The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday May 25, 2017 (NIV)

Nathan's Message to David^(A)

7 King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord kept him safe from all his enemies. ² Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!”

³ Nathan answered, “Do whatever you have in mind, because the Lord is with you.” ⁴ But that night the Lord said to Nathan, ⁵ “Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, ‘You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in. ⁶ From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent. ⁷ In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders^[a] that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.’

⁸ “So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, ‘I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel. ⁹ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world. ^10-11 I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land, they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to keep you safe from all your enemies and to give you descendants. ^12 (B)When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. ¹³ He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever. ^14 (C)I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son. ¹⁵ But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. ^16 (D)You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.’”

¹⁷ Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

David's Prayer of Thanksgiving^(E)

¹⁸ Then King David went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, sat down and prayed, “Sovereign Lord, I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, nor is my family. ¹⁹ Yet now you are doing even more, Sovereign Lord; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come. And you let a man see this,^[b] Sovereign Lord! ²⁰ What more can I say to you! You know me, your servant. ²¹ It was your will and purpose to do this; you have done all these great things in order to instruct me. ²² How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God. ^23 (F)There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them^[c] have spread your fame throughout the world. You drove out^[d] other nations and their gods as your people advanced, the people whom you set free from Egypt to be your own. ²⁴ You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

²⁵ “And now, Lord God, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would. ²⁶ Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.’ And you will preserve my dynasty for all time. ²⁷ Lord Almighty, God of Israel! I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings.

²⁸ “And now, Sovereign Lord, you are God; you always keep your promises, and you have made this wonderful promise to me. ²⁹ I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, Sovereign Lord, have promised this, and your blessing will rest on my descendants forever.”

David's Military Victories^(G)

8 Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again, defeated them, and ended their control over the land.^[e]

² Then he defeated the Moabites. He made the prisoners lie down on the ground and put two out of every three of them to death. So the Moabites became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

³ Then he defeated the king of the Syrian state of Zobah, Hadadezer son of Rehob, as Hadadezer was on his way to restore his control over the territory by the upper Euphrates River. ⁴ David captured seventeen hundred of his cavalry and twenty thousand of his foot soldiers. He kept enough horses for a hundred chariots and crippled all the rest.

⁵ When the Syrians of Damascus sent an army to help King Hadadezer, David attacked it and killed twenty-two thousand men. ⁶ Then he set up military camps in^[f] their territory, and they became his subjects and paid taxes to him. The Lord made David victorious everywhere. ⁷ David captured the gold shields carried by Hadadezer's officials and took them to Jerusalem. ⁸ He also took a great quantity of bronze from Betah and Berothai, cities ruled by Hadadezer.

⁹ King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated all of Hadadezer's army. ¹⁰ So he sent his son Joram to greet King David and congratulate him for his victory over Hadadezer, against whom Toi had fought many times. Joram took David presents made of gold, silver, and bronze. ¹¹ King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he had conquered— ¹² Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek—as well as part of the loot he had taken from Hadadezer.

^13 (H)David became even more famous when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Edomites in Salt Valley. ¹⁴ He set up military camps^[g] throughout Edom, and the people there became his subjects. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.

¹⁵ David ruled over all of Israel and made sure that his people were always treated fairly and justly. ¹⁶ Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, was the commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records; ¹⁷ Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the court secretary; ¹⁸ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of^[h] David's bodyguards; and David's sons were priests.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

^15 (A)“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. ¹⁷ He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is^[a] in you.

¹⁸ “When I go, you will not be left all alone; I will come back to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will see me; and because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ When that day comes, you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me, just as I am in you.

^21 (B)“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. My Father will love those who love me; I too will love them and reveal myself to them.”

²² Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “Lord, how can it be that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and my Father and I will come to them and live with them. ²⁴ Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. And the teaching you have heard is not mine, but comes from the Father, who sent me.

²⁵ “I have told you this while I am still with you. ²⁶ The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.

²⁷ “Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am leaving, but I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father; for he is greater than I. ²⁹ I have told you this now before it all happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe. ³⁰ I cannot talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, ³¹ but the world must know that I love the Father; that is why I do everything as he commands me.

“Come, let us go from this place.

A Prayer for Understanding

Trusting the Law of the Lord

³³ Reverence for the Lord is an education in itself. You must be humble before you can ever receive honors.