Praise the Lord of our deliverance

Saturday, July 20

Devotions: Ps 30, 32, 42, 43; 1 Sam 22:1-23; Acts 13:26-43; Mk 3:19b-35
YHWH, I will extol You, for You have lifted me up and kept me from being routed by my enemies. You have healed me, and I am rejoicing in rebirth this morning. Let God be my Helper, and me His faithful servant. YHWH my God, I will give You thanks forever. You are my Refuge and my Fortress, my Rock. I commit myself to You, for You have redeemed me, faithful God I will rejoice and be glad for Your steadfast love; I have awakened from a long trance, a period of wandering in mind and spirit, of stasis in the flesh. But I will trust in You today, Lord. Put the wicked to shame and to flight. Blessed be the Lord, who shows His steadfast, holy love in wondrous ways. Let all the saints love and trust and praise and worship and obey our God! Let us be strong and take courage, all who wait upon the Lord. YHWH, I thirst for You like a parched stag in a drought-plagued land. I will yet hope in my God; His deeps call to mine; my life is a prayer to the God of my being. Vindicate me, my Helper, my Master! I take refuge in You and commit my way to serve You and to love You and the neighbors You set before me. Let Your light and truth guide me this day and bring me to Your holy habitation. I will praise You, my God, again and again.

David was fleeing from Saul; he had escaped from the Philistine kingdom. The disaffected from all the people of Israel gathered to David, and he became the captain of the ragtag remnant of 400 men. He arranged for the king of Moab to protect his parents; then he returned to Judah and the forest of Hereth. Doeg the Edomite spied out David and reported to Saul that the priest Ahimelech had helped David with food and the sword of Goliath. Saul summoned and confronted Ahimelech. Then Saul had Doeg kill Ahimelech and the priests who accompanied him—85 wearers of YHWH's ephod! And he put to the sword the entire community of Nob, including the women and children and livestock. But Abiathar escaped the slaughter and fled to David—and David took responsibility for the holocaust at Nob and gave Abiathar sanctuary

Paul preached to the Cypriots: Sons of Abraham and you who fear God: The message of salvation has been entrusted to my companions and me, to bring you this good news, refused by the Jews of Jerusalem and their leaders. They did not recognize the Messiah Jesus, even though they study the Scriptures daily that speak of Him. They falsely condemned Him and demanded that Pilate crucify Him. They murdered the Lord of glory and laid Him in a tomb; but God raised Him from death. And for many days, He appeared to many witnesses who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem; they are now His witnesses to the people. I bring you the good news that what God promised to the patriarchs, He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus—alive forever, free from corruption. Through Jesus forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by Him everyone who believes is set free, as the law of Moses could not do. So be careful that you don't fall into what the prophets foretold: 'Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish; for I do a deed in your days, a deed you will never believe, even if someone declares it to you.' And as the people departed, they begged Paul to tell them more the next sabbath. And many devout converts and native Jews followed Paul and Barnabas, who continued to teach and exhort them to continue in the grace of God.

Jesus returned to the house where He stayed; the crowds so thronged the place that Jesus and His party could not even have a meal undisturbed. Jesus' family tried to intervene, thinking He was unbalanced; and the scribes from Jerusalem said, 'He is possessed by Beelzebul, prince of demons, by whom He casts out demons.' Jesus summoned them and spoke in parables: 'A divided house or kingdom cannot stand; how can Satan cast out Satan? If these deeds are those of Satan, his 'kingdom' is coming to an end. However, no one can enter and plunder a strong man's house unless he first binds the strong man. Then he may indeed plunder the strong man's house. So I tell you truly: all sins will be forgiven to mortals except this one thing: whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness; he has committed an eternal sin.' Jesus said this because they had attributed the Holy Spirit's works through Jesus to Beelzebul, a chief demon, and had said of Jesus, 'He has an unclean spirit.' Jesus' mother and brothers stood outside the house and called for Him; the crowd around Jesus told Him they had come for Him, and Jesus replied, 'Who are My mother and My brothers?' He gestured to those around Him: 'Here are My mother and My brothers,' Jesus said. 'Whoever does the will of God is My brother, and sister, and mother.' The words of the Lord!