Home > Reading > Daily Reading – April 4, 2019

“I am not alone” (John 16:32b)

Reading: John 16:25-33

Dear gracious God, thank You for Your ever-present companionship in our lives. We are never alone because of Your love and Your presence with us. Your presence is our confidence. In Genesis 2:18, Your Word states that it is not good for a man to be alone. That is not only true for marriage or for human relationships—our lives are empty and vulnerable without You.

In today’s Word, You assure us by saying that You are not alone. Your father is always with you. In the same way, we confess today that we are not alone, for You are with us. Nothing can separate us from Your love and from having a strong fellowship and everlasting relationship with You. We are Yours and You are ours. For that we are forever thankful.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

The season of Lent has typically held a special place in the life of the Church. Beginning with Ash Wednesday and culminating in the events of Holy Week, Lent is an invitation to focus on what is central to our faith. It has also become a time for personal and spiritual reflection on who we are as God’s people and on what God has given us so graciously in Christ.

In earlier times, Lent was a time to prepare for receiving Baptism. More recently it has become a time to lift up in worship and education the core teachings of our faith or to explore some of the major personalities who surround Jesus on His journey to the cross.

This devotional booklet is meant to enhance and enrich our Lenten observance. We have chosen two themes. One is a selection of biblical passages in which God is addressed as the “Great I Am.” The other is a selection of passages in which we are addressed as God’s people, “You are…”

It is our hope that, as we reflect on these passages from God’s Word, our faith in God may be strengthened and our commitment to His Word renewed.

It is also our prayer that, as we move from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week, we may join the two disciples of Jesus as they cried out, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32 ESV).

The Rev. Paull Spring, Bishop Emeritus
The Rev. Dr. Gemechis Buba, Assistant to the Bishop for Missions

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. Scripture quotations designated NASB or NASB95 are from the New American Standard Bible, © the Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations designated ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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2 Samuel 20 (ESV)

The Rebellion of Sheba

20 Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said,

“We have no portion in David,
and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
every man to his tents, O Israel!”

So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.

Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.” So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.” And there went out after him Joab’s men and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened on his thigh, and as he went forward it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died.

Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11 And one of Joab’s young men took his stand by Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” 12 And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. 13 When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

14 And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. 15 And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down. 16 Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you.’ ” 17 And he came near her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” And he answered, “I am listening.” 18 Then she said, “They used to say in former times, ‘Let them but ask counsel at Abel,’ and so they settled a matter. 19 I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord?” 20 Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy! 21 That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

23 Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24 and Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 and Sheva was secretary; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was also David’s priest.

Psalm 89 (ESV)

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

89 A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
‘I will establish your offspring forever,
and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
O Lord God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?

You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them.
10  You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11  The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
12  The north and the south, you have created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13  You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.

14  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15  Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
16  who exult in your name all the day
and in your righteousness are exalted.
17  For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
18  For our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19  Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said:
“I have granted help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20  I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
21  so that my hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
22  The enemy shall not outwit him;
the wicked shall not humble him.
23  I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24  My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25  I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26  He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27  And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28  My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm for him.
29  I will establish his offspring forever
and his throne as the days of the heavens.

30  If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,
31  if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32  then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
33  but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
34  I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35  Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
36  His offspring shall endure forever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
37  Like the moon it shall be established forever,
a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

38  But now you have cast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your anointed.
39  You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown in the dust.
40  You have breached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41  All who pass by plunder him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42  You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43  You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
and you have not made him stand in battle.
44  You have made his splendor to cease
and cast his throne to the ground.
45  You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with shame. Selah

46  How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47  Remember how short my time is!
For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48  What man can live and never see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
49  Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
50  Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,
51  with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

52  Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

Book Four

Hebrews 1:8–14 (ESV)

But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

10 And,

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11  they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
12  like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”

13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

On Good Friday, March 29 of the same year, Luther had completed his well-deserved coarse answer to Emser. Here he called the Holy Ghost the most lucid writer and speaker whose writings do not need the help of church and tradition in order to be under-stood correctly if they are only taken in their literal sense. (18–19)

–Johann Michael Reu, Luther on the Scriptures

This daily Bible reading guide, Reading the Word of God, was conceived and prepared as a result of the ongoing discussions between representatives of three church bodies: Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The following individuals have represented their church bodies and approved this introduction and the reading guide: LCC: President Robert Bugbee; NALC: Bishop John Bradosky, Revs. Mark Chavez, James Nestingen, and David Wendel; LCMS: Revs. Albert Collver, Joel Lehenbauer, John Pless, and Larry Vogel.

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