Home > Reading > Daily Reading – August 20, 2020

Lam. 3:25–39

3:25 ט (Tet)

The Lord is good to those who trust in him,

to the one who seeks him.

26It is good to wait patiently

for deliverance from the Lord.

27It is good for a man

to bear the yoke while he is young.

28י (Yod)

Let a person sit alone in silence,

when the Lord is disciplining him.

29Let him bury his face in the dust;

perhaps there is hope.

30Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him;

let him have his fill of insults.

31כ (Kaf)

For the Lord will not

reject us forever.

32Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us

according to the abundance of his loyal kindness.

33For he is not predisposed to afflict

or to grieve people.

34ל (Lamed)

To crush underfoot

all the earth’s prisoners,

35to deprive a person of his rights

in the presence of the Most High,

36to defraud a person in a lawsuit—

the Lord does not approve of such things!

37מ (Mem)

Whose command was ever fulfilled

unless the Lord decreed it?

38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes—

both calamity and blessing?

39Why should any living person complain

when punished for his sins?

(NET Bible)

Ps. 49

49:1 For the music director, a psalm by the Korahites.

Listen to this, all you nations.

Pay attention, all you inhabitants of the world.

2Pay attention, all you people,

both rich and poor.

3I will declare a wise saying;

I will share my profound thoughts.

4I will learn a song that imparts wisdom;

I will then sing my insightful song to the accompaniment of a harp.

5Why should I be afraid in times of trouble,

when the sinful deeds of deceptive men threaten to overwhelm me?

6They trust in their wealth

and boast in their great riches.

7Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother;

he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price

8(the ransom price for a human life is too high,

and people go to their final destiny),

9so that he might continue to live forever

and not experience death.

10Surely one sees that even wise people die;

fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away

and leave their wealth to others.

11Their grave becomes their permanent residence,

their eternal dwelling place.

They name their lands after themselves,

12but, despite their wealth, people do not last.

They are like animals that perish.

13This is the destiny of fools,

and of those who approve of their philosophy. (Selah)

14They will travel to Sheol like sheep,

with death as their shepherd.

The godly will rule over them when the day of vindication dawns.

Sheol will consume their bodies, and they will no longer live in impressive houses.

15But God will rescue my life from the power of Sheol;

certainly he will pull me to safety. (Selah)

16Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich

and his wealth multiplies.

17For he will take nothing with him when he dies;

his wealth will not follow him down into the grave.

18He pronounces this blessing on himself while he is alive:

“May men praise you, for you have done well.”

19But he will join his ancestors;

they will never again see the light of day.

20Wealthy people do not understand;

they are like animals that perish.

(NET Bible)

Col. 1:15–23

1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,

16for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him.

17He himself is before all things, and all things are held together in him.

18He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.

19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son

20and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

21And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, 22but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him— 23if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

(NET Bible)

Here (II Samuel 23:2, ‘The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue’) it becomes too marvelous and soars too high for me. God grant that I may at least partially attain to it, for he here begins to speak of the Holy Triune essence of the divine Godhead. First he mentions the Holy Ghost; to Him he ascribes all that the prophets foretell. It is these and similar statements to which St. Peter refers in the II Epistle 1:21, ‘For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of men, etc … ’Therefore we sing in the Creed, concerning the Holy Ghost, ‘Who spake by the Prophets.’ So we refer all of Scripture to the Holy Ghost.” In the same way he refers to Dan. 7:13, 14. “So it is the Spirit who speaks through Daniel, for such secret thing no one could know if the Holy Ghost had not revealed it through the prophets as we have frequently said before, that Holy Scripture has been spoken by the Holy Ghost.” (36–37)

–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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