Daily Devotions · November 6
Reading for November 6
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Job 30 · Psalm 120 · Galatians 3–4
Job 30 · Psalm 120 · Galatians 3–4, Berean Standard Bible
Job 30
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs. 2 What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them? 3 Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. 4 They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. 5 They were banished from among men, shouted at like thieves, 6 so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. 7 They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles. 8 A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land. 9 And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. 10 They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. 11 Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. 12 The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me. 13 They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them. 14 They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in. 15 Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud. 16 And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me. 17 Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest. 18 With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic. 19 He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes. 20 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me. 21 You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand. 22 You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm. 23 Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living. 24 Yet no one stretches out his hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress. 25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy? 26 But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell. 27 I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me. 28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. 29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches. 30 My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever. 31 My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
Psalm 120
A song of ascents. In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me. 2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue. 3 What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue? 4 Sharp arrows will come from the warrior, with burning coals of the broom tree! 5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too long have I dwelt among those who hate peace. 7 I am in favor of peace; but when I speak, they want war.
Galatians 3
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe? 6 So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. 15 Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ. 17 What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise. 19 Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator. 20 A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one. 21 Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law. 22 But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe. 23 Before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24 So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 4
What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything. 2 He is subject to guardians and trustees until the date set by his father. 3 So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God. 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain. 12 I beg you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. 13 You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. 14 And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself. 15 What then has become of your blessing? For I can testify that, if it were possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. 18 Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose—at any time, and not only when I am with you. 19 My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20 how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you. 21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise. 24 These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
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
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
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Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
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Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
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Prayer
Talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you live it.
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.
Missed a day? Don't start over. Read today's chapters and keep going.