Wednesday, January 26, 2022

The Daily Bible Readings for Wednesday, January 26, 2022

 

The Daily Bible Readings
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Psalm 119:89-96; Jeremiah 36:27-32; Luke 4:38-44
with commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Introduction & Summary

In today’s lectionary readings, our psalm gives three reasons you can stand firm on the unfailing word of God: 1. The Word of God is Permanent. 2. The word of God is Powerful. 3. The Word of God is Perfect.

In our reading in Jeremiah, the burned scroll is re-written, and the word resurfaces and creates a memory with significant consequences for Jehoiakim’s lineage. These consequences cannot be avoided because they result from Jehoiakim’s decisions. He can no more bury these implications as he can erase the evidence of his poor choices.

In our gospel reading in Luke, Jesus’ authority is demonstrated over sickness first in Simon’s home as Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. Later, Jesus heals others in the region. Jesus’ rebuke of the demons again highlights his sovereign authority and powerful word.

In our verse of the day, we are instructed to submit to God, with a promise that when we resist the devil, he will flee from us.

Today’s Verse of the Day:
James 4:10

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
This is another way of saying, as God spoke through Samuel the prophet, “Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam. 2:30). When we submit ourselves fully to the Lord, He works through us to achieve His will. It is then that His glory shines through us, and we are able to achieve things that would never be possible through our own wisdom and strength.


Today’s Lectionary Readings:
From the Psalter
Psalm 119:89-96
The Law of God Gives Life

89 Your word, Lord, is eternal;
      it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
      you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day,
      for all things serve you.
92 If your law had not been my delight,
      I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
      for by them you have preserved my life.
94 Save me, for I am yours;
      I have sought out your precepts.
95 The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
      but I will ponder your statutes.
96 To all perfection I see a limit,
      but your commands are boundless.


Commentary

The Law of God Gives Life

The settling of God's word in heaven, is opposed to the changes and revolutions of the earth. And the engagements of God's covenant are established more firmly than the earth itself. All the creatures answer the ends of their creation: shall man, who alone is endued with reason, be the only unprofitable burden of the earth? We may make the Bible a pleasant companion at any time. But the word, without the grace of God, would not quicken us. See the best help for bad memories, namely, good affections; and though the exact words be lost, if the meaning remain, that is well. I am thine, not my own, not the world's; save me from sin, save me from ruin.


From the Prophetic Books of Major Prophets
Jeremiah 36:27-32
Jeremiah Dictates a Second Scroll

36:27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. 29 Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You burned that scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it both man and beast?” 30 Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.’”

32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.


Commentary

God’s response to the burning of the scroll.

Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!


From the Gospels
Luke 4:38-44
Jesus Heals and Preaches in Synagogues

4:38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.

40 At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” 44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Commentary

Jesus heals the sick.

Christ's preaching much affected the people; and a working power went with it to the consciences of men. These miracles showed Christ to be a controller and conqueror of Satan, a healer of diseases. Where Christ gives a new life, in recovery from sickness, it should be a new life, spent more than ever in his service, to his glory. Our business should be to spread abroad Christ's fame in every place, to beseech him in behalf of those diseased in body or mind, and to use our influence in bringing sinners to him, that his hands may be laid upon them for their healing. He cast the devils out of many who were possessed. We were not sent into this world to live to ourselves only, but to glorify God, and to do good in our generation. The people sought him, and came unto him. A desert is no desert, if we are with Christ there. He will continue with us, by his word and Spirit, and extend the same blessings to other nations, till, throughout the earth, the servants and worshipers of Satan are brought to acknowledge him as the Christ, the Son of God, and to find redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.



Today’s Lectionary Readings are selected from the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, a three-year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2022, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2021 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org. The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible.

The Morning Prayer for Wednesday, January 26, 2022

 

The Morning Prayer
Wednesday, January 26, 2022


The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
Psalm 145:18-19, NIV


Dear Father in heaven, Almighty God, your children look to you in prayer. Hold us always by the hand. Reveal to us that you hear us, that you are among us providing what is best for us, to the glory of your name. In this hour let us experience something from you, the good and merciful One. May we always be glad and thankful for all we have already received from you and for all we are still to receive in our lives. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Wednesday, January 26, 2022

 

Verse of the Day
Wednesday, January 26, 2022


James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
This is another way of saying, as God spoke through Samuel the prophet, “Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam. 2:30). When we submit ourselves fully to the Lord, He works through us to achieve His will. It is then that His glory shines through us, and we are able to achieve things that would never be possible through our own wisdom and strength.

Read all of James Chapter 4

Listen to James Chapter 4


Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Our Daily Bread — True Happiness

 

True Happiness

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. Ecclesiastes 3:12

READ Ecclesiastes 3:9–14

In the tenth century, Abd al-Rahman III was the ruler of Cordoba, Spain. After fifty years of successful reign (“beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies”), al-Rahman took a deeper look at his life. “Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call,” he said of his privileges. But when he counted how many days of genuine happiness he’d had during that time, they amounted to just fourteen. How sobering.

The writer of Ecclesiastes was also a man of riches and honor (Ecclesiastes 2:7–9), power and pleasure (1:12; 2:1–3). And his own life evaluation was equally sobering. Riches, he realized, just led to a desire for more (5:10–11), while pleasures accomplished little (2:1–2), and success could be due to chance as much as ability (9:11). But his assessment didn’t end as bleakly as al-Rahman’s. Believing God was his ultimate source of happiness, he saw that eating, working, and doing good could all be enjoyed when done with Him (2:25; 3:12–13).

“O man!” al-Rahman concluded his reflections, “place not thy confidence in this present world!” The writer of Ecclesiastes would agree. Since we’ve been made for eternity (3:11), earthly pleasures and achievements won’t satisfy by themselves. But with Him in our lives, genuine happiness is possible in our eating, working, and living.

By Sheridan Voysey

REFLECT & PRAY


What do you turn to most to find happiness? How can you eat, work, and do good with God today?

Heavenly Father, today I will do all things with You by my side.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Ecclesiastes 3 emphasizes humanity’s inability to discern the ways in which God’s plan and purposes are at work, suggesting that this is often experienced by people as a “burden” (v. 10). For although God has “set eternity in the human heart . . . no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (v. 11). The word translated “eternity” (Hebrew ‘olam) can be translated in a variety of ways. Here, some scholars argue it means “the age to come,” some say it refers primarily to the future, and others believe it refers to how all of time is connected. Whatever the meaning, the teacher in Ecclesiastes suggests that trying too hard to understand life’s whys or the ways in which God’s purposes will be realized will make it impossible to find satisfaction in the ups and downs of daily life (v. 12).

Monica La Rose