravine of the Besor.
11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink. 12 They also gave him a piece from a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. When he had eaten, he was revived. (He had eaten no bread and had drunk no water for three days and three nights.) 13 David asked him, “Whose servant are you? Where are you from?”
The young man said, “I am from Egypt, a slave to an Amalekite. My master left me behind when I became sick three days ago. 14 We made a raid on the Negev of the Kerethites, and on the territory of Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag.”
15 David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this raiding party?”
He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will bring you down to this raiding party.”
16 When he had brought David to them, there the Amalekites were, scattered all over the place! They were eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped from there, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and escaped. 18 David recovered everything that the Amalekites had taken. David also rescued his two wives. 19 There was nothing missing, from the least to the greatest, neither sons nor daughters, nor any plunder, nor anything else that they had taken with them. David brought it all back. 20 David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove ahead of the other livestock, and the men were saying, “This is David’s plunder.”
21 When David approached the two hundred men whom they had left at the Besor because they were too exhausted to follow him, they went out to meet David and the men who were with him. David came up to the men who had been left behind and wished them well, 22 but all the wicked men and worthless troublemakers among those who had accompanied David responded, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the plunder that we have recovered, except we will give every man his wife and his children, so that he can take them and leave.”
23 Then David said, “Do not act that way, my brothers, with what the Lord has given to us. He is the one who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the raiders who came against us. 24 Who can listen to this proposal of yours? No, the same share that is given to the one who goes down to the battle will be given to the one who stays with the supplies. They shall have an equal share.” 25 So from that day forward, David made this a rule and precedent for Israel that lasts to this day.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were sympathetic to him,[i] and said, “Look, here is a blessing for you from the plunder taken from the Lord’s enemies.” 27 He sent it to the elders who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, Jattir, 28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29 and Rakal; to those who were in the towns of the Jerahme’elites and the towns of the Kenites; 30 to those who were in Hormah, Borashan, and Athak; 31 to those who were in Hebron and all the other places where David himself and his men had wandered.
A Lesson From Sacred History: Be Careful Not to Fall
10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them—and that rock was Christ! 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. He had them die in the wilderness.
6 Now these things took place as examples to warn us not to desire evil things the way they did. 7 Do not become idolaters like some of them—as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to celebrate wildly.”[a] 8 And let us not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. 9 Let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and so were being destroyed by the serpents. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them grumbled, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 All[b] these things that were happening to them had meaning as examples, and they were written down to warn us, to whom the end of the ages has come.
12 So let him who thinks he stands be careful that he does not fall. 13 No testing has overtaken you except ordinary testing. But God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability, but when he tests you, he will also bring about the outcome that you are able to bear it.
The Table of the Lord and the Table of Demons
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to you as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion[c] of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion[d] of the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
18 Consider the people of Israel.[e] Those who eat the sacrifices are partners of the altar, aren’t they? 19 So what am I saying? That food from idol sacrifices is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I do say this: What the Gentiles sacrifice, “they sacrifice to demons, and not to God,”[f] and I do not want you to become partners of demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. 22 Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he is?
Live for the Good of Others and for the Glory of God
23 “Everything is permitted”[g]—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permitted”—but not everything builds up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of others. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without asking questions for the sake of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”[h] 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat whatever you are served without asking questions for the sake of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is from a sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.[i] 29 I mean the other person’s conscience, not your own. For why is my freedom judged by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I eat the food with thankfulness, why am I criticized for something for which I give thanks?
31 So whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do everything to the glory of God. 32 Do not give offense to Jews, or Greeks, or God’s church, 33 just as I also try to please all people in all things, by not seeking what is best for me but for the many, so that they may be saved.
Abominations in the Temple
8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month,[a] I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting in front of me. The hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 I looked, and there I saw a figure that looked like a man.[b] From what appeared to be his waist down, he looked like fire, and from his waist up, he had the appearance of a dazzling light, something like glowing metal.[c] 3 He reached out with what looked like a hand and seized me by a lock of hair. Then the Spirit[d] lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me to Jerusalem, while I was experiencing visions from God. He brought me to the entrance of the north gate into the inner courtyard of the Temple, where the idolatrous image of jealousy, which provokes jealousy, was located. 4 Then I looked, and there was the Glory of the God of Israel, as it was in the vision that I had seen in the middle of the river valley.
5 He said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked toward the north, and what did I see! There, north of the altar gate, was this idolatrous image of jealousy beside the entrance. 6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—what great abominations the house of Israel is practicing here, to distance themselves[e] from my sanctuary! But you will see even greater abominations.”
7 Next, he brought me to the entrance to the courtyard, and I looked and saw that there was a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and there I saw a doorway. 9 He said to me, “Go in and observe the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 When I entered, I looked around, and what did I see! Every form of creeping creature and every kind of detestable animal and all the filthy idols of the house of Israel were engraved on the wall, all around. 11 Seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel—with Ja’azaniah[f] son of Shaphan standing in the middle—were standing in front of the images, each with his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of incense was ascending. 12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each in his chamber for carved images? Listen! They are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.’”
13 Then he said to me, “You will see even greater abominations which they are practicing.”
14 Next, he brought me to the entrance of the gateway of the House of the Lord that is on the north side, and right there I saw women sitting and wailing for Tammuz.[g] 15 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these.”
16 Finally, he brought me to the inner courtyard of the House of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the vestibule and the altar, were twenty-five men, showing their backsides to the temple of the Lord with their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down to the sun in the east. 17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it too trivial for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are committing here? Do they also have to fill the land with violence, so that they provoke me more and more? They are even sticking the branch up my nose![h] 18 But I also will act in wrath. My eye will not show pity, and I will have no compassion. They will call out to my ears with a loud cry, but I will not hear them.”
Psalm 46
The King’s Reign
Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah.
According to alamoth.[a] A song.
The Earth Shaken
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who can always be found in times of trouble.
2 That is why we will not fear when the earth dissolves
and when the mountains tumble into the heart of the sea.
3 Its waters roar and foam.
The mountains quake when it rises. Interlude
A City Unshaken
4 There is a river—its streams bring joy to the city of God,
to the holy dwelling of the Most High.
5 God is in her. She will not fall.
God will help her at daybreak.
6 Nations are in turmoil. Kingdoms fall.
God raises his voice. The earth melts.
7 The Lord of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Interlude
8 Come, look at the works of the Lord.
What a wasteland he has made of the earth!
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.
He shatters the bow. He cuts up the spear.
He burns the carts[b] with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted on the earth.”
11 The Lord of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Interlude
Psalm 47
The King’s Empire
Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
Praise the Great King of All the Earth!
1 All you peoples, clap your hands!
Shout to God! Sing a loud song!
2 Yes, the Lord Most High is awesome.
He is the great King over all the earth!
3 He subdues peoples under us
and nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us.
It is the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. Interlude
5 God has ascended with a joyful shout.
The Lord goes up with the sound of the ram’s horn.
6 Make music for God! Make music!
Make music for our King! Make music!
7 For God is the King of all the earth.
Make music for him with a wise song.
8 God reigns as king over the nations.
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the peoples come together
as the people of the God of Abraham.
Yes, the shields of the earth[c] belong to God.
He is greatly exalted.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.