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1st Sunday in Lent
First Lesson
Isaiah 58
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and
show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their
sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation
that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their
God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight
in approaching to God.
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore
have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold,
in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your
labours.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the
fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make
your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it
such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his
soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread
sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and
an acceptable day to the LORD?
6 Is not
this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free,
and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring
the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the
naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from
thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine
health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall
go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rearward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt
cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the
midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and
speaking vanity;
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the
afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy
darkness be as the noonday:
11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy
soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like
a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail
not.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and
thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer
of paths to dwell in.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy
pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the
holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing
thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking
thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause
thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee
with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD
hath spoken it.
1st Lesson Questions -
Which fast am I doing - the one referenced in verse 5, or of verses 6-7? What do I need to do in order that I fall under the latter, rather than the former? RESOLVE.
Second Lesson
Matthew 6:1-18
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of
them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in
heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet
before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth:
4 That
thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret
himself shall reward thee openly.
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in
the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily
I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret;
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen
do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth
what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.
16 Moreover
when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance:
for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men
to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy
face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father
which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly.
2nd Lesson Questions -
Is my piety done for show, or in secret, (V. 4,6) so that I may draw closer to God? How's my prayer life? Am I doing morning and evening prayer along with these daily bible readings? If not, why not? How often do I pray the Lord's Prayer? Do I really mean verse 12, or do I cross my fingers when I pray it? From whom do I relish attention and reward - from man or God? (V. 16-18) RESOLVE.