Daily Devotions

my-new-years-resolution

Daily Meditation on the Old Testament – Week 3 (January 17-23)

ot-week-3

Sunday – Psalm 5 LSB 869 – With the Lord Begin Your Task
1. When and to whom does David pray and what is his prayer? v. 1-3
2. What does the Lord hate and abhor? v. 4-6
3. Because of the Lord’s steadfast love, what does David desire? v. 7-8
4. What does David pray for those who take refuge in the Lord? v. 11-12
Monday – Genesis 12 LSB 936 – Sing Praise to the God of Israel
1. How does the Lord call Abram? v. 1-3
2. What blessings does the Lord promise to Abram? v. 2-3, 7
3. How does Abram respond to the Lord’s Gospel promises? v. 4, 7-8
4. How is Abram and Sara’s sojourn in Egypt a type of the Israelites in Egypt?
Tuesday – Genesis 13 LSB 798 – The God of Abraham Praise v. 1-4
1. How is the Lord blessing Abram? v. 2, 5-6
2. How is Abram’s faith in the Lord’s provision manifested to his neighbor?
3. How does Lot’s greed place him in peril? v. 10-13
4. How does Abram respond to the Lord’s promise to give him the land? v. 18
Wednesday – Genesis 14 LSB 781 – We Give Thee But Thine Own
1. How did Lot lose his freedom and all his possessions? v. 12
2. How does the Lord deliver Lot? v. 14-16
3. How does Abram show lack of greed but trust in the Lord? v. 20-24
4. How is Melchizedek a type of Christ? v. 18-20 (Hebrews 6:19-7:3)
Thursday – Genesis 15 LSB 580 – The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace
1. Why does Abram question the Lord’s former promises? v. 2-3
2. What was Abram’s response to the Lord’s promise and the result? v. 5-6
3. What does the Lord prophesy of Abram’s descendants? v. 13-16
4. What does the fire pot passing through the pieces of the sacrifice mean? v.17
Friday – Genesis 16 LSB 731 – O God, Forsake Me Not
1. How do Abram and Sarai try to fulfill the Lord’s promise without His aid? v.2
2. What are the consequences of their sin? v. 4-6
3. Whom does Hagar believe the angel (messenger) of the LORD to be? v. 13
4. How is the prophecy fulfilled that Ishmael would be against his kinsmen?
Saturday – Isaiah 5 LSB 691 – Fruitful Trees, the Spirit’s Sowing tune 427
1. Who is the “beloved” who has the vineyard and what is the vineyard? v. 1, 7
2. What did God find when he looked for grapes? v. 2, 4
3. How does God discipline His people? v. 5-6
4. In Jesus’ parable, Matthew 21:33-46, to whom does God give his vineyard?
For this week, memorize and meditate on the Second Article and its meaning

Answers to Daily Meditation on the Old Testament – Week 3 (January 17-23)

Sunday – Psalm 5
1. David prays in the morning to his Lord, God, & King that He would hear him
2. Wickedness, evil, boasting, lying, deceit, and bloodthirsty acts.
3. David desires to enter the Lord’s house, worship Him, and be led by the Lord.
4. That the Lord would protect, bless, and cover them with favor (be gracious).
Monday – Genesis 12
1. The Lord calls Abram with His Gospel promises. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)
2. The Lord promises Abram many descendants, the land of Canaan, and from those descendants the Messiah through whom all nations would be blessed.
3. By faith Abram obeys the Lord’s command, builds an altar, and worships Him.
4. Pharaoh takes the Lord’s bride, but through plagues they leave with plunder.
Tuesday – Genesis 13
1. Abram has so many possessions that the land cannot support him and Lot.
2. Abram is generous to Lot, allowing him to choose the more fertile land.
3. Lot’s choosing the well-watered plain parked him near wicked men of Sodom
4. Abram built an altar to the Lord and worshipped Him.
Wednesday – Genesis 14
1. By dwelling in the wicked city of Sodom, Lot was captured in a civil war.
2. The Lord grants Abram victory over Lot’s captors.
3. Abram takes none of the spoils of war but gives a tenth to the Lord.
4. Like the meaning of Melchizedek’s name and title, Christ is forever the king of righteousness and the king of peace who blesses us through bread and wine.
Thursday – Genesis 15
1. Abram has no heir, no descendants to inherit the land, therefore no Messiah.
2. Abram believed the Lord, and God counted him righteousness. (Rom. 4:1-8)
3. They would be slaves 400 years in a foreign land but God would free them.
4. God will bear the burden of keeping the covenant by sacrificing His Son.
Friday – Genesis 16
1. They introduce a third party into their marriage to try to produce an heir.
2. Rivalry, contempt, and harsh treatment in the household.
3. She believes Him to be the God who sees her (most likely the Son of God).
4. From him descend the Arabic people who have rivaled the Jews for millennia.
Saturday – Isaiah 5
1. God or God’s Son, beloved of the Father. The vineyard is God’s people, Israel.
2. He found wild grapes, the fruits of unrighteousness, injustice, and bloodshed
3. He removes His protection, provision, and care.
4. To other people, the Gentiles, whose faith will bear fruits of righteousness.

Daily Meditation on the Old Testament – Week 2 (January 10-16)

ot-week-2

Sunday – Psalm 2 LSB 398 – Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
1. Who is the Lord’s Anointed whom the kings of the earth are against? v. 2
2. Why does the Lord laugh at the kings of the earth? v. 4
3. Who is the Son whom the Lord begets? (Acts 13:32-33, Hebrews 5:5)
4. Those who do not honor the Lord’s Son perish, but who are blessed? v. 12
Monday – Genesis 6 LSB 613 – To Thee Omniscient Lord of All
1. What does it mean that the sons of God married the daughters of men? v. 2
2. Why did God plan to judge the whole earth with a flood? v. 5-7, 11-13
3. Besides Noah, whom else did God find favor (was gracious) with? (Luke 1:30)
4. Why was Noah a righteous and blameless man who walked with God? v. 9
Tuesday – Genesis 7 LSB 596 – All Christians Who Have Been Baptized
1. Besides two of every animal, why did Noah take seven of every clean animal?
2. In the days of the flood, who alone remained in the Old Testament Church?
3. How is the flood a type of the Last Day judgment?
4. How is the flood a type of baptism?
Wednesday – Genesis 8 LSB 809 – Great Is Thy Faithfulness
1. What does it mean that God “remembered” Noah? v. 1 (Nehemiah 13:31)
2. What does the dove and olive branch symbolize for early Christians? v. 11
3. What did Noah do immediately after leaving the ark? v. 20
4. Why was the Lord pleased with the burnt offering? v. 21
Thursday – Genesis 9 LSB 575 – My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
1. After the flood, how did God limit man’s wickedness and violence? v. 5-6
2. What was God’s unconditional covenant (promise) to all the earth? v. 9-11
3. How is the rainbow an example of how God works sacramentally? v. 12-13
4. Though wicked man drowned, what indicated that sinful nature continued?
Friday – Genesis 11 LSB 500 – Creator Spirit, by Whose Aid
1. How did the people sin by building a tower to the heavens? v. 4
2. How did the Trinity (“let us”) foil their plans and disperse them over earth?
3. When and how did God reverse the curse of Babel? (Acts 2:1-11)
4. From which descendants of Noah would God send a Savior for wicked man?
Saturday – Isaiah 2 LSB 653 – In Christ There Is No East or West
1. What time do “the latter days” refer to? v. 1
2. What does “Mountain of the Lord” and “Mount Zion” refer to? v. 2-3
3. Besides the Jews, who else will join this messianic kingdom?
4. What does “beating swords into plowshares” represent? v. 4
Again this week, memorize and meditate on the First Article and its meaning

Answers to Daily Meditation on the Old Testament – Week 2 (January 10-16)

Sunday – Psalm 2
1. The Anointed One is the Messiah, the Christ.
2. The Lord enthrones His Anointed King who reigns over them and all the earth
3. Divinity only begets Divinity. The Lord’s only begotten Son is Jesus Christ.
4. Those who take refuge in Jesus are blessed. (Matt. 5:11-12, Matt. 25:34)
Monday – Genesis 6
1. Godly believers, descendants of Seth, intermarried with godless unbelievers.
2. Because of original sin, man was totally wicked, evil, corrupt, and violent.
3. The Lord found favor (was gracious) to the virgin Mary whose womb served as the ark of the Christ child.
4. Noah believed God’s promise to save through the ark and Christ. (Heb. 11:7)
Tuesday – Genesis 7
1. After the flood, Noah sacrificed some of every clean animal as a type of Christ
2. 8 people: Noah, his wife, his sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth – and their wives
3. On the Last Day God will again judge unbelief. (Matt. 24:37-39, 2 Peter 2:5,9)
4. In Holy Baptism the old man drowns and dies, and the new man rises to new life. (2 Peter 3:18-21)
Wednesday – Genesis 8
1. God does not forget us, but he begins to work for our good.
2. Baptism by the Holy Spirit and the resulting peace with God.
3. He sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord as an act of worship.
4. It was a sacrament which atoned for sin like Christ’s sacrifice. (Lev. 1:3-4)
Thursday – Genesis 9
1. God instituted human government to take life for life. (Romans 13:1-4)
2. God would never again send a worldwide flood to destroy all flesh.
3. God joins His Word of promise to a visible element (rainbow) for a blessing.
4. Noah got drunk on his wine, Ham mocked him, and Noah cursed Ham’s son.
Friday – Genesis 11
1. They disobeyed God’s command to fill the earth and glorified themselves.
2. God cursed them with different languages to stop and disperse them.
3. Pentecost. The Holy Spirit enabled the apostles to preach in many languages
4. From Shem would descend Abraham, the Hebrew nation, and Christ the Lord
Saturday – Isaiah 2
1. It is the time of the New Testament Church after Pentecost. (Acts 2:14-17)
2. Literally, Zion was the Temple Mount. Here it symbolizes God’s N.T. Church.
3. All nations (Gentiles), many peoples will be drawn to the Word of the Lord.
4. Peace among Christians of all nations in the N.T. Church. (Luke 2:13-14)

Daily Meditation on the Old Testament – Week 1 (January 3-9)

ot-week-1

Sunday – Psalm 1 LSB 705 – The Man Is Ever Blessed
1. Why is a man, or woman, blessed by God? v. 1-2
2. What is the blessed man like? v. 3
3. What is the fate of the wicked and the righteous? v. 4-6
4. How will you meditate on God’s Word and be blessed this year?
Monday – Genesis 1 LSB 578 – Thy Strong Word
1. How were the three persons of the Trinity active in creation? v. 1-3
2. How were living things to reproduce? v. 11-12, 21, 24-25
3. What does it mean that man was made in the image of God? v. 26-27
4. How did God create you?
Tuesday – Genesis 2 LSB 858 – O Father, All Creating
1. How did God create man and woman specially? v. 7, 21-22
2. What did God give man to do in the garden of Eden? v. 15
3. What command did God give the man? v. 16-17
4. Who instituted and defined marriage as between a man and woman? v. 24
Wednesday – Genesis 3 LSB 561 – The Tree of Life
1. Who was the serpent and why did he fall from heaven?
2. How did the serpent tempt Adam and Eve to sin? v. 1, 4-5
3. What happened when they ate from the forbidden tree? v. 7-13
4. What was the first Gospel promise and Messianic prophecy? v. 15
Thursday – Genesis 4 LSB 572 – In the Shattered Bliss of Eden
1. What was the difference between how Cain and Abel gave their offering?
2. How did God punish Cain for killing his brother, and how did He show mercy?
3. How did the sin of Adam effect his descendants and us? v. 8-9, 23
4. When and how did public worship begin? v. 26
Friday – Genesis 5 LSB 569 – In Adam We Have All Been One
1. How was the birth of Seth different from the creation of Adam? v. 3
2. How was Enoch an example of what God originally intended for man? v. 24
3. Who and how old was the oldest man recorded in the Bible? v. 27
4. What happened to all of Adam’s descendants?
Saturday – Isaiah 1 LSB 915 – Today Your Mercy Calls Us
1. Where and when was Isaiah a prophet of the Lord? v. 1
2. Why has the Lord rejected the people’s worship? v. 2-4, 11-15
3. What does the Lord desire of his people? v. 16-17, 27
4. How will the Lord turn their sins from scarlet to white? v. 18
For this week, memorize and meditate on the First Article and its meaning

Answers for Daily Meditation on the Old Testament – Week 1 (January 3-9)

Sunday – Psalm 1
1. When they avoid the influence of unbelievers and meditate on God’s Word.
2. He is like a tree, nourished by living water, which bears fruit of godliness.
3. The Lord knows the way of believers, but the unbelievers will perish.
4. Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. (Luke 11:28)
Monday – Genesis 1
1. God the Father spoke His Word who is the Son (John 1:1-3). The Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, hovered over the waters.
2. Not by evolution but according to their kind.
3. Man had some of God’s attributes: holy, righteous, faithful, good, just, loving
4. God knew and formed you in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5) and gave you a soul.
Tuesday – Genesis 2
1. God formed man from dust and breathed into him his soul. God formed woman from the man’s side to be a fit and complimentary companion.
2. He was to work the ground, keep it, and be a good steward of the earth.
3. Man could eat from every tree but not the tree of knowledge, lest he die.
4. Not the government, media, or human opinion, but God alone.
Wednesday – Genesis 3
1. The evil angel, the devil, because of his pride. (Rev. 12:9, Ezekiel 28:11-19)
2. By questioning and twisting the Word of God.
3. They died spiritually, lost their relationship with God, and blamed others.
4. God would send a Savior who would suffer but crush the devil and his work.
Thursday – Genesis 4
1. Abel gave his offering with faith in God’s promise of a Savior. (Heb. 11:4)
2. Cain became a wandering fugitive, but God protected his life with a mark.
3. We have inherited a sinful nature that sins. (Matthew 15:19, Romans 5:12)
4. With multiple families, believers began to worship in the name of the Lord.
Friday – Genesis 5
1. God created Adam in His image, but Seth was born in his father’s sinful image
2. God took Enoch to heaven directly, without dying. (Hebrews 11:5-6)
3. Methuselah lived to be 969 years old . . . and then he died.
4. Because of sin, we all die, but because of Christ we live. (Romans 6:23)
Saturday – Isaiah 1
1. The southern kingdom of Judah, circa 700-750 B.C., just before the exile
2. They had forsaken the Lord, sinned, and worshipped hypocritically.
3. Repent by ceasing evil and doing good.
4. The blood of Jesus and water of baptism cleanse us of all sin. (1 Jo h n 1:7-9)