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NL-Day153 1 Samuel 25; Psalm 105:1-23; Romans 8:28-9:24

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

Release Date: 06/01/2024

NL-Day175 1 Kings 1; Psalm 119:33-48; John 4:25-54 show art NL-Day175 1 Kings 1; Psalm 119:33-48; John 4:25-54

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

1KINGS 1:Like 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles were originally each one book instead of two. The books of Kings and Chronicles have many similarities. One difference is that the books of Kings seem a bit more secular in their outlook, whereas Chronicles seems to have been written by a priest. Henrietta Mears says that both sets have these things in common: 1. They begin with King David and end with the king of Babylon. 2. They open with the building of the Temple and end with the burning of the Temple. 3. They open with David’s first successor to the throne,...

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NL-Day174 2 Samuel 24; Psalm 119:17-32; John 4:1-26 show art NL-Day174 2 Samuel 24; Psalm 119:17-32; John 4:1-26

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 24:Yesterday we heard David’s final words and the listing of the 38 mighty warriors who loyally helped David in his victories. Note that Uriah the Hittite was so poignantly included at the end of the list. And this 24th chapter seems like a postscript. PSALM 119:17-32:Yesterday’s reading included two of the most famous verses from this psalm: 9 NLT How can a young person stay pure?By obeying your word.11 I have hidden your word in my heart,that I might not sin against you. JOHN 4:Yesterday in John 3 we heard the words of John the Baptist at what I consider his finest hour. That was...

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NL-Day173 2 Samuel 23; Psalm 119:1-16; John 3 show art NL-Day173 2 Samuel 23; Psalm 119:1-16; John 3

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 23:Yesterday we read David’s long poem of praise for God giving him victory and deliverance from his enemies. PSALM 119a:This psalm is famous for being the longest chapter in the Bible, and it is an acrostic psalm with a difference. In this psalm, every line of each stanza starts with the same letter of the alphabet, instead of every line with a different letter. The psalm has 22 stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And this psalm has a clear theme: God’s Word— or a synonym for it, is mentioned in almost every verse. Re-reading JOHN 3:One of the features of John's...

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NL-Day172 2 Samuel 22; John 3 show art NL-Day172 2 Samuel 22; John 3

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 22:We near the end of David’s story. God gave him victory over Sheba and the house of Saul. The killing of seven of the descendants of Saul seems harsh and past the ‘statute of limitations’ to us. But God arranged that revenge in response to untold injustices that were wreaked by Saul against the Gibeonites. Note: God takes notice of covenants made and wants us to do what we promise in His name. David’s song of praise in chapter 22 closely follows Psalm 18. Because of this long poetic section today, we skip a day reading from the Psalms. JOHN 3:John’s Gospel is unique in...

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NL-Day171 2 Samuel 21; Psalm 118:14-29; John 2 show art NL-Day171 2 Samuel 21; Psalm 118:14-29; John 2

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 21:The story of David being welcomed back ended poorly with arguments. Sheba attempted to mount a revolt. He died even though surrounded by his clan members because there was a wise woman in the town where he had taken refuge. Before that, David had decided to promote national reconciliation by appointing Amasa as military commander. But Joab, who had grown too powerful, shamefully put an end to Amasa's career. Re-reading PSALM 118:This is an antiphonal psalm. Imagine a leader and a chorus of voices saying a series of refrains. Today we will hear verse 22, which is the Old Testament...

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NL-Day170 2 Samuel 20; Psalm 118:1-16; John 2 show art NL-Day170 2 Samuel 20; Psalm 118:1-16; John 2

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 20:Yesterday we heard the story of how David sent out his army under three commanders, Joab, Abishai, and Ittai. He gave them orders to deal gently with Absalom. Joab— who was always pragmatic, didn't do this. Along with Absalom, 20,000 men died in the civil war. Joab stopped David’s mourning for his son and ordered him to go out to encourage his troops. And finally the people decided to bring David back as their king. PSALM 118a:This is one of the antiphonal psalms. Imagine a leader and all the congregation saying the refrain. One of the most often quoted verses about the Messiah...

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NL-Day169 2 Samuel 18-19; Psalm 117; John 1:24-51 show art NL-Day169 2 Samuel 18-19; Psalm 117; John 1:24-51

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 18-19:Civil war might have been avoided, but Absalom didn’t choose wisely. And I observe that my being bald has advantages in some situations! But seriously, all of the terrible things that happened here are the consequences of David’s sin. PSALM 117:This is a doxology that one day the whole world will sing. JOHN 1b:John consciously made an original account, and very consciously left out things that are included in the three Synoptic Gospels. Where he does include things the others wrote about, he includes details that the others didn’t mention. Those stories are made to fit his...

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NL-Day168 2 Samuel 17; Psalm 116; John 1:1-34 show art NL-Day168 2 Samuel 17; Psalm 116; John 1:1-34

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 17:Yesterday we heard how Saul's servant, Ziba, showed his loyalty and helped David on his way. And how Shimei from Saul's family cursed and persecuted David all along the way. No wonder David was exhausted after that hike. David refused to put him to death or to punish him. (But we find out later that he didn't forget about Shimei.) David's friend, Hushai, joined himself to Absalom, as David asked him to do. And Nathan’s prophecy to David was unknowingly fulfilled through Ahithophel’s advice to Absolom. PSALM 116:This is a poem sharing personal experience. Though this poem is not...

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NL-Day167 2 Samuel 16; Psalm 115; Romans 16 show art NL-Day167 2 Samuel 16; Psalm 115; Romans 16

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 16:Absolom first stole the hearts of all Israel by being a shrewd politician. Then he mounted a rebellion against his own father. David fled Jerusalem to avoid bloodshed, and as he left, he planted several carefully chosen people to work for him. PSALM 115:I know I have said it a lot, but can’t help saying it again: This is one of my favorite psalms. Our God is so different than idols. He is in heaven and does whatever He pleases. ROMANS 16:Having told of his plans to visit Rome on his way to Spain, and how he must first go to Jerusalem, Paul now turns to greeting his friends in...

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NL-Day166 2 Samuel 15; Psalm 114; Romans 15 show art NL-Day166 2 Samuel 15; Psalm 114; Romans 15

Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields

2SAMUEL 15:In our last reading, we heard how Joab creatively arranged to persuade David to bring Absalom back from exile. And how eventually David agreed to let Absolom meet him directly. PSALM 114:This poem praises God for the miraculous deliverance from Egypt. Re-reading ROMANS 15:Chapter 15 of Romans comes to this summary sentence in verse 13: “May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your [believing//faith] in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.” NLT Translation notes:Rom. 15:6 Then all of you can join together...

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1SAMUEL 25:
God gave protection and victory to David. In a scene that must have caused Saul's men to roll their eyes several times, Saul was humbled before them as David directly confronted him. But after making peace, they didn't go back to the capital together.

PSALM 105a:
Today’s psalm is for teaching and reminding each generation of the children of Israel about the great things God has done for the Jewish people.

ROMANS 9a:
What wonderful promises God has given to us in chapter 8 of Romans! That chapter always reminds me of a time when a Christian leader did wrong to me, and then said that it really didn’t matter because it would all turn out OK because of Romans 8:28. That is the ultimate of hypocrisy! It ruined that verse for me for a long time. But God DOES indeed work all things for good for all of us who fulfill the conditions stated. This chapter also reminds me of Eloise Burson— the wife of one of my spiritual fathers, Richard. Some years after her husband's death, she showed me how her Bible— if you just let it fall open, would always open to Romans 8. There is no richer passage to meditate on or to memorize.

Note that we are entering a difficult section of Romans. Romans 12 starts with “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercies, …” But if you look back at what goes right before that in chapter 11, that doesn’t seem to be what Paul is going back to with the word ‘Therefore’ and ‘mercies’. Can you find what Paul was going back to and how the sections we will read for the next few days fit together?

NLT Translation notes:
Rom. 8:33 Who will accuse God's chosen people? God himself declares them not guilty!
34 Who, then, will condemn [us//them]? Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with him for us!
37 [No, but//That’s true, but//No,] in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!
Rom. 9:24 And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the [non-Jews//Gentiles].
25 Concerning the [non-Jews//Gentiles], God says in the prophecy of Hosea,
“Those who were not my people,
I will now call my people.
And I will love those
whom I did not love before.”
30 What does all this mean? Even though the [non-Jews//Gentiles] were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by [their fully believing//faith] that this took place.
32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the lawo instead of by [fully believing his promises//trusting in him]. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.
[Here the NLT was inconsistent. Before now they have used ‘believe’ and ‘faith’ to translate the same root ‘pistews’ And now they used ‘trust’. Of course, every word of every language has a range of meanings. I have no problem with translating ‘pisteos’ as trust, per se. It is just that using ‘trust’ here does not help us see the continuity of what Paul has been saying in this book. I would be quite happy to go back through all of Romans and change ‘fully believing’ to ‘fully trusting’. It is important we keep the cohesion between v.32, 33,and 10:4.]
33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,
“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who [believes//trusts] in him
will never be disgraced.”

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.