Daily Devotions · March 28
Reading for March 28
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Judges 4–5 · Psalm 39, 41 · 1 Corinthians 13
Judges 4–5 · Psalm 39, 41 · 1 Corinthians 13, Berean Standard Bible
Judges 4
After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD. 2 So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment. 6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 “I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh, 10 where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh. 12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor, 13 he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left. 17 Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 19 Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. 20 “Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died. 22 When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple. 23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.
Judges 5
On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: 2 “When the princes take the lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, bless the LORD. 3 Listen, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4 O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water. 5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel. 6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways. 7 Life in the villages ceased; it ended in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel. 8 When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel. 9 My heart is with the princes of Israel, with the volunteers among the people. Bless the LORD! 10 You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder 11 the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates: 12 ‘Awake, awake, O Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, O Barak, and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!’ 13 Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty. 14 Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; Benjamin came with your people after you. The commanders came down from Machir, the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun. 15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision. 16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision. 17 Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger by the ships? Asher stayed at the coast and remained in his harbors. 18 Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield. 19 Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver. 20 From the heavens the stars fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera. 21 The River Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the River Kishon. March on, O my soul, in strength! 22 Then the hooves of horses thundered—the mad galloping of his stallions. 23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’ 24 Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. 25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds. 26 She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple. 27 At her feet he collapsed, he fell, there he lay still; at her feet he collapsed, he fell; where he collapsed, there he fell dead. 28 Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’ 29 Her wisest ladies answer; indeed she keeps telling herself, 30 ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’ 31 So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
Psalm 39
For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.” 2 I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred. 3 My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue: 4 “Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. 5 You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah 6 Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away. 7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools. 9 I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done. 10 Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand. 11 You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah 12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers. 13 Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
Psalm 41
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble. 2 The LORD will protect and preserve him; He will bless him in the land and refuse to give him over to the will of his foes. 3 The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness. 4 I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You.” 5 My enemies say with malice: “When will he die and be forgotten?” 6 My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad. 7 All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me: 8 “A vile disease has been poured into him; he will never get up from where he lies!” 9 Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. 10 But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, that I may repay them. 11 By this I know that You delight in me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. 12 In my integrity You uphold me and set me in Your presence forever. 13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6 Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 12 Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.
Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain.
How to SOAP
Grab a journal and a pen. Read the chapters above and watch for the verse that stops you. Then take it through four steps.
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Scripture
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Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
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Application
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Prayer
Talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you live it.
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Why daily devotions?
Devotions are time set aside each day to read God's Word and let Him speak. The point isn't checking off chapters. It's meeting with Him.
Ten or fifteen minutes is enough to start. Pick a time and a place and keep the appointment. Mornings work well for a lot of us, before the phone and the day start talking.
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