Daily Devotion and Prayer for December 21st

+ DAILY PRAYER +

This Daily Devotion covers the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy also called the Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, in a period of one year in a Monday through Friday format, the Psalms and order of devotion follow those presented in The Treasury of Daily Prayer from Concordia Publishing House.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

     Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!

     In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! 

     Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan,

     and he hears my voice. 

     Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;

     He will never permit the righteous to be moved. 

Psalm 102:24-28

  24 “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days—

            you whose years endure throughout all generations!” 

  25  Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,

            and the heavens are the work of your hands. 

  26  They will perish, but you will remain;

            they will all wear out like a garment.

        You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 

  27  but you are the same, and your years have no end. 

  28  The children of your servants shall dwell secure;

            their offspring shall be established before you. 

Reading Ex 20:22-26; 21:1-11

Instructions for Building Altars

22 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you will say to the ?Israelites?, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from the heavens. 23 You will not make alongside me gods of silver, and gods of gold you will not make for yourselves. 24 An altar of earth you will make for me, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25 And if you make an altar of stones for me, you will not build them as hewn stone, because if you use your chisel on it, you have defiled it. 26 You will not go up with steps onto my altar, that your nakedness not be exposed on it.’

Regulations Regarding Hebrew Slaves

21 “And these are the regulations that you will set before them.

‘If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing. If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and the slave will go out single. But if the slave explicitly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,” his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.

“ ‘And if a man sells his daughter as a slave woman, she will not go out as male slaves go out. If ?she does not please her master? who selected her, he will allow her to be redeemed; he has no authority to sell her to foreign people, since he has dealt treacherously with her. And if he selects her for his son, he shall do for her according to the regulations for daughters. 10 If he takes for himself another, he will not reduce her food, her clothing, or her right of cohabitation. 11 And if he does not do for her these three, she shall go out for nothing; there will not be silver paid for her.

Lord’s Prayer

Daily Prayer

     Almighty and ever-living God, You strengthened Your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in the resurrection of Your Son.  Grant us such faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that we may never be found wanting in Your sight; through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Concluding Prayer

Heavenly Father, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts to direct and rule us according to Your will, to comfort us in all our afflictions, to defend us from all error, and to lead us into all truth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.