2 Samuel 7:18–29 (ESV)

David’s Prayer of Gratitude

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? ¹⁹ And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! ²⁰ And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! ²¹ Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. ²² Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? ²⁴ And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. ²⁵ And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. ²⁶ And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. ²⁷ For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. ²⁸ And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

Psalm 71 (ESV)

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

71 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!

²  In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!

³  Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴  Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

⁵  For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

⁶  Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.

⁷  I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.

⁸  My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.

⁹  Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.

¹⁰  For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who watch for my life consult together

¹¹  and say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”

¹²  O God, be not far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!

¹³  May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who seek my hurt.

¹⁴  But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.

¹⁵  My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.

¹⁶  With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷  O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

¹⁸  So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.

¹⁹  Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?

²⁰  You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.

²¹  You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.

²²  I will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.

²³  My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.

²⁴  And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.

1 Timothy 2:1–15 (ESV)

Pray for All People

2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷ For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸ I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

–Johann Michael Reu, Luther on the Scriptures