Night Watch Devotion

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹ Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—
¹⁰ no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
¹⁴ “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
¹⁵ When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (ESV)

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
¹ With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
² I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.
³ When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.
⁴ Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.
⁵ I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
⁶ Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me!
⁷ Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me. (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 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.
³ Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
⁴ He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the LORD regularly.
⁵ “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf.
⁶ And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the LORD.
⁷ And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the LORD.
⁸ Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the LORD regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever.
⁹ And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the LORD’s food offerings, a perpetual due.”
¹⁰ Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp,
¹¹ and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.
¹² And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them.
¹³ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
¹⁴ “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
¹⁵ And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.
¹⁶ Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
¹⁷ “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.
¹⁸ Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life.
¹⁹ If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him,
²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.
²¹ Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death.
²² You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.”
²³ So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses. (ESV)

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens.
⁵⁵ And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.
⁵⁶ You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
⁵⁷ “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
⁵⁸ As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.
⁵⁹ I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
¹ There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
² And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?
³ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
⁵ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
⁶ And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
⁷ And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’
⁸ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
⁹ Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
¹⁰ Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
¹¹ And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.
¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”
¹³ And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.
¹⁴ But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
¹⁵ Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?
¹⁶ And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
¹⁷ As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. (ESV)

⁹ When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.
¹⁰ When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.
¹¹ And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
¹² And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
¹³ When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
¹⁴ Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”
¹⁵ And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”
¹⁶ And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.
¹⁷ Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah.
¹⁸ And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’
¹⁹ But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”
²⁰ Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.
²¹ He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.
²² So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
²³ Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.
²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
²⁵ Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.
²⁶ Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.
²⁷ But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

¹ Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”
² But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.”
³ The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.”
⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.
⁵ Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh.
⁶ And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.
⁷ He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.
⁸ When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
⁹ And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad.
¹⁰ Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.”
¹¹ And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
¹² Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.”
¹³ But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.”
¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.”
¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

¹ And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you.
² And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.
³ Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.”
⁴ They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.”
⁵ And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
⁶ And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
⁷ Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers.
⁸ When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.
⁹ But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them.
¹⁰ And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’
¹¹ And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.
¹² And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king.
¹³ And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you.
¹⁴ If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well.
¹⁵ But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.
¹⁶ Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.
¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.”
¹⁸ So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”
²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.
²¹ And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
²² For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.
²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
²⁴ Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” (ESV)

³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
³⁸ so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
³⁹ Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”
⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
⁴² Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;
⁴³ for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
⁴⁴ And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.
⁴⁵ And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.
⁴⁶ I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
⁴⁷ If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
⁴⁸ The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
⁴⁹ For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

¹ Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
² During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
⁴ rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
⁷ Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
⁸ Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
¹² When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.
¹ Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
² sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!
³ Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
⁴ All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah
⁵ Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
⁶ He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him,
⁷ who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
⁸ Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard,
⁹ who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.
¹⁰ For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
¹¹ You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
¹² you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. (ESV)