Midday Devotion

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (ESV)

A Psalm of David.
¹ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (ESV)

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

¹ These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.
² It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.
³ As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.
⁴ Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;
⁵ take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.
⁶ Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great,
⁷ for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen
⁸ do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?
⁹ Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret,
¹⁰ lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.
¹¹ A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
¹² Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.
¹³ Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.
¹⁴ Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.
¹⁵ With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.
¹⁶ If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.
¹⁷ Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.
¹⁸ A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.
¹⁹ Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
²⁰ Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.
²¹ If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
²² for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. (ESV)

²³ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom,
²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,
²⁵ but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
³⁰ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
³¹ Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.
³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.
³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
³⁵ He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.
³⁶ For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”
³⁷ And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
³⁸ After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.
³⁹ Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.
⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
⁴² So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. (ESV)

¹⁰ At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king’s house,
¹¹ and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
¹² But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him.
¹³ Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day.
¹⁴ Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
¹⁵ And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the LORD and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer
¹⁶ (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife;
¹⁷ so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon
¹⁸ and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,
¹⁹ and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
²⁰ All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel—
²¹ their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day.
²² But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.
²³ These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who had charge of the people who carried on the work.
²⁴ But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.
²⁵ Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the LORD, making offerings with it before the LORD. So he finished the house.
²⁶ King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
²⁷ And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon.
²⁸ And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.

¹ Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.
² She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind.
³ And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.
⁴ And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
⁵ the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her.
⁶ And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom,
⁷ but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.
⁸ Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!
⁹ Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”
¹⁰ Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
¹¹ Moreover, the fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones.
¹² And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.
¹³ And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.
¹⁴ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,
¹⁵ besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.
¹⁶ King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield.
¹⁷ And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
¹⁸ The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold.
¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests,
²⁰ while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom.
²¹ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.
²² For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
²³ Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
²⁴ And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.
²⁵ Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.
²⁶ And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
²⁷ And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah.
²⁸ And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price.
²⁹ A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

¹ Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
² from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
³ He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
⁴ For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.
⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
⁸ And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
⁹ And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice
¹⁰ and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded.
¹¹ Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.
¹² Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
¹³ However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” (ESV)

¹ But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
² And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.
³ So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.
⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.
⁵ But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
⁶ The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.
⁷ And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
⁸ And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,
⁹ and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
¹⁰ Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
¹¹ But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
¹² And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
¹³ After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.
¹⁴ Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.
¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
¹⁶ “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it,
¹⁷ that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things
¹⁸ known from of old.’
¹⁹ Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,
²⁰ but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
²¹ For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
¹ I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.
² In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
³ When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
⁴ You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵ I consider the days of old, the years long ago.
⁶ I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:
⁷ “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
⁸ Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?
⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah (ESV)