Day 58

Psalms 96, 100-101, 105, 132

Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

96 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth!

2    Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

tell of his salvation from day to day.

3    Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples!

4    For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

he is to be feared above all gods.

5    For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

6    Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7    Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

8    Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering, and come into his courts!

9    Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

tremble before him, all the earth!

10    Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!

Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;

he will judge the peoples with equity.”

11    Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

12        let the field exult, and everything in it!

       Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

13        before the Lord, for he comes,

for he comes to judge the earth.

       He will judge the world in righteousness,

and the peoples in his faithfulness. [1]

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

100 A Psalm for giving thanks.

1    Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2        Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

3    Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4    Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5    For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

I Will Walk with Integrity

101 A Psalm of David.

1    I will sing of steadfast love and justice;

to you, O Lord, I will make music.

2    I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh when will you come to me?

       I will walk with integrity of heart

within my house;

3    I will not set before my eyes

anything that is worthless.

       I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cling to me.

4    A perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will know nothing of evil.

5    Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly

I will destroy.

       Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart

I will not endure.

6    I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me;

       he who walks in the way that is blameless

shall minister to me.

7    No one who practices deceit

shall dwell in my house;

       no one who utters lies

shall continue before my eyes.

8    Morning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

       cutting off all the evildoers

from the city of the Lord. [2]

Tell of All His Wondrous Works

105 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples!

2    Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!

3    Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

4    Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

5    Remember the wondrous works that he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

6    O offspring of Abraham, his servant,

children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

7    He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

8    He remembers his covenant forever,

the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

9    the covenant that he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,

10    which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

11    saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

as your portion for an inheritance.”

12    When they were few in number,

of little account, and sojourners in it,

13    wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

14    he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their account,

15    saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,

do my prophets no harm!”

16    When he summoned a famine on the land

and broke all supply of bread,

17    he had sent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

18    His feet were hurt with fetters;

his neck was put in a collar of iron;

19    until what he had said came to pass,

the word of the Lord tested him.

20    The king sent and released him;

the ruler of the peoples set him free;

21    he made him lord of his house

and ruler of all his possessions,

22    to bind his princes at his pleasure

and to teach his elders wisdom.

23    Then Israel came to Egypt;

Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

24    And the Lord made his people very fruitful

and made them stronger than their foes.

25    He turned their hearts to hate his people,

to deal craftily with his servants.

26    He sent Moses, his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27    They performed his signs among them

and miracles in the land of Ham.

28    He sent darkness, and made the land dark;

they did not rebel against his words.

29    He turned their waters into blood

and caused their fish to die.

30    Their land swarmed with frogs,

even in the chambers of their kings.

31    He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,

and gnats throughout their country.

32    He gave them hail for rain,

and fiery lightning bolts through their land.

33    He struck down their vines and fig trees,

and shattered the trees of their country.

34    He spoke, and the locusts came,

young locusts without number,

35    which devoured all the vegetation in their land

and ate up the fruit of their ground.

36    He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of all their strength.

37    Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,

and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

38    Egypt was glad when they departed,

for dread of them had fallen upon it.

39    He spread a cloud for a covering,

and fire to give light by night.

40    They asked, and he brought quail,

and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.

41    He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

it flowed through the desert like a river.

42    For he remembered his holy promise,

and Abraham, his servant.

43    So he brought his people out with joy,

his chosen ones with singing.

44    And he gave them the lands of the nations,

and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,

45    that they might keep his statutes

and observe his laws.

       Praise the Lord! [3]

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

132 A Song of Ascents.

1    Remember, O Lord, in David’s favor,

all the hardships he endured,

2    how he swore to the Lord

and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,

3    “I will not enter my house

or get into my bed,

4    I will not give sleep to my eyes

or slumber to my eyelids,

5    until I find a place for the Lord,

a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

6    Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;

we found it in the fields of Jaar.

7    “Let us go to his dwelling place;

let us worship at his footstool!”

8    Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place,

you and the ark of your might.

9    Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,

and let your saints shout for joy.

10    For the sake of your servant David,

do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

11    The Lord swore to David a sure oath

from which he will not turn back:

       “One of the sons of your body

I will set on your throne.

12    If your sons keep my covenant

and my testimonies that I shall teach them,

       their sons also forever

shall sit on your throne.”

13    For the Lord has chosen Zion;

he has desired it for his dwelling place:

14    “This is my resting place forever;

here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

15    I will abundantly bless her provisions;

I will satisfy her poor with bread.

16    Her priests I will clothe with salvation,

and her saints will shout for joy.

17    There I will make a horn to sprout for David;

I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.

18    His enemies I will clothe with shame,

but on him his crown will shine.” [4]

2 Samuel 6-7

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

6 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. 3 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, 4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.

Uzzah and the Ark

5 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.

David and Michal

16 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. 17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 18 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts 19 and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house.

20 And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” 21 And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.” 23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

The Lord’s Covenant with David

7 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

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.” [5]

1 Chronicles 17

The Lord’s Covenant with David

17 Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.” 2 And Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

3 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 4 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in. 5 For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling. 6 In all places where I have moved with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ 7 Now, therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel, 8 and I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 9 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly, 10 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house. 11 When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, 14 but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.’ ” 15 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

16 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? 17 And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O Lord God! 18 And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant. 19 For your servant’s sake, O Lord, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 There is none like you, O Lord, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt? 22 And you made your people Israel to be your people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God. 23 And now, O Lord, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have spoken, 24 and your name will be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 25 For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you. 26 And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O Lord, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” [6]