Daily Devotion for May 10, 2018
Prayers
Scripture
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
1. All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
2. Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.
3. The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.
4. The purple headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning,
That brightens up the sky.
5. The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one:
6. The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
We gather every day;
7. He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell,
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.
Music from an English folk song, adapted by William Henry Monk (1879)
Lyrics by Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander (1848)
Draw Thou Our Hearts
O Lord Jesus Christ, draw thou our hearts unto thee; join them together in inseparable love, that we may abide in thee, and thou in us, and that the everlasting covenant between us may stand sure forever. O wound our hearts with the fiery darts of thy piercing love. Let them pierce through all our slothful members and inward powers, that we, being happily wounded, may so become whole and sound. Let us have no lover but thyself alone; let us seek no joy nor comfort except in thee.
To Heal Divisions
Father, may our human family not become separated from you by building barriers of race, color, class, gender, or beliefs. Inspire us to recognize that we are all made in your image and likeness, so that we may grow in appreciation of all people, and encourage each other to grow in pride in who we are and who we are called to be. May we recognize your Son in our midst, and live truly as brothers and sisters. I pray this in the name of Christ, in remembrance of His love for the Samaritan woman at the well.
Prayer of Penitence
Almighty God, who does freely pardon all who repent and turn to Him, now fulfill in my contrite heart the promise of redeeming grace; forgiving all my sins, and cleansing me from an evil conscience; through the perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus our Lord. And turn my heart to your will at every moment, I pray.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
Today’s “Remember the Bible” Question
What Bible verse tells us not to add to God’s words, lest He rebuke us?
Jeremiah 29:11-13 (ESV)
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
2 Samuel 5:1-5 (NLT)
David Becomes King Over All Israel
All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”
When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
Notes on the Scripture
avid became king of all Israel almost exactly 1000 years before the birth of Christ, although the date is not known precisely. Until very recently, the book of Samuel was, remarkably, the only record of his extraordinary life, or even his existence. There are no references to him in Egyptian, Syrian or Assyrian documents of the time, and the many archaeological digs in Jerusalem never found so much as a mention of his name.
The great and brilliant agnostic “Bible scholars,” who hold chairs in the world’s great universities, mostly concluded that David did not exist.
Then, in 1993, a team of archaeologists in the northern Galilee unearthed a triangular piece of basalt rock inscribed in Aramaic. It was subsequently identified as part of a victory pillar erected by the king of Syria in the 9th century A.D (and later smashed by an Israelite ruler). Its inscription speaks of Beit David, i.e. the “House” or “Dynasty” of David. It is the first near-contemporaneous reference to David ever found. So, suddenly, there was extrinsic evidence of a king named David, sufficiently important to have founded a line of kings in the appropriate period.
Since then, three or four more bits of archeological evidence have been discovered that indicate agreement with Samuel’s account of King David; and, I would bet, they will continue to turn up. Will liberal university professors ever admit that the Bible was correct all along? Your guess is as good as mine, but they have both personal and professional interests in proving that the Bible is fictional.
