<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="heb+12:1-13">Hebrews 12:1-13</span></span></p><p>We ended yesterday by saying that some things in life, such as the desire to have money, can be legitimate concerns but they must be looked upon as desires and never become goals. Permit me to differentiate between the two. A goal is a purpose to which a person is unalterably committed and something for which he or she assumes unconditional responsibility. A desire is something wanted and which cannot be obtained without the co-operation of another human being. A desire must never become the motivating purpose behind our behaviour, for if it does, then it becomes a goal - and a goal that is likely to be blocked, causing negative emotions to arise. Remember the man we talked about yesterday? His goal, we said, was to make money. Once he changed his goal to pleasing the Lord and then saw his concern to make money as merely a desire, he found instant release. Keep in mind that what causes emotional problems to arise is invariably a blocked goal. Take another illustration that might help to mark the difference between goals and desires more clearly. Have you ever found yourself talking to another Christian who seems to have difficulty in applying what seems to you a simple biblical principle? You point out the need to do as God says, but your friend fails to see the truth that to you is as clear as daylight. If you get frustrated, the chances are that you are allowing a desire to become a goal. To want your friend to listen is a legitimate desire, but to get frustrated over it means you are determined to make him listen - and that becomes a goal.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Gracious Father, I come to You again to help me sort out this important issue of desires versus goals. I see that if I can resolve this problem, then a new chapter in my life is about to be written. Help me, dear Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+37:1-11">Psalm 37:1-11</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+21:2">Psalm 21:2</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73:25">Psalm 73:25</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="pr+10:24">Proverbs 10:24</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was the psalmist's desire?</li><li>What happens when we delight ourselves in the Lord?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"' who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame '" (v. 2) 

<p>THE HOLY SPIRIT IN  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+37">Psalms 37</span> admonishes us to beware of irritation in our religious lives:</p><p></p><p>"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity."</p><p></p><p>The word "fret" comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon and carries with it such a variety of meanings as bring a rather pained smile to our faces. Notice how they expose us and locate us behind our disguises. The primary meaning of the word is to eat, and from there it has been extended with rare honesty to cover most of the manifestations of an irritable disposition. "To eat away; to gnaw; to chafe; to gall; to vex; to worry; to agitate; to wear away"; so says Webster, and all who have felt the exhausting, corrosive effects of fretfulness know how accurately the description fits the facts.</p><p></p><p>Now, the grace of God in the human heart works to calm the agitation that normally accompanies life in such a world as ours. The Holy Spirit acts as a lubricant to reduce the friction to a minimum and to stop the fretting and chafing in their grosser phases. But for most of us the problem is not as simple as that.</p><p></p><p>Fretfulness may be trimmed down to the ground and its roots remain alive deep within the soul, there growing and extending themselves all unsuspected, sending up their old poisonous shoots under other names and other appearances.</p><p></p><p>It was not to the unregenerate that the words "Fret not" were spoken, but to God-fearing persons capable of understanding spiritual things. We Christians need to watch and pray lest we fall into this temptation and spoil our Christian testimony by an irritable spirit under the stress and strain of life.</p><p></p><p>It requires great care and a true knowledge of ourselves to distinguish a spiritual burden from religious irritation. We cannot close our minds to everything that is happening around us. We dare not rest at ease in Zion when the church is so desperately in need of spiritually sensitive men and women who can see her faults and try to call her back to the path of righteousness. The prophets and apostles of Bible times carried in their hearts such crushing burdens for God's wayward people that they could say, "Tears have been my meat day and night," and "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain. of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain daughter of my people!" These men were heavy with a true burden. What they felt was not vexation but acute concern for the honor of God and the souls of men.</p><p></p><p>By nature some persons fret easily. They have difficulty separating their personal antipathies from the burden of the Spirit. When they are grieved they can hardly say whether it is a pure and charitable thing or merely irritation set up by other Christians having opinions different from their own.</p><p></p><p>Of one thing we may be sure, we can never escape the external stimuli that cause vexation. The world is full of them and though we were to retreat to a cave and live the remainder of our days alone we still could not lose them. The rough floor of our cave would chafe us, the weather would irritate us and the very silence would cause us to fret.</p><p></p><p>Deliverance from a fretting spirit may be by blood and fire, by humility, self-abnegation and a patient carrying of the cross. There will always be "evildoers" and "workers of iniquity," and for the most part they will appear to succeed while the forces of righteousness will seem to fail. The wicked will always have the money and the talent and the publicity and the numbers, while the righteous will be few and poor and unknown. The prayerless Christian will surely misread the signs and fret against the circumstances. That is what the Spirit warns us against.</p><p></p><p>Let us look out calmly upon the world; or better yet, let us look down upon it from above where Christ is seated and we are seated in Him. Though the wicked spread himself like "a green bay tree" it is only for a moment. Soon he passes away and is not. "But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble." This knowledge should cure the fretting spirit.</p>

A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

Man - The Dwelling Place of God - The Cure for a Fretful Spirit

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="job+21:11-16">Job 21:11-16</span></span></p><p>We come now to the heart of the issue with which the psalmist is struggling in  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73">Psalm 73</span>: "Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning"  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73:13-14">Psalm 73:13-14</span>). Permit me to paraphrase what I think he is saying: "Here I am, living a godly life, keeping my heart and hands clean, avoiding sin, meditating on the things of God and devoting myself to a life pleasing to God, yet despite this I am facing all kinds of troubles. What's the advantage in serving God if He doesn't protect me?" The problem, then, is not so much the prosperity of the wicked as the fact that he himself is passing through a period of great trial while they are getting off scot-free. We begin now to see the roots of the envy to which the psalmist referred earlier: "For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (v. 3). Envy is born out of two things: ignorance and a wrong comparison. Take, first, a wrong comparison. "Almost all our problems," said Dr W.E. Sangster, "begin in a wrong comparison." How true this is. We compare our looks, our height, our income, our homes, our training and our abilities with those of others and soon we lose sight of our own individuality and specialness. To compare ourselves with Christ is a healthy spiritual discipline, but to indulge in comparison with those we think are more prosperous and fortunate than we are is the direct road to envy.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O God, save me, I pray, from the habit of wrongly comparing myself with others. Help me to satisfy the impulse I have for making comparisons only in a way that will yield spiritual gain - by comparing myself only with You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+37:1-40">Psalm 37:1-40</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="pr+3:31">Proverbs 3:31</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="pr+14:30">Proverbs 14:30</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What is envy?</li><li>What is the result of envy?</li></ul></div></div>

"Yet they say  'Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?'  But their prosperity is not in their own hands " (vv. 14-16) 

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="mt+7:13-20">Matthew 7:13-20</span></span></p><p>Today we look at the special understanding the psalmist received when he came into the sanctuary of God: "Then I understood their final destiny"  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73:17">Psalm 73:17</span>). As soon as he considered the final destiny of the ungodly, everything dropped into focus for him. He had looked at the prosperity of the ungodly but he had not looked at their end - he had not taken in all the facts. What are the facts concerning the end of the ungodly? The passage we read today tells us: the broad road which the ungodly travel leads to destruction; the narrow road which the godly travel leads to life. It is as simple as that. Though this passage was not available to the psalmist, the truth underlying it was most certainly known to him. Listen to this from  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+37">Psalm 37</span>: "The transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off" (v. 38, NKJ). The writer of that psalm, King David, described the wicked spreading themselves like a green tree, but when the end came they vanished off the face of the earth and no one could find them. The trouble with us is that so often we dwell too much on the present and fail to consider the future. Do you look at the ungodly, many of whom seem to be having a marvellous time ignoring moral restrictions, and feel envious of them? Well consider their end. Give some thought to the ultimate outcome. The Bible describes it as "destruction". We ought never to forget that it is not how things are at present that is important; it's how they end that matters. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Father, whenever I am next tempted to compare my life and its circumstances with that of others who do not know You, help me to remind myself of the fact that it is the end that matters, not the beginning. In Jesus' Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="lu+12:15-21">Luke 12:15-21</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="pr+12:15-16">Proverbs 12:15-16</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="pr+28:6">Proverbs 28:6</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did Jesus call the man in his parable?</li><li>What word keeps occurring in the parable?</li></ul></div></div>

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction " (v. 13) 

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="1pe+3:1-12">1 Peter 3:1-12</span></span></p><p>We are seeing that meekness is not a natural quality, but a spiritual one, and by reason of this all Christians should possess it. Over the past couple of days we have examined the importance of meekness and seen something of its nature; today, we examine what meekness is not. First, meekness (or humility) is not indolence. There are people who appear to be spiritually meek, but really they are not so at all - they are indolent. Again, meekness is not an easy-going type of attitude - the attitude seen in those who just take life as it comes. That is not meekness; that is flabbiness. There are some Christians who have such a casual air about them that one can easily mistake this for the quality which Jesus is referring to in the Beatitudes. Another thing that meekness ought not to be confused with is niceness. There are people who are nice by nature. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones said of such people: "Natural niceness is something biological, the kind of thing you get in animals. One dog is nicer than another, one cat nicer than another." Finally, meekness is not passivity, or a desire to obtain peace at any price. How often is the person regarded as meek who adopts the attitude that anything is better than a disagreement. This is the kind of passivity which does not make for good mental or spiritual health. The most greatly used men and women of God down the ages have been people who were meek without being weak - strong men and women, yet meek men and women. They were meek enough to absorb the resources of God. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, I see that so much depends on my understanding of what meekness really is. I pray yet again for Your continuing light to be shed around me as I pursue these thoughts day by day. I ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="2ti+4:1-16">2 Timothy 4:1-16</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+37:11">Psalm 37:11</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+149:4">Psalm 149:4</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="isa+29:19">Isaiah 29:19</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How did Paul display meekness?</li><li>What does meekness increase?</li></ul></div></div>

"' the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (v. 4)

<p> <sup class="verse-number">11</sup> But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.</p>

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Psalms 37:11

 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526). The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 400 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States.

OT: Masoretic Text, some LXX and Vulgate influence.
NT: Textus Receptus, similar to the Byzantine text-type; some readings derived from the Vulgate.
Apocrypha: Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.

King James Version

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num poetry-line">11 </sup><poetry>But  the meek shall inherit the land<br/><indent>and delight themselves in  abundant peace.</indent><span class="pb"></span></poetry> </span></p>

But <cr>1</cr>the meek shall inherit the land<br/><indent>and delight themselves in <cr>2</cr>abundant peace.</indent><pb/>

 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. 

From Wikipedia: 

The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible. The ESV was published in 2001 by Crossway, having been "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Crossway claim that the ESV continues a legacy begun by the Tyndale New Testament of precision and faithfulness in English translation of the original text, followed in the same standard by "the King James Version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version of 1885 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971." Crossway describes the ESV as a translation that "emphasizes 'word-for-word' accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning." Crossway also describes the ESV as a translation that adheres to an "essentially literal" translation philosophy, taking into account "differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages."

The ESV is derived from the 1971 text edition of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). ESV Translation Oversight Committee member Wayne Grudem claims that approximately eight percent (or about 60,000 words) of the 1971 RSV text being used for the ESV was revised as of first publication in 2001. Grudem states that the committee removed "every trace of liberal influence that had caused such criticism from evangelicals when the RSV was first published in 1952." Although, Grudem also states that much of the 1971 RSV text left unchanged by the committee "is simply 'the best of the best' of the KJV tradition."

With regard to gender language, the ESV Translation Oversight Committee state that "the goal of the ESV is to render literally what is in the original."[9] The committee expands on this position in claiming that, although the ESV avoids using gender-neutral language (for the purpose of preserving contextual meaning found in the original text), the translation does utilize gender-neutral language in specific cases. The committee further state that their objective was "transparency to the original text, allowing the reader to understand the original on its own terms rather than in the terms of our present-day Western culture."[9] The ESV Study Bible often details in its commentary why a complementarian interpretation of the original text may have been rendered in translation.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (5th ed., 1997); additional sources in difficult cases
NT: UBS Greek New Testament (5th corrected ed.); Novum Testamentum Graece (28th ed., 2012)

English Standard Version

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num poetry-line">11 </sup><poetry>But the meek will inherit the land  <br/><indent>and enjoy peace and prosperity.  </indent><span class="pb"></span></poetry> </span></p>

But the meek will inherit the land<cr>1</cr> <br/><indent>and enjoy peace and prosperity.<cr>2</cr> </indent><pb/>

 But the meek will inherit the land  and enjoy peace and prosperity.  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

<p> <sup class="verse-number">11</sup> But the meek shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.</p>

But the meek shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

From Wikipedia: 

The American Standard Version (ASV) is rooted in the work that was done with the Revised Version (RV) (a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version of 1611). In 1870, an invitation was extended to American religious leaders for scholars to work on the RV project. A year later, Protestant theologian Philip Schaff chose 30 scholars representing the denominations of Baptist, Congregationalist, Dutch Reformed, Friends, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, and Unitarian. These scholars began work in 1872.

The RV New Testament was released In 1881; the Old Testament was published in 1885. The ASV was published in 1901 by Thomas Nelson & Sons. In 1928, the International Council of Religious Education (the body that later merged with the Federal Council of Churches to form the National Council of Churches) acquired the copyright from Nelson and renewed it the following year.

The divine name of the Almighty (the Tetragrammaton) is consistently rendered Jehovah in the ASV Old Testament, rather than LORD as it appears in the King James Bible.

The ASV was the basis of four revisions. They were the Revised Standard Version, 1971, the Amplified Bible, 1965, the New American Standard Bible, 1995, and the Recovery Version, 1999. A fifth revision, known as the World English Bible, was published in 2000 and was placed in the public domain. The ASV was also the basis for Kenneth N. Taylor's Bible paraphrase, The Living Bible, 1971.

This Bible is in the public domain in the United States. We are making it available in the same format in which we acquired it as a public service.

NT: Westcott and Hort 1881 and Tregelles 1857, (Reproduced in a single, continuous, form in Palmer 1881). 
OT: Masoretic Text with some Septuagint influence).

American Standard Version

<p> <sup class="verse-number">11</sup> But the humble shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.</p>

But the humble shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

From Wikipedia: 

The World English Bible (WEB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 2000. It is an updated revision of the American Standard Version (1901). 

The World English Bible was created by volunteers using the American Standard Version as the base text as part of the ebible.org project through Rainbow Missions, Inc., a Colorado non-profit corporation. 

The World English Bible is one of the few public domain, twenty-first century English translations of the entire Bible, and it is freely distributed to the public using electronic formats.


NT: Byzantine Majority Text by Robinson and Pierpont 1991. 
OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (with some Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls influence).

World English Bible

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num poetry-line">11 </sup><poetry>But the meek will inherit the land <br/><indent>and enjoy great peace. </indent><span class="pb"></span></poetry> </span></p>

But the meek will inherit the land<cr>1</cr><br/><indent>and enjoy great peace.<cr>2</cr></indent><pb/>

 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. 

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

New International Version 1984

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num poetry-line">11 </sup><poetry> But the meek shall inherit the earth,<br/>And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.<span class="pb"></span></poetry> </span></p>

<cr>1</cr>But the meek shall inherit the earth,<br/>And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.<pb/>

 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 

From Wikipedia: The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the original, yet truly updated to enhance its clarity and readability."




Psalms 37:11

Psalms 37:11 KJV

Psalms 37:11 ESV

Psalms 37:11 NIV

Psalms 37:11 ASV

Psalms 37:11 WEB

Psalms 37:11 NIV1984

Psalms 37:11 NKJV

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