+ DAILY PRAYER +
Saul Rules over Israel Saul was thirty?years old? at the beginning of his reign, and he reigned forty-two years over Israel. 2 He chose for himself three thousand from Israel. Two thousand of these were with Saul at Micmash in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it….
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 143
1 A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O LORD;
give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground;
he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails!
Hide not your face from me,
lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD!
I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life!
In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
for I am your servant.
Reading for Wednesday November 8th 1 Samuel 13
Saul Rules over Israel
13 Saul was thirty ?years old? at the beginning of his reign, and he reigned forty-two years over Israel. 2 He chose for himself three thousand from Israel. Two thousand of these were with Saul at Micmash in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4 And all Israel did hear, saying, “Saul has defeated the garrison of the Philistines; and also, Israel has become a stench among the Philistines!” So the people were called out after Saul at Gilgal.
Saul’s Blunder
5 And the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and an army as numerous as sand which is on the seashore. And they came up and encamped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven.
6 When the men of Israel saw that it was ?too difficult? for them, because the army was hard pressed, the people hid themselves in the caves, in the thorn bushes, in the cliffs, in the vaults and in the wells. 7 Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the army ?followed him trembling?. 8 He waited seven days according to the appointed time Samuel determined, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and ?the army started to slip away from him?. 9 So Saul said, “Bring here to me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered up the burnt offering. 10 ?Just as? he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Samuel was coming. So Saul went out to meet him and to bless him. 11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “Because I saw that the army ?was scattering? from me and you did not come ?at the appointed time? and that the Philistines had gathered at Micmash, 12 therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not yet implored the face of Yahweh.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”
13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have behaved foolishly! You have not kept the command of Yahweh your God which he commanded you. For then, Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now, your kingdom will not endure. Yahweh has sought for himself a man according to his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him as leader over his people, because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel got up and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul mustered the people who were found with him, about six hundred men. 16 Saul and Jonathan his son and the army that remained with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, and the Philistines encamped at Micmash. 17 The ?raiders? went out from the camp of the Philistines in three divisions. One division turned on the road to Ophrah toward the land of Shual. 18 One division turned on the road to Beth Horon, and one turned on the road toward the border overlooking the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19 Now no skilled craftsman could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “So that the Hebrews cannot make swords or spears for themselves.” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to have his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his iron plowshare sharpened. 21 The charge was ?two-thirds of a shekel? for the plowshare and for the mattock, and ?a third of a shekel for the pick? and for the axe, and to set the goading sticks. 22 ?So? on the day of battle, there was not a sword or a spear found in the hands of all the army that was with Saul and Jonathan, but ?Saul and his son Jonathan had them?. 23 Now the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Micmash.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Almighty, everlasting God, for our many sins we justly deserve eternal condemnation. In Your mercy, You sent Your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who won for us forgiveness of sins and everlasting salvation. Grant us a true confession so that dead to sin we may hear the sweet words of Absolution from our confessor as Luther heard them from his pastor, Johannes von Staupitz, and be released from all our sin; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, once 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.
