Read To Me Daily Semester 2Sample

JUDGES 20-21:
In yesterday's reading the book of Judges, the people of Dan took all the items in Micah's household shrine and Micah's Levite priest. The priest’s name was given at the end of the chapter. He was the grandson of Moses! And then the Danites slaughtered the unsuspecting residents of Laish, forgetting about the law about giving terms of surrender before attacking. Then we heard of the unnamed Levite and his concubine (meaning, additional inferior-status wife). Nothing happened according to God's will in this story. While the author says nothing negative about any of the characters, all clearly had faults. To me, the Levite stands out as a terrible husband. And what happened at Gibeon— as we will see today, becomes the basis for Israel's first civil war.

PSALM 88:
Today’s poem, Psalm 88, is perhaps the most-dark of all the despairing psalms. One encouragement to us is that God has now revealed things about our hope of heaven which were unknown to the writer. This psalm offers no hope or encouragement. But the presence of Psalm 88 in Scripture gives us permission when in our darkest depression to come to God in prayer speaking words like found here. 

1TIMOTHY 4:
Yesterday in the 3rd chapter of First Timothy, we heard one of the key passages in God's Word on the qualifications of church leaders. The chapter ended with a fragment of an early worship song.

Let’s pray.
Our holy and awesome heavenly Father, how our hearts break as we hear stories of rape, theft, and murder perpetrated by people who should have been living like your own chosen people. And we recognize that after so many centuries, mankind today have NOT become any better than during Bible times. The one hope for mankind is to be rescued by Jesus. And as Paul said, the church of God— your church O Lord, is to be “the pillar and support for the truth.” And this means that each church must have leaders and helpers who possess the qualities listed by Paul. Right now my listener and I will pray for our pastors, church elders, and deacons. Lord, may they be respected and considered faultless in their communities, and may You give them great boldness to speak to outsiders about believing in Christ Jesus.