Responsive Reading: Psalm 27 : 1, 3-5, 8, 11, 13, 14

1.     The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

3.     Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4.     One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

5.     For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

8.     When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

11.     Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

13.     I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14.     Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

1. Psalm 37 : 39 (the salvation)

39     …the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

2. Daniel 6 : 1, 2 (to :), 3, 4 (to 2nd ;), 5-8 (to 5th ,), 9-12 (to 7th ,), 13, 14 (to :), 15-17 (to 2nd ,), 18 (to :), 19-23, 25-27

1     It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;

2     And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first:

3     Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

4     Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault;

5     Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

6     Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.

7     All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

8     Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed,

9     Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

10     Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

11     Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

12     Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true,

13     Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

14     Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him:

15     Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

16     Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

17     And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet,

18     Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting:

19     Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

20     And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

21     Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.

22     My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

23     Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.

25     Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

26     I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.

27     He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

3. Psalm 91 : 1, 2, 14-16

1     He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2     I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

14     Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15     He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16     With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

4. Revelation 1 : 8

8     I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

1. 290 : 1-2

Life is the everlasting I am, the Being who was and is and shall be, whom nothing can erase.

2. 139 : 4-9

From beginning to end, the Scriptures are full of accounts of the triumph of Spirit, Mind, over matter. Moses proved the power of Mind by what men called miracles; so did Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha. The Christian era was ushered in with signs and wonders.

3. 23 : 21-3

In Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English, faith and the words corresponding thereto have these two definitions, trustfulness and trustworthiness. One kind of faith trusts one's welfare to others. Another kind of faith understands divine Love and how to work out one's "own salvation, with fear and trembling." "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!" expresses the helplessness of a blind faith; whereas the injunction, "Believe ... and thou shalt be saved!" demands self-reliant trustworthiness, which includes spiritual understanding and confides all to God.

The Hebrew verb to believe means also to be firm or to be constant. This certainly applies to Truth and Love understood and practised. Firmness in error will never save from sin, disease, and death.

4. 243 : 4-15

The divine Love, which made harmless the poisonous viper, which delivered men from the boiling oil, from the fiery furnace, from the jaws of the lion, can heal the sick in every age and triumph over sin and death. It crowned the demonstrations of Jesus with unsurpassed power and love. But the same "Mind ... which was also in Christ Jesus" must always accompany the letter of Science in order to confirm and repeat the ancient demonstrations of prophets and apostles. That those wonders are not more commonly repeated to-day, arises not so much from lack of desire as from lack of spiritual growth.

5. 534 : 18-5

Paul says in his epistle to the Romans: "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you."

There will be greater mental opposition to the spiritual, scientific meaning of the Scriptures than there has ever been since the Christian era began. The serpent, material sense, will bite the heel of the woman, — will struggle to destroy the spiritual idea of Love; and the woman, this idea, will bruise the head of lust. The spiritual idea has given the understanding a foothold in Christian Science. The seed of Truth and the seed of error, of belief and of understanding, — yea, the seed of Spirit and the seed of matter, — are the wheat and tares which time will separate, the one to be burned, the other to be garnered into heavenly places.

6. 514 : 10-30

Moral courage is "the lion of the tribe of Juda," the king of the mental realm. Free and fearless it roams in the forest. Undisturbed it lies in the open field, or rests in "green pastures, ... beside the still waters." In the figurative transmission from the divine thought to the human, diligence, promptness, and perseverance are likened to "the cattle upon a thousand hills." They carry the baggage of stern resolve, and keep pace with highest purpose. Tenderness accompanies all the might imparted by Spirit. The individuality created by God is not carnivorous, as witness the millennial estate pictured by Isaiah: —

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
And the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.

Understanding the control which Love held over all, Daniel felt safe in the lions' den, and Paul proved the viper to be harmless. All of God's creatures moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible.

7. 143 : 26-31

Mind is the grand creator, and there can be no power except that which is derived from Mind. If Mind was first chronologically, is first potentially, and must be first eternally, then give to Mind the glory, honor, dominion, and power everlastingly due its holy name.

8. 151 : 21-30

The human mind has no power to kill or to cure, and it has no control over God's man. The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness. The human mind is opposed to God and must be put off, as St. Paul declares. All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth.

9. 134 : 14-26

Man-made doctrines are waning. They have not waxed strong in times of trouble. Devoid of the Christ-power, how can they illustrate the doctrines of Christ or the miracles of grace? Denial of the possibility of Christian healing robs Christianity of the very element, which gave it divine force and its astonishing and unequalled success in the first century.

The true Logos is demonstrably Christian Science, the natural law of harmony which overcomes discord, — not because this Science is supernatural or preternatural, nor because it is an infraction of divine law, but because it is the immutable law of God, good.

10. 487 : 27-1

The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality.

This faith relies upon an understood Principle. This Principle makes whole the diseased, and brings out the enduring and harmonious phases of things.

11. 568 : 24-30

For victory over a single sin, we give thanks and magnify the Lord of Hosts. What shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin? A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain.