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)

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
¹ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.
⁶ The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
⁸ Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah (ESV)

²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (ESV)

¹ After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in.
² And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”
³ And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.”
⁴ So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails.
⁵ And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.
⁶ Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
⁷ And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.”
⁸ And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
⁹ Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi.
¹⁰ And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.”
¹¹ Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.”
¹² And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.”
¹³ They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
¹⁴ When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.
¹⁵ And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.
¹⁶ And Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.”
¹⁷ As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.
¹⁸ And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
¹⁹ And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day.
²⁰ And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
¹ Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.
² The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”
³ But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron. (ESV)

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
¹ I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,
² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.
³ In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
¹⁰ You observe days and months and seasons and years!
¹¹ I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. (ESV)

¹ The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
² And he said: “The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.”
³ Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.
⁴ So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
⁵ I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,” says the LORD.
⁶ Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom.
⁷ So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour her strongholds.
⁸ I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” says the Lord GOD.
⁹ Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they delivered up a whole people to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
¹⁰ So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour her strongholds.”
¹¹ Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.
¹² So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”
¹³ Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.
¹⁴ So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour her strongholds, with shouting on the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
¹⁵ and their king shall go into exile, he and his princes together,” says the LORD.

¹ Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.
² So I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
³ I will cut off the ruler from its midst, and will kill all its princes with him,” says the LORD.
⁴ Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked.
⁵ So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”
⁶ Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals—
⁷ those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned;
⁸ they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
⁹ “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath.
¹⁰ Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
¹¹ And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
¹² “But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’
¹³ “Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
¹⁴ Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain his strength, nor shall the mighty save his life;
¹⁵ he who handles the bow shall not stand, and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
¹⁶ and he who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day,” declares the LORD. (ESV)

¹⁷ But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God
¹⁸ and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law;
¹⁹ and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
²¹ you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
²² You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
²³ You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
²⁴ For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
²⁵ For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
²⁶ So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
²⁷ Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
²⁸ For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
²⁹ But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

¹ Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
² Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
³ What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?
⁴ By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
⁵ But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)
⁶ By no means! For then how could God judge the world?
⁷ But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?
⁸ And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. (ESV)

⁵ Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
⁶ Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
⁷ Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince.
⁸ A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.
⁹ Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
¹⁰ A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.
¹¹ An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
¹² Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.
¹³ If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.
¹⁴ The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out. (ESV)