+ 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 34:4-10, 19
4 I sought the LORD,
and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried,
and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him,
and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Reading Ex 22:21-23:9
Regulations Regarding Foreigners and the Poor
21 “ ‘You will not mistreat an alien, and you will not oppress him, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
22 “ ‘You will not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you indeed afflict him, yes, if he cries out at all to me, I will certainly hear his cry of distress. 24 And ?I will become angry?, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children orphans.
25 “ ‘If you lend money to my people, to the needy with you, you will not be to him as a creditor; you will not ?charge him interest?. 26 If indeed you require the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, you will return it to him at sundown, 27 because it is his only garment; it is his cloak for his skin. In what will he sleep? ?And? when he cries out to me, I will hear, because I am gracious.
Regulations Regarding Tribute and Holiness
28 “ ‘You will not curse God, and you will not curse a leader among your people.
29 “ ‘You will not delay the fullness of your harvest and the juice from your press; you will give me the firstborn of your sons. 30 You will do likewise for your ox and for your sheep and goats; seven days it will be with its mother; on the eighth, you will give it to me. 31 And you will be men of holiness for me; and you will not eat meat from a carcass mangled in the field; you will throw it to the dog.
Regulations Regarding Justice
23 “ ‘You will not ?spread? a false report. Do not lift your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. 2 You will not ?follow? a majority for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority to pervert justice. 3 You will not be partial to a powerless person in his legal dispute.
4 “ ‘If you come upon the ox of your enemy or his donkey going astray, you will certainly bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of your enemy lying down under its burden, you will refrain from abandoning him. You will surely arrange it with him.
6 “ ‘You will not pervert the justice of your poor in his legal dispute. 7 You will stay far from a ?false charge?, and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, because I will not declare the wicked righteous. 8 And you will not take a bribe, because the bribe makes the sighted blind and ruins the words of the righteous. 9 And you will not oppress an alien; you yourselves know the feelings of the alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Heavenly Father, in the midst of our sufferings for the sake of Christ grant us grace to follow the example of the first martyr, Stephen, that we also may look to the One who suffered and was crucified on our behalf and pray for those who do us wrong; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, 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.
