Night Watch Devotion

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.
¹ It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
² to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
³ to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.
⁴ For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
⁵ How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!
⁶ The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:
⁷ that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;
⁸ but you, O LORD, are on high forever.
⁹ For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.
¹⁰ But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil.
¹¹ My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
¹² The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵ to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (ESV)

Of David.
¹ I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
² I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
³ On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.
⁴ All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth,
⁵ and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
⁶ For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.
⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
⁸ The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. (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 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
² “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
³ I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name.
⁴ And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death,
⁵ then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
⁶ “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.
⁷ Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
⁸ Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
⁹ For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.
¹⁰ “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
¹¹ If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
¹² If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them.
¹³ If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
¹⁴ If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you.
¹⁵ If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.
¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

²² “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.
²³ And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.
²⁴ But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
²⁵ You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.
²⁶ You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
²⁷ “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” (ESV)

³⁷ While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.
³⁸ The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.
³⁹ And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
⁴⁰ You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?
⁴¹ But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
⁴² “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
⁴⁴ Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
⁴⁵ One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.”
⁴⁶ And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
⁴⁷ Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.
⁴⁸ So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.
⁴⁹ Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’
⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,
⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.
⁵² Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
⁵³ As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things,
⁵⁴ lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. (ESV)

¹ There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.
² He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
³ Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD.
⁴ On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.
⁵ But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.
⁶ And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.
⁷ So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.
⁸ And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
⁹ After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.
¹⁰ She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.
¹¹ And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
¹² As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
¹³ Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.
¹⁴ And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”
¹⁵ But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.
¹⁶ Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”
¹⁷ Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.”
¹⁸ And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
¹⁹ They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.
²⁰ And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.”
²¹ The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.
²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the LORD and dwell there forever.”
²³ Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
²⁴ And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young.
²⁵ Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli.
²⁶ And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD.
²⁷ For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him.
²⁸ Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.

¹ And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
² “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
³ Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
⁴ The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.
⁵ Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
⁶ The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
⁷ The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.
⁸ He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them he has set the world.
⁹ “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.
¹⁰ The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest.
¹² Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.
¹³ The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand,
¹⁴ and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
¹⁵ Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.”
¹⁶ And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.”
¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.
¹⁸ Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod.
¹⁹ And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
²⁰ Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the LORD give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the LORD.” So then they would return to their home.
²¹ Indeed the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD.
²² Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
²³ And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people.
²⁴ No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading abroad.
²⁵ If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.
²⁶ Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man. (ESV)

²² At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,
²³ and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.
²⁴ So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,
²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
³⁰ I and the Father are one.”
³¹ The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
³² Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”
³³ The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
³⁵ If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—
³⁶ do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
³⁷ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
³⁸ but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
³⁹ Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
⁴⁰ He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.
⁴¹ And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”
⁴² And many believed in him there. (ESV)

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
¹ O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
² So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
³ Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
⁴ So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
⁶ when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
⁷ for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
⁸ My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
⁹ But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;
¹⁰ they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals.
¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped. (ESV)