Proverbs 25:15-28 Reading & Prayer

The Public Reading of Scripture

I know many of us here this morning are in the practice of reading scripture regularly. If you do this in the morning, you may call that time morning devotions or your quiet time. Bible reading has become largely a private practice, that is to say, something we do on our own. And certainly this is an important discipline to which we must commit ourselves.

What we are about to do together is read and hear the word of God. In our worship guides on page 2, the order of worship is outlined. In this outline are all the major segments of the worship service (appearing in a deep red font), and next to each of these segments are a description. Towards the bottom of page 2 you see “Scripture Reading & Prayer” and next to that you see Our submission and petition. We will, after reading Scripture together take time to pray together, and this will be our collective petition. But when we take the time to read the Word of God out loud during the Sunday worship service, we are recognizing our need to submit ourselves to the word of God. The Word of God is truth and life. The Scriptures are what God has provided us as the lifeblood and nourishment to our souls.

The public reading of Scripture is seen throughout the Bible. In the OT for example, after the people of Israel had been delivered from slavery in Egypt, Moses took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people (Ex 24:7). In Deut. 31, God commands that His law be read in its entirety every seven years before all Israel in their hearing. This was to assure that God’s people would remember the covenant they entered with God.

Jesus read Scripture out loud before in a synagogue in Luke 4:16. We see that Paul expected that his letters would be read out loud among God’s people in Col. 4:16 and other places as well.

All this to say that the public reading of Scripture is an essential part of our worship as God’s people. It is a biblical practice, and it is a way for us to recognize together our need for God as He has revealed Himself in His word. May we be renewed today as we read the Scriptures together.

Proverbs 25:15–28 ESV

With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone. If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you. A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips. Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda. If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks. It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory. A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Prayer

Exodus 15:11 ESV

“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

People of the word

Pursuers of righteousness

mindful of our need for God’s grace

Unity among us

For families

our witness

Isaiah 43:10 ESV

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

elders: to shepherd the flock of God and exercise our oversight as God would have us

Nate Walls

Scott MacMillian: expected to stay there until he receives a liver transplant

Bruce & Kelly Gothel

Will and Marian Mountain

Pat & Denny Weimer

Grace Schoffstall