Responsive Reading: Psalm 91 : 1, 9-12, 15

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

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.

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.

1. Psalm 143 : 8, 10, 11

8     Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

10     Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

11     Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.

2. Psalm 34 : 7, 8, 17, 18

7     The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

8     O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

17     The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18     The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

3. Genesis 15 : 18 (the Lord) (to 3rd ,)

18     …the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land,

4. Genesis 16 : 1, 2 (I), 4, 6 (And)-10 (to 2nd ,), 15

1     Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

2     I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

4     And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

6     And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

7     And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

8     And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

9     And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

10     And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly,

15     And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

5. Genesis 17 : 1 (the Lord) (to 2nd ,), 5 (to ;), 15, 19 (to :), 20 (to 3rd ,), 20 (and I), 21 (to 1st ,)

1     …the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him,

5     Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham;

15     And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

19     And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac:

20     And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, … and I will make him a great nation.

21     But my covenant will I establish with Isaac,

6. Genesis 21 : 3, 8 (to :), 9, 10, 12 (to 2nd ;), 14 (to :), 15, 17, 18 (to ;), 19, 20 (to 1st ;)

3     And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

8     And the child grew, and was weaned:

9     And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.

10     Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

12     And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice;

14     And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away:

15     And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

17     And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

18     Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand;

19     And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

20     And God was with the lad.

7. I Corinthians 2 : 5 (your), 9-16

5     …your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

9     But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

10     But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

11     For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

12     Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

13     Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14     But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

15     But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

16     For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

1. 89 : 20-21

Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent.

2. 210 : 5-6

The Principle and proof of Christianity are discerned by spiritual sense.

3. 505 : 16-28

Spirit imparts the understanding which uplifts consciousness and leads into all truth. The Psalmist saith: "The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea." Spiritual sense is the discernment of spiritual good. Understanding is the line of demarcation between the real and unreal. Spiritual understanding unfolds Mind, — Life, Truth, and Love, — and demonstrates the divine sense, giving the spiritual proof of the universe in Christian Science.

This understanding is not intellectual, is not the result of scholarly attainments; it is the reality of all things brought to light. 

4. 506 : 18-21

Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.

5. 512 : 8-16

Spirit is symbolized by strength, presence, and power, and also by holy thoughts, winged with Love. These angels of His presence, which have the holiest charge, abound in the spiritual atmosphere of Mind, and consequently reproduce their own characteristics. Their individual forms we know not, but we do know that their natures are allied to God's nature; and spiritual blessings, thus typified, are the externalized, yet subjective, states of faith and spiritual understanding.

6. 308 : 14-15

The Soul-inspired patriarchs heard the voice of Truth, and talked with God as consciously as man talks with man.

7. 84 : 3-13

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. When sufficiently advanced in Science to be in harmony with the truth of being, men become seers and prophets involuntarily, controlled not by demons, spirits, or demigods, but by the one Spirit. It is the prerogative of the ever-present, divine Mind, and of thought which is in rapport with this Mind, to know the past, the present, and the future.

8. 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.

9. 298 : 25-30

Angels are not etherealized human beings, evolving animal qualities in their wings; but they are celestial visitants, flying on spiritual, not material, pinions. Angels are pure thoughts from God, winged with Truth and Love, no matter what their individualism may be.

10. 299 : 7-17

My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys. Angels are God's representatives. These upward soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain "angels unawares."

11. 95 : 28-3

Lulled by stupefying illusions, the world is asleep in the cradle of infancy, dreaming away the hours. Material sense does not unfold the facts of existence; but spiritual sense lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth. Humanity advances slowly out of sinning sense into spiritual understanding; unwillingness to learn all things rightly, binds Christendom with chains.

12. 265 : 3-9

Man understands spiritual existence in proportion as his treasures of Truth and Love are enlarged. Mortals must gravitate Godward, their affections and aims grow spiritual, — they must near the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper sense of the infinite, — in order that sin and mortality may be put off.

13. 574 : 25-30

Think of this, dear reader, for it will lift the sackcloth from your eyes, and you will behold the soft-winged dove descending upon you. The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares.

14. 174 : 9-14

The footsteps of thought, rising above material standpoints, are slow, and portend a long night to the traveller; but the angels of His presence — the spiritual intuitions that tell us when "the night is far spent, the day is at hand" — are our guardians in the gloom.

15. 224 : 22-27

A higher and more practical Christianity, demonstrating justice and meeting the needs of mortals in sickness and in health, stands at the door of this age, knocking for admission. Will you open or close the door upon this angel visitant, who cometh in the quiet of meekness, as he came of old to the patriarch at noonday?

16. 559 : 8-16

The "still, small voice" of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, "as when a lion roareth." It is heard in the desert and in dark places of fear. It arouses the "seven thunders" of evil, and stirs their latent forces to utter the full diapason of secret tones. Then is the power of Truth demonstrated, — made manifest in the destruction of error.