Daily Devotion and Prayer for March 8th

+ 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 41:1-2, 7-13

1  To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Blessed is the one who considers the poor!

In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; 

2  the LORD protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. 

7  All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me. 

8  They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.” 

9  Even my close friend in whom I trusted,

who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. 

10  But you, O LORD, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them! 

11  By this I know that you delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. 

12  But you have upheld me because of my integrity,

and set me in your presence forever. 

13  Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. 

Reading Lev 19:19-20:8

You Shall Keep My Statutes

19 “ ‘You must keep my statutes: as for your domestic animals, you shall not cause two differing kinds to breed; as for your field, you shall not sow two differing kinds of seed; and, a garment of two differing kinds of woven material should not be worn on you.

20 “ ‘And when a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen and she is a female slave promised to a man, but she indeed has not been ransomed or freedom has not been given to her, there shall be an obligation to compensate; they shall not be put to death, because she has not been freed. 21 And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance: a ram for a guilt offering. 22 And the priest shall make atonement for him ?before? Yahweh with the ram of the guilt offering for his sin that he ?committed?, and so his sin that he ?committed? shall be forgiven him.

23 “ ‘And when you have come into the land and you plant any tree for food, ?you shall regard its fruit as unharvestable?; for three years it shall be forbidden for you;  it shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, offerings of praise for Yahweh. 25 And in the fifth year you shall eat its fruit to increase its yield for you;  I am Yahweh your God.

26 “ ‘You must not eat anything with the blood; you shall not practice divination, nor shall you interpret signs. 27 You shall not round off the corner hair of your head, and you shall not trim the corner of your beard. 28 And you shall not make a slash in your body for a dead person, nor shall you make on yourselves a tattoo’s mark; I am Yahweh.

29 “ ‘You shall not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, ?lest the land be prostituted and the land fill up with depravity?. 30 You shall keep my Sabbaths, and you shall revere my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

31 “ ‘You shall not turn to the mediums and to the soothsayers; you shall not seek them to become unclean with them; I am Yahweh your God.

32 “ ‘?Before? old age you shall get up, and you shall show respect for an old person; and you shall revere your God; I am Yahweh.

33 “ ‘And when an alien dwells with you in your land, you shall not oppress him. 34 The alien who is dwelling with you shall be like a native among you, and you shall love him like yourself,  because you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

35 “ ‘You shall not commit injustice in regulation, in measurement, in weight, or volume. 36 You must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin; I am Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt.

37 “ ‘Thus you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh.’ ”

Molech Worship and Spiritism

20 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “And to the ?Israelites? you shall say, ‘If there is ?anyone? from the ?Israelites? or from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives ?any of? his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones. And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given ?some of? his offspring to Molech, so that ?he makes my sanctuary unclean? and profanes ?my holy name?. And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes from that man at his giving ?some of? his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death, then I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech. As for the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will set my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.

“ ‘And you shall consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, because I am Yahweh your God. And you shall keep my statutes, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh who consecrates you.

Lord’s Prayer

Daily Prayer

     O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion.  Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father 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.