Night Watch Devotion

A Song of Ascents.
¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
² O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
³ If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
⁵ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
⁷ O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
⁸ And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
¹ Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
² both low and high, rich and poor together!
³ My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
⁴ I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
⁵ Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
⁶ those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
⁷ Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
⁸ for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,
⁹ that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
¹⁰ For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names.
¹² Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.
¹³ This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
¹⁴ Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
¹⁵ But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
¹⁶ Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases.
¹⁷ For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.
¹⁸ For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed— and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
¹⁹ his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light.
²⁰ Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish. (ESV)

¹ Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
² For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
³ While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
⁴ But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
⁵ For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
⁶ So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. (ESV)

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. (ESV)

¹ Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
² Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
³ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
⁴ But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
⁵ For each will have to bear his own load.
⁶ Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
⁸ For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
⁹ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
¹⁰ So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
¹¹ See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.
¹² It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
¹³ For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
¹⁴ But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
¹⁵ For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
¹⁶ And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
¹⁷ From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. (ESV)

¹ “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes!
² Pass over to Calneh, and see, and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory,
³ O you who put far away the day of disaster and bring near the seat of violence?
⁴ “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall,
⁵ who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,
⁶ who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
⁷ Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”
⁸ The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
⁹ And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.
¹⁰ And when one’s relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the LORD.”
¹¹ For behold, the LORD commands, and the great house shall be struck down into fragments, and the little house into bits.
¹² Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
¹³ you who rejoice in Lo-debar, who say, “Have we not by our own strength captured Karnaim for ourselves?”
¹⁴ “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of hosts; “and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”

¹ This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.
² When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, “O Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!”
³ The LORD relented concerning this: “It shall not be,” said the LORD.
⁴ This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.
⁵ Then I said, “O Lord GOD, please cease! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!”
⁶ The LORD relented concerning this: “This also shall not be,” said the Lord GOD.
⁷ This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
⁸ And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them;
⁹ the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
¹⁰ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
¹¹ For thus Amos has said, “‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’”
¹² And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there,
¹³ but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
¹⁴ Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
¹⁵ But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
¹⁶ Now therefore hear the word of the LORD. “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
¹⁷ Therefore thus says the LORD: “‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’” (ESV)

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
²¹ fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
²³ But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,
²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (ESV)

¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
¹² I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
¹³ For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
¹⁴ O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.
¹⁵ But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant.
¹⁷ Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me. (ESV)