Day 169 – June 18, 2021

The Wisdom of Solomon 1

Seek the Lord

1 Love righteousness, you who judge on the earth. Think about the Lord in goodness And seek Him with sincerity of heart;† 

2 Because He is found by those who do not tempt Him, And He is manifest to those who do not disbelieve Him. 

3 For dishonest reasoning separates people from God, And when His power examines someone, It convicts the undiscerning; 

4 For wisdom will not enter the soul that plots evil, Nor will it dwell in a body involved in sin.† 

5 For a holy spirit of discipline flees from deceit And sends away undiscerning reasoning; It will put wrongdoing to shame when it comes near.† 

God Examines Our Actions

6 For wisdom is a spirit that loves mankind, But she will punish a blasphemer because of his words; For God is the witness of his thoughts, The true examiner of his heart, and the hearer of his tongue; 

7 Because the Spirit of the Lord fills the world, And He who holds all things together knows what is said.† 

8 Therefore no one who speaks unrighteous things Will escape notice, Nor will justice, when it cross-examines, pass him by. 

9 For there shall be a close examination Into the deliberations of an ungodly man, And a report of his words will come to the Lord As proof of his lawlessness; 

10 For the zealous ear hears all things, And the noise of murmuring is not hidden. 

11 Therefore keep yourself from useless murmuring And refrain your tongue from evil speech; For no secret word will go unpunished, And a lying mouth will destroy one’s soul. 

God Made Life, Not Death

12 Do not be zealous for death by the deceit of your life, Nor bring destruction upon yourself by the works of your hands. 

13 For God did not make death, Neither does He have pleasure over the destruction of the living.† 

14 For He created all things that they might exist, And the generations of the world so they might be preserved; For there was no poison of death in them, Nor was the reign of Hades on the earth. 

15 For righteousness does not die. 

16 But the ungodly summoned death by their words and works; Although they thought death would be a friend, they were dissolved. For they made a covenant with death, Since they were deserving to share it in common.

Psalms 138

1 For the End; a psalm by David. ††O Lord, You test me and know me; 

2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts from afar; 

3 You search out my path and my portion, And You foresee all my ways. 

4 For there is not a word on my tongue, 

5 But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether, The last things and the first things; You fashioned me, and placed Your hands on me. 

6 Your knowledge has become too wondrous for me; It has become too overwhelming; I am unable to grasp it. 

7 Where could I go from Your Spirit, Or flee from Your face? 

8 If I should ascend into heaven, You would be there; If I should descend into Hades, You would be there; 

9 If I should take up my wings at dawn And pitch camp at the furthest part of the sea, 

10 Even there Your hand would lead me, And Your right hand would hold me. 

11 And I said, “Perhaps darkness shall cover me,” But the night shall be light to my delight; 

12 For darkness shall not be dark because of You, And the night shall be bright as day; As its darkness, so also shall be its light.

Proverbs of Solomon 29

24 He who takes part with a thief hates his own soul, And if, when an oath is set forth, those who hear it do not report it, 

25 They are tripped up, because they fear and stand in awe of men; But he who trusts in the Lord will rejoice.† 

26 Ungodliness causes a man to stumble, But he who trusts in the Master shall be saved. 

27 Many serve in the presence of leaders, But righteousness comes to a man from the Lord.† 

28 An abomination to the righteous is an unrighteous man, And the upright way is an abomination to the lawless.

Acts 3

Evangelism: A Lame Man Is Healed

1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour .†

2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple;

3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.

4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.”

5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”†

7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.

9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God.

10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.†

Peter’s Sermon at Solomon’s Porch

11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.†

12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?†

13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.

14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,

21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 

23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 

24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.

25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 

26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.Ӡ