+ DAILY PRAYER +
1 Samuel 2:1-26 Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength is exalted in Yahweh; ?I grin? over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation. There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, and there is no rock like our God…..
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 12
Psa 12:1 To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.
A Psalm of David. Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Psa 12:2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
Psa 12:3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that makes great boasts,
Psa 12:4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
Psa 12:5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the LORD;
“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
Psa 12:7 You, O LORD, will keep them;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
Psa 12:8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
Reading for Thursday October 26th 1 Samuel 2:1-26
2 Then Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength is exalted in Yahweh; ?I grin? over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation.
2 There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you,
and there is no rock like our God.
3 Do not increase speaking ?very proud? words!
Let no arrogance go forth from your mouth,
for Yahweh is a God of knowledge
whose deeds are not weighed.
4 The bows of mighty warriors are shattered,
but those who stumble gird themselves with strength.
5 Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread,
but those who are hungry will become fat.
As for the infertile, she will bear seven,
but she who has many sons withers away.
6 Yahweh kills and restores alive,
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 Yahweh makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and also exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust.
From the ash heap he lifts up the needy,
to cause them to sit with noble people
and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh
and he has set the inhabited world on them.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked will be destroyed in the darkness,
because a man will not prevail by his might.
10 Yahweh will shatter his adversaries;
he will thunder against them in the heavens.
Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth.
He will give strength to his king
and will exalt the might of his anointed one.
11 Then Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. Now the boy was serving Yahweh ?in the presence of? Eli the priest.
The Family of Eli the Priest
12 Now the sons of Eli were ?worthless scoundrels?; they did not know Yahweh. 13 And the custom of the priests with the people was this: When any man ?brought a sacrifice?, as the meat was boiling, the servant of the priest would take a three-pronged meat fork in his hand 14 and would thrust it into the pan or into the kettle or into the cauldron or into the cooking pot. All that the meat fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all of the Israelites who came there at Shiloh. 15 Also, before they ?offered up? the fat as a burnt offering, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but only ?raw?.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat completely ?first?, then take for yourself as ?you? desire,” then he would say to him, “No! Give it now! If not, I will take it by force!” 17 So the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahweh, because the men treated the offering of Yahweh with contempt.
Samuel’s Life in the Tabernacle
18 Now Samuel was serving before Yahweh, as a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 His mother used to make for him a small robe and take it to him ?year by year? whenever she came up with her husband to offer the ?annual sacrifice?. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and he said, “May Yahweh give you an offspring from this woman in place of the petitioned one that she requested from Yahweh.” Then they went to their home. 21 Yahweh took note of Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters, while the young man Samuel grew up with Yahweh.
Eli Rebukes His Evil Sons
22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were having sexual relations with the women who were serving at the entrance of the tent of assembly. 23 And he asked them, “Why are you doing all these things that I am hearing, namely, your evil dealings with all these people? 24 No, my sons, the report is not good that I am hearing the people of Yahweh spreading. 25 If a man sins against a man, then God can intercede for him. But if a man sins against Yahweh, who can intercede for him?” But they did not ?obey? their father, because Yahweh wanted to kill them. 26 But the boy Samuel ?continued to grow in stature and in favor? with Yahweh and with the people.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Almighty God, the apostle Paul taught us to praise You in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We thank You this day for those who have given to Your Church great hymns, especially Your servants Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heerman, and Paul Gerhardt. May Your Church never lack hymnwriters who through their words and music give You praise. Fill us with the desire to praise and thank You for Your great goodness; 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.
[1] W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Jdg 13:1–25.
