Daily Devotion and Prayer for March 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 37:16-20

16  Better is the little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked. 

17  For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the LORD upholds the righteous. 

18  The LORD knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will remain forever; 

19  they are not put to shame in evil times;

in the days of famine they have abundance. 

20  But the wicked will perish;

the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;

they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. 

Reading Lev 25:25-55

25 “ ‘When your brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then ?his nearest redeemer? shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. 26 But if a man ?does not have? a redeemer, then ?he prospers? and he finds enough for his redemption, 27 then he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and he shall return to his property. 28 But if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then ?what he has sold? shall be in the buyer’s hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out of the buyer’s hand in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property.

29 “ ‘And if a man sells ?a residential house in a walled city?, then it shall be his redemption until completing ?a year after his selling?; its redemption ?shall last? ?a year?. 30 But if it is not redeemed ?before a full year has passed?, then the house that is ?in the walled city? shall belong to the buyer in perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out of the buyer’s hand in the Jubilee. 31 However, village houses that have no surrounding wall shall be considered ?open country?; there is redemption for it, and in the Jubilee it shall go out of the buyer’s hand.

32 “ ‘As for the cities of the Levites, that is, the houses in their property’s cities, it shall be ?a lasting redemption? for the Levites. 33 And whatever anyone redeems from the Levites then must go out of the buyer’s hand in the Jubilee, including a house’s selling ?in his city’s property?, because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the ?Israelites?. 34 But a field of their cities’ pastureland must not be sold, because ?it is their property for all time?.

35 “ ‘And if your countryman becomes poor and ?if he becomes dependent on you?, then you shall support him like an alien and like a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. 36 You must not take interest or usury from him, but you shall revere your God, and your countryman shall live with you. 37 You must not give your money to him with interest or give your food for profit. 38 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give ?you? the land of Canaan, to be as God for you.

39 “ ‘And if your countryman who is with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, ?you shall not treat him as a slave?. 40 He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return. 42 Because they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold ?as a slave?. 43 You shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, but you shall revere your God.

44 “ ‘As for your slave and your slave woman who are yours, from the nations that are all around you, from them you may buy a slave or a slave woman. 45 And you may buy also from the children of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed, they may be as property for you. 46 And you may pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you to take possession of as property ?for all time?—you may let them work. But as for your countrymen, the ?Israelites?, you shall not rule with ruthlessness over ?one another?.

47 “ ‘And if the alien or the temporary resident who are with you ?prosper?, but your countryman who is with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident who is with you, or to a descendant of an alien’s clan, 48 after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or ?one of? ?his close relatives? from his clan may redeem him; or if ?he prospers?, he may redeem himself. 50 And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of ?his selling himself? until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years—it shall be with him like a hired worker’s days. 51 If there are still many years, ?in keeping with them? he shall restore his redemption ?in proportion to his purchase price?. 52 And if there are a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption ?according to the number of his years?. 53 He shall be with him ?as a yearly hired worker?; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness ?in your sight?. 54 And if he is not redeemed by any of these ways, then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. 55 Indeed, the ?Israelites? are servants for me; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’ ”

Lord’s Prayer

Daily Prayer

     Lord God heavenly Father, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, Your servant Moses proclaimed the resurrection to the children of Israel to give them hope in the midst of their darkness.  As we journey to the darkness of the cross, give us hope to look beyond it to the light of the resurrection; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord.

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.