Monday, February 28, 2011

Presbyterian Daily Readings For Monday, 28 February

From pcusa.org:

Daily Readings for Monday, February 28, 2011


Morning Psalms 62; 145

First Reading Deuteronomy 4:9-14

Second Reading 2 Corinthians 10:1-18

Gospel Matthew 6:7-15

Evening Psalms 73; 9



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Morning Psalm 62



1 For God alone my soul waits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall never be shaken.







3 How long will you assail a person,

will you batter your victim, all of you,

as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

4 Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.

They take pleasure in falsehood;

they bless with their mouths,

but inwardly they curse. Selah







5 For God alone my soul waits in silence,

for my hope is from him.

6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor;

my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.







8 Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah







9 Those of low estate are but a breath,

those of high estate are a delusion;

in the balances they go up;

they are together lighter than a breath.

10 Put no confidence in extortion,

and set no vain hopes on robbery;

if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.







11 Once God has spoken;

twice have I heard this:

that power belongs to God,

12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.

For you repay to all

according to their work.



Morning Psalm 145



1 I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you,

and praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

his greatness is unsearchable.







4 One generation shall laud your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

6 The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,

and I will declare your greatness.

7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.







8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 The Lord is good to all,

and his compassion is over all that he has made.







10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

and all your faithful shall bless you.

11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,

and tell of your power,

12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds,

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.







The Lord is faithful in all his words,

and gracious in all his deeds.

14 The Lord upholds all who are falling,

and raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

16 You open your hand,

satisfying the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is just in all his ways,

and kind in all his doings.

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;

he also hears their cry, and saves them.

20 The Lord watches over all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.







21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.



First Reading Deuteronomy 4:9-14



9But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children — 10how you once stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, “Assemble the people for me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth, and may teach their children so”; 11you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was blazing up to the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds. 12Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13He declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two stone tablets. 14And the Lord charged me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.



Second Reading 2 Corinthians 10:1-18



1I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ — I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away! — 2I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards. 3Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; 4for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments 5and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. 6We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.



7Look at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we. 8Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. 10For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” 11Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present.



12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense. 13We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you. 14For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ. 15We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labors of others; but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged, 16so that we may proclaim the good news in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else’s sphere of action. 17“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.



Gospel Matthew 6:7-15



7“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.



9“Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

10 Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,

but rescue us from the evil one.

14For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”



Evening Psalm 73



1 Truly God is good to the upright,

to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;

my steps had nearly slipped.

3 For I was envious of the arrogant;

I saw the prosperity of the wicked.







4 For they have no pain;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

5 They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not plagued like other people.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace;

violence covers them like a garment.

7 Their eyes swell out with fatness;

their hearts overflow with follies.

8 They scoff and speak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.

9 They set their mouths against heaven,

and their tongues range over the earth.







10 Therefore the people turn and praise them,

and find no fault in them.

11 And they say, “How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

12 Such are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.

13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

14 For all day long I have been plagued,

and am punished every morning.







15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”

I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,

17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I perceived their end.

18 Truly you set them in slippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.

19 How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors!

20 They are like a dream when one awakes;

on awaking you despise their phantoms.







21 When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

22 I was stupid and ignorant;

I was like a brute beast toward you.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will receive me with honor.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.







27 Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;

you put an end to those who are false to you.

28 But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,

to tell of all your works.



Evening Psalm 9



1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2 I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.







3 When my enemies turned back,

they stumbled and perished before you.

4 For you have maintained my just cause;

you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.







5 You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6 The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;

their cities you have rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.







7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever,

he has established his throne for judgment.

8 He judges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with equity.







9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.







11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion.

Declare his deeds among the peoples.

12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;

he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.







13 Be gracious to me, O LORD.

See what I suffer from those who hate me;

you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,

14 so that I may recount all your praises,

and, in the gates of daughter Zion,

rejoice in your deliverance.







15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;

in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.

16 The LORD has made himself known, he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.

Selah







17 The wicked shall depart to Sheol,

all the nations that forget God.







18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the poor perish forever.







19 Rise up, O LORD! Do not let mortals prevail;

let the nations be judged before you.

20 Put them in fear, O LORD;

let the nations know that they are only human. Selah



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