Responsive Reading: Psalm 91 : 9-12, 14

9.     Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10.     There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11.     For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12.     They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

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.

1. Psalm 31 : 23 (to 2nd ,), 24

23     O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful,

24     Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

2. Psalm 25 : 7, 8, 14

7     Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.

8     Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

14     The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

3. Psalm 46 : 1, 2, 5, 10 (to :)

1     God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2     Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

5     God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

10     Be still, and know that I am God:

4. I Kings 16 : 29 (to :)

29     And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel:

5. I Kings 17 : 1 (to 1st ,), 1 (said)-3 (to 3rd ,), 4, 7 (to 2nd ,), 8, 9, 10 (And when)-16 (to 2nd ,), 17-19, 21-24

1     And Elijah the Tishbite, … said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2     And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

3     Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith,

4     And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

7     And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up,

8     And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

9     Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10     And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11     And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12     And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13     And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14     For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15     And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16     And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail,

17     And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18     And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

19     And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

21     And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.

22     And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

23     And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

24     And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.

6. Psalm 121 : 7, 8

7     The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8     The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

7. Psalm 23 : 1-6

1     The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2     He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3     He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4     Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5     Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6     Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

1. 494 : 10-11, 13 (to)-15, 19-24

Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. … to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good.

The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love. … Reason, rightly directed, serves to correct the errors of corporeal sense; but sin, sickness, and death will seem real (even as the experiences of the sleeping dream seem real) until the Science of man's eternal harmony breaks their illusion with the unbroken reality of scientific being.

2. 66 : 6-16

Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff, — a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not half remember this in the sunshine of joy and prosperity. Sorrow is salutary. Through great tribulation we enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of God's care. Spiritual development germinates not from seed sown in the soil of material hopes, but when these decay, Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth. Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.

3. 261 : 32-16

Good demands of man every hour, in which to work out the problem of being. Consecration to good does not lessen man's dependence on God, but heightens it. Neither does consecration diminish man's obligations to God, but shows the paramount necessity of meeting them. Christian Science takes naught from the perfection of God, but it ascribes to Him the entire glory. By putting "off the old man with his deeds," mortals "put on immortality."

We cannot fathom the nature and quality of God's creation by diving into the shallows of mortal belief. We must reverse our feeble flutterings — our efforts to find life and truth in matter — and rise above the testimony of the material senses, above the mortal to the immortal idea of God. These clearer, higher views inspire the Godlike man to reach the absolute centre and circumference of his being.

4. 102 : 30 (Mankind)-2

Mankind must learn that evil is not power. Its so-called despotism is but a phase of nothingness. Christian Science despoils the kingdom of evil, and pre-eminently promotes affection and virtue in families and therefore in the community.

5. 571 : 15-19

At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil. Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you.

6. 264 : 7-12

Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things. Where shall the gaze rest but in the unsearchable realm of Mind? We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being.

7. 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.

8. 387 : 27-32

The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent Mind, who gives man faith and understanding whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but from bodily suffering.

9. 591 : 21-22

Miracle. That which is divinely natural, but must be learned humanly; a phenomenon of Science.

10. 134 : 31-8

A miracle fulfils God's law, but does not violate that law. This fact at present seems more mysterious than the miracle itself. The Psalmist sang: "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob." The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God's unchangeable law.

11. 274 : 12-16

The senses of Spirit abide in Love, and they demonstrate Truth and Life. Hence Christianity and the Science which expounds it are based on spiritual understanding, and they supersede the so-called laws of matter.

12. 135 : 17-20

There is to-day danger of repeating the offence of the Jews by limiting the Holy One of Israel and asking: "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" What cannot God do?

13. 495 : 28-31

Adhere to the divine Principle of Christian Science and follow the behests of God, abiding steadfastly in wisdom, Truth, and Love.

14. 393 : 8-10 (to 2nd .), 12-15

Mind is the master of the corporeal senses, and can conquer sickness, sin, and death. Exercise this God-given authority. … Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.

15. 470 : 32-5

The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history.

16. 264 : 24-31

Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences, by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.

When we learn the way in Christian Science and recognize man's spiritual being, we shall behold and understand God's creation, — all the glories of earth and heaven and man.