Responsive Reading: Psalm 91 : 1-7, 11, 12

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.

3.     Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4.     He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5.     Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6.     Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7.     A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

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.

1. Psalm 91 : 14-16

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.

2. II Kings 2 : 1 (it), 7-11, 12 (to 1st .), 14, 15 (to 1st .), 19, 21 (to 1st ,), 21 (and said), 22

1     …it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

7     And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.

8     And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

9     And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

10     And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

11     And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12     And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

14     And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

15     And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.

19     And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.

21     And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, … and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

22     So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

3. Psalm 68 : 17

17     The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.

4. Exodus 23 : 20, 25

20     Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

25     And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

5. II Kings 6 : 8-23

8     Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

9     And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.

10     And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.

11     Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?

12     And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

13     And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

14     Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

15     And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

16     And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

17     And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

18     And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

19     And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.

20     And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

21     And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?

22     And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

23     And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

6. Isaiah 63 : 9 (the angel), 16 (thou, O)

9     …the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

16     …thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.

1. 151 : 23-24

The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness.

2. 331 : 11 (The)-17

The Scriptures imply that God is All-in-all. From this it follows that nothing possesses reality nor existence except the divine Mind and His ideas. The Scriptures also declare that God is Spirit. Therefore in Spirit all is harmony, and there can be no discord; all is Life, and there is no death. Everything in God's universe expresses Him.

3. 84 : 3-7

The ancient prophets gained their foresight from a spiritual, incorporeal standpoint, not by foreshadowing evil and mistaking fact for fiction, — predicting the future from a groundwork of corporeality and human belief.

4. 269 : 9 (Human)-11, 14-20

Human philosophy has made God manlike. Christian Science makes man Godlike. The first is error; the latter is truth. … Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul.

These ideas are perfectly real and tangible to spiritual consciousness, and they have this advantage over the objects and thoughts of material sense, — they are good and eternal.

5. 581 : 4-7

Angels. God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality.

6. 518 : 13-23

God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower. The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good. Love giveth to the least spiritual idea might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through all as the blossom shines through the bud. All the varied expressions of God reflect health, holiness, immortality — infinite Life, Truth, and Love.

7. 566 : 29-8

The Old Testament assigns to the angels, God's divine messages, different offices. Michael's characteristic is spiritual strength. He leads the hosts of heaven against the power of sin, Satan, and fights the holy wars. Gabriel has the more quiet task of imparting a sense of the ever-presence of ministering Love. These angels deliver us from the depths. Truth and Love come nearer in the hour of woe, when strong faith or spiritual strength wrestles and prevails through the understanding of God. The Gabriel of His presence has no contests. To infinite, ever-present Love, all is Love, and there is no error, no sin, sickness, nor death.

8. 469 : 13 (The)-17

The exterminator of error is the great truth that God, good, is the only Mind, and that the supposititious opposite of infinite Mind — called devil or evil — is not Mind, is not Truth, but error, without intelligence or reality.

9. 387 : 24-4

It is a law of so-called mortal mind, misnamed matter, which causes all things discordant.

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.

The Christian martyrs were prophets of Christian Science. Through the uplifting and consecrating power of divine Truth, they obtained a victory over the corporeal senses, a victory which Science alone can explain.

10. 503 : 12-17

Divine Science, the Word of God, saith to the darkness upon the face of error, "God is All-in-all," and the light of ever-present Love illumines the universe. Hence the eternal wonder, — that infinite space is peopled with God's ideas, reflecting Him in countless spiritual forms.

11. 9 : 17-24, 32 only

Dost thou "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, and material sense and human will have no place.

Consistent prayer is the desire to do right.

12. 269 : 21-28

The testimony of the material senses is neither absolute nor divine. I therefore plant myself unreservedly on the teachings of Jesus, of his apostles, of the prophets, and on the testimony of the Science of Mind. Other foundations there are none. All other systems — systems based wholly or partly on knowledge gained through the material senses — are reeds shaken by the wind, not houses built on the rock.

13. 224 : 29-31 (to 2nd .)

The power of God brings deliverance to the captive. No power can withstand divine Love.

14. 372 : 14-17

When man demonstrates Christian Science absolutely, he will be perfect. He can neither sin, suffer, be subject to matter, nor disobey the law of God. Therefore he will be as the angels in heaven.

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.