Night Watch Devotion

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶ Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
¹⁸ Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹ then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. (ESV)

A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
¹ O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
² For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
³ There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
⁵ My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,
⁶ I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.
⁷ For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
⁸ I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
⁹ O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
¹⁰ My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
¹¹ My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.
¹² Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.
¹³ But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
¹⁴ I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
¹⁵ But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
¹⁶ For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!”
¹⁷ For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me.
¹⁸ I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
¹⁹ But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
²⁰ Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.
²¹ Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me!
²² Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation! (ESV)

¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (ESV)

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
² “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking?
³ Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.
⁴ Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees.
⁵ But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed.
⁶ Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
⁷ “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?
⁸ As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
⁹ By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
¹⁰ The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken.
¹¹ The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
¹² “Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it.
¹³ Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
¹⁴ dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
¹⁵ A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.
¹⁶ It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice:
¹⁷ ‘Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?
¹⁸ Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error;
¹⁹ how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.
²⁰ Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
²¹ Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?’ (ESV)

¹ On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
² Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
⁴ And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
⁶ Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
⁸ And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.
⁹ When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom
¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
¹¹ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
¹² After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. (ESV)

³ Then Job answered the LORD and said:
⁴ “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
⁵ I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.”
⁶ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
⁷ “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.
⁸ Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
⁹ Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?
¹⁰ “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
¹¹ Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
¹² Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand.
¹³ Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below.
¹⁴ Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.
¹⁵ “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.
¹⁶ Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly.
¹⁷ He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron.
¹⁹ “He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!
²⁰ For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play.
²¹ Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
²² For his shade the lotus trees cover him; the willows of the brook surround him.
²³ Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
²⁴ Can one take him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a snare?

¹ “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?
² Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
³ Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words?
⁴ Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?
⁵ Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
⁶ Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?
⁷ Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
⁸ Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again!
⁹ Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him.
¹⁰ No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?
¹¹ Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
¹² “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
¹³ Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle?
¹⁴ Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.
¹⁵ His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal.
¹⁶ One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
¹⁷ They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
¹⁸ His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
¹⁹ Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth.
²⁰ Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
²¹ His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
²² In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him.
²³ The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable.
²⁴ His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone.
²⁵ When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.
²⁶ Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
²⁷ He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.
²⁸ The arrow cannot make him flee; for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.
²⁹ Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
³⁰ His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
³¹ He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
³² Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired.
³³ On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear.
³⁴ He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride.”

¹ Then Job answered the LORD and said:
² “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
³ ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
⁴ ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
⁵ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;
⁶ therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
⁷ After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
⁸ Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
¹⁰ And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
¹¹ Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
¹² And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
¹³ He had also seven sons and three daughters.
¹⁴ And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.
¹⁵ And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
¹⁶ And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations.
¹⁷ And Job died, an old man, and full of days. (ESV)

¹⁴ “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.
¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.
¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.
¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.
¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’
²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’
²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,
²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’
²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?
²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.
²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
²⁹ For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
³⁰ And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (ESV)

⁴³ You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.
⁴⁶ The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation—
⁴⁷ the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me,
⁴⁸ who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence.
⁴⁹ For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to your name.
⁵⁰ Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever. (ESV)