M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord’s Messianic Covenant With David
7 It happened that when the king was living in his palace, and when the Lord had given him rest from his enemies all around, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God sits under tent curtains.”
3 Nathan said to the king, “Go and do everything that is in your heart, because the Lord is with you.”
4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan. He said, 5 “Go and tell my servant David all these things.”
The Covenant
This is what the Lord says. Are you the one to build a house for me to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house from the day I brought the people of Israel up from Egypt until today. I have been moving around in the Tent and the Dwelling. 7 I have traveled everywhere with all the people of Israel. Did I ever speak a word to any of the judges[a] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, or ask them, “Why have you not built a house of cedar for me?”
8 You are also to say the following to my servant David.
This is what the Lord of Armies says. I took you from the pasture, from following sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you went. I have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make your reputation great, like that of the great ones on the earth. 10 I will set up a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them there. They will dwell there, and they will not be disturbed again. Violent men will not afflict them again as they did at the beginning 11 and ever since the day I appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The Lord also declares to you that the Lord himself will make a house for you. 12 When your days are complete and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your seed,[b] who will come from your own body. I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he sins, I will discipline him with a rod used by men and with blows of the sons of men. 15 My faithful mercy will not depart from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed to make room for you. 16 Your house will stand firm, and your kingdom will endure forever before you.[c] Your throne will be established forever.
17 Nathan told David all the words that had been revealed in this vision.
David’s Response to the Covenant
18 Then King David went and sat before the Lord and said:
Who am I, Lord God? And what is my house that you have brought me to this point? 19 Yet this was a small thing in your eyes, Lord God. You have also spoken about the house of your servant for a long time into the future. Is this the law for the man, Lord God?[d]
20 What more can David say to you? You know your servant, Lord God. 21 Because of your word and according to the plan of your heart, you have carried out this great thing in order to make your servant aware of it. 22 Therefore, you are great, Lord God, because there is none like you. There is no God except you, in keeping with everything we have heard with our ears.
23 Who is like your people Israel, the one people on earth whom God went out to redeem for himself, to make them his people and to make a name for himself? You yourself did great and awe-inspiring things for your land in the presence of your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, in the presence of the nations and their gods.[e] 24 You established your people Israel for yourself to be your people forever. You, Lord, became their God.
25 Now, Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 Your name will be great forever. People will say, “The Lord of Armies is God over Israel.” The house of your servant David will be established before you.
27 You, Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, have whispered into the ear[f] of your servant, saying, “I will build a house for you.” Therefore, your servant has found the heart to pray to you this prayer. 28 Now, Lord God, you are God. Your words are truth. You have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now, therefore, please bless the house of your servant, so that it will endure forever in your presence. For you, Lord God, have spoken. With your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is in Corinth, together with all the saints who are everywhere in Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God Comforts and Rescues Us
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our trouble, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. 6 If we are troubled, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the ability to endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. 7 Our hope for you is sure, since we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so you also share in our comfort.
8 Brothers,[a] we do not want you to be unaware of the trouble that happened to us in the province of Asia. We were burdened so greatly, so far beyond our ability to bear it, that we even gave up hope of living. 9 Yes, we even felt the sentence of death within ourselves. This happened so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. 10 He rescued us from such a terrible death, and he will continue to rescue us. We have set our hope on him that he will also rescue us again, 11 as you join in helping us with your prayers for us. Then many people will thank God for the gracious gift given to us through many prayers.
Paul Explains a Change in Plans
12 Indeed, this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with God-given holiness[b] and sincerity, not with the wisdom of the flesh, but rather in God’s grace—especially toward you. 13 In fact, we are not writing you anything other than what you read or also understand. And I hope you will understand completely— 14 as you have also understood us in part—that on the day of our Lord Jesus we are going to be your reason for boasting, just as you are our reason.
15 In this confidence, I was planning to visit you first, so that you would have a second gracious gift. 16 Then I planned to travel from you on to Macedonia, and to return again from Macedonia to you to receive help from you on my way to Judea. 17 So when I made this plan, I did not do it lightly, did I? Or the things I plan, am I planning them the way the sinful flesh does, so that I would be saying both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?
18 As surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us (by me, Silas,[c] and Timothy), was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him the “Yes” stands firm. 20 In fact, as many promises as God has made, they have always been “Yes” in him. For that reason we also say “Amen” through him to the glory of God.
21 God is the one who makes both us and you to be strong in Christ. He anointed us. 22 He sealed us as his own and gave us the Spirit as the down payment in our hearts.
23 I call God as my witness, on my very life, that I avoided coming to Corinth in order to spare you. 24 Not that we are lording it over your faith, but we are working together with you for your joy. For you stand firm by faith.
Jerusalem Is a Useless Vine
15 The word of the Lord came to me.
2 Son of man, what can be done with the wood of a grapevine compared to the wood from the branches of all the other trees in the forest? 3 Can its wood be used to make something useful? Can people make a peg from it to hang things on? 4 No, it is fed into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned up. Is it useful for any purpose then? 5 Since it could not be used for any purpose when it was undamaged, how much less can it be used to make anything useful after the fire has devoured it and it has been burned! 6 Therefore, this is what the Lord says. Like the wood of the grapevine from among the trees of the forest, which I have fed into the fire for fuel, in the same way I will feed the inhabitants of Jerusalem into the fire. 7 I will set my face against them. They have come out from the fire, but the fire will still devour them. Then you will know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them. 8 I will make the land desolate because they added one infidelity to another, declares the Lord God.
Psalm 56
When I Am Afraid
Heading
For the choir director. “A Dove on Distant Oaks.”[a]
By David. A miktam.[b]
When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.[c]
The Enemies
1 Be merciful to me, O God, for a man pants as he pursues me.[d]
All day long an attacker presses against me.
2 Those who spy on me pant as they pursue me all day long.
Yes, many are attacking me boldly.[e]
David’s Trust
3 On the day when I am afraid, I will trust in you.
4 In God I praise his word.
In God I trust. I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
The Enemies
5 All day long they hurt my cause.[f]
All their thoughts against me are evil.
6 They gather together. They hide.
They try to trip me by grabbing my heels
while they wait to take my life.
David’s Trust
7 Because of their wickedness do not let them escape.[g]
In your anger bring down the peoples, O God.
8 You keep a record of my tossing and turning.[h]
Keep my tears in your bottle.
Aren’t they all listed in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call.
This is how I will know that God is for me.
10 In God I praise a word.[i]
In the Lord I praise a word.
11 In God I trust. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
David’s Promise
12 My vows to you are binding, O God.
I will complete my thank offerings to you,
13 because you have delivered my life from death.
Have you not delivered my feet from stumbling
so I can walk before God in the light of life?
Psalm 57
Refuge in the Shadow of Your Wings
(Psalm 57:7-11 parallels Psalm 108:1-5)
Heading
For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[j] By David. A miktam.
When he fled from Saul. In the cave.[k]
The Opening Plea
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
have mercy on me,
because my soul has taken refuge in you.
In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge
until destruction has passed by.
2 I call to God Most High,
to God, who completes his plans for me.[l]
3 He will send from heaven, and he will save me. Interlude
He puts to shame the one who pants as he pursues me.[m]
God will send his mercy and his faithfulness.
The Problem
4 My life is spent among lions.
I lie down among ferocious men,
whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongue is a sharp sword.
5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
May your glory be over all the earth.
6 They spread a net for my steps.
My soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in front of me. Interlude
They have fallen into it.
David’s Confidence
7 My heart is steadfast, O God.
My heart is steadfast.
I will sing and I will make music.
8 Awake, my soul![n]
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord.
I will make music to you among the nations,[o]
10 because your great mercy reaches above the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.