+ DAILY PRAYER +
Yahweh Rebukes Eli Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh? 28 And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor all the offerings made by fire by the Israelites…
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 20
1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!
3 May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah
4 May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
5 May we shout for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.
9 O LORD, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
Reading for Friday October 27th 1 Samuel 2:27-3:21
Yahweh Rebukes Eli
27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh? 28 And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor all the offerings made by fire by the ?Israelites?. 29 Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded for my dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel? 30 Therefore,’ ?declares? Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor would walk before me forever, but now,’ ?declares? Yahweh, ‘far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt! 31 Look, days are coming when I will cut off your ?strength? and the ?strength? of the house of your ancestor ?so that no one in your house will live to old age?. 32 You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, despite all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old man in your household ?forever?! 33 The only one I will not cut off from my altar is you. Rather, to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, ?all the members of your household? will die as men. 34 This is the sign for you that will come regarding your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day! 35 But I will raise up for myself a reliable priest; he will do just according to what is in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting house and he will walk continually before my anointed one ?forever?. 36 All the remainder of your household will come to bow down ?before? him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, “Please assign me to one of the ?priestly offices? so that I can eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ”
Samuel’s First Encounter with Yahweh
3 Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh ?in the presence? of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2 ?And then? one day when Eli was lying in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow weak so that he was not able to see) 3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of God was. 4 Then Yahweh called out to Samuel and he said, “Here I am!” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” But he said, “I did not call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 And Yahweh called Samuel again, so Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And he said, “I did not call you, my son. Go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him. 8 Again Yahweh called Samuel a third time, so he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy. 9 So Eli said to Samuel “Go lie down. ?If he calls? to you, then you must say, ‘Speak Yahweh, because your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Then Yahweh came and stood there and called out ?as before?, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, because your servant is listening.” 11 So Yahweh said to Samuel, “Look, I am doing something in Israel ?which will cause? the two ears of everyone who hears it to tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, ?from beginning to end?. 13 I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons were bringing curses on themselves, but he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be atoned for by sacrifice or by offering forever.”
15 So Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 And he said, “What is the message that he spoke to you? Please do not conceal it from me. May God ?punish you severely? if you conceal anything from me of all the words that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal anything from him. And he said, “He is Yahweh, he will do ?what is? good in his ?sight?.”
19 And Samuel grew up, and Yahweh was with him. ?He did not allow any of his prophecies to go unfulfilled?. 20 All Israel from Dan to Beersheba realized that Samuel was faithful as a prophet to Yahweh. 21 And Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh, for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of Yahweh.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
O God, our refuge and strength, the author of all godliness, hear the devout prayers of Your Church, especially in times of persecution, and grant that what we ask in faith we may obtain; 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.
