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

1.     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.

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 36 : 5, 6

5     Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

6     Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.

2. Psalm 55 : 22

22     Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

3. Exodus 17 : 1-6, 8-13

1     And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

2     Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?

3     And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

4     And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

5     And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

6     Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

8     Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9     And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

10     So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11     And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12     But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

13     And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

4. Deuteronomy 34 : 7

7     And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

5. II Samuel 22 : 33-35, 37, 40 (to :), 50

33     God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.

34     He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet: and setteth me upon my high places.

35     He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

37     Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.

40     For thou hast girded me with strength to battle:

50     Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.

6. Matthew 4 : 23, 24

23     And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

24     And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

7. Matthew 5 : 1, 2

1     And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2     And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

8. Matthew 11 : 28-30

28     Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29     Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30     For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

9. Acts 9 : 36-41

36     Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

37     And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.

38     And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them.

39     Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.

40     But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

41     And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.

10. Psalm 92 : 4 (thou), 12-14

4     …thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

12     The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13     Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.

14     They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.

1. 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.

2. 5 : 16 (God)-18

God pours the riches of His love into the understanding and affections, giving us strength according to our day.

3. 407 : 11 (Christian)-16

Christian Science is the sovereign panacea, giving strength to the weakness of mortal mind, — strength from the immortal and omnipotent Mind, — and lifting humanity above itself into purer desires, even into spiritual power and good-will to man.

4. 80 : 1-3

We have strength in proportion to our apprehension of the truth, and our strength is not lessened by giving utterance to truth.

5. 485 : 30-3

To say that strength is in matter, is like saying that the power is in the lever. The notion of any life or intelligence in matter is without foundation in fact, and you can have no faith in falsehood when you have learned falsehood's true nature.

6. 198 : 29-14

Because the muscles of the blacksmith's arm are strongly developed, it does not follow that exercise has produced this result or that a less used arm must be weak. If matter were the cause of action, and if muscles, without volition of mortal mind, could lift the hammer and strike the anvil, it might be thought true that hammering would enlarge the muscles. The trip-hammer is not increased in size by exercise. Why not, since muscles are as material as wood and iron? Because nobody believes that mind is producing such a result on the hammer.

Muscles are not self-acting. If mind does not move them, they are motionless. Hence the great fact that Mind alone enlarges and empowers man through its mandate, — by reason of its demand for and supply of power. Not because of muscular exercise, but by reason of the blacksmith's faith in exercise, his arm becomes stronger.

7. 217 : 24-8

The scientific and permanent remedy for fatigue is to learn the power of Mind over the body or any illusion of physical weariness, and so destroy this illusion, for matter cannot be weary and heavy-laden.

You say, "Toil fatigues me." But what is this me? Is it muscle or mind? Which is tired and so speaks? Without mind, could the muscles be tired? Do the muscles talk, or do you talk for them? Matter is non-intelligent. Mortal mind does the false talking, and that which affirms weariness, made that weariness.

You do not say a wheel is fatigued; and yet the body is as material as the wheel. If it were not for what the human mind says of the body, the body, like the inanimate wheel, would never be weary. The consciousness of Truth rests us more than hours of repose in unconsciousness.

8. 385 : 1-18

It is proverbial that Florence Nightingale and other philanthropists engaged in humane labors have been able to undergo without sinking fatigues and exposures which ordinary people could not endure. The explanation lies in the support which they derived from the divine law, rising above the human. The spiritual demand, quelling the material, supplies energy and endurance surpassing all other aids, and forestalls the penalty which our beliefs would attach to our best deeds. Let us remember that the eternal law of right, though it can never annul the law which makes sin its own executioner, exempts man from all penalties but those due for wrong-doing.

Constant toil, deprivations, exposures, and all untoward conditions, if without sin, can be experienced without suffering. Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself.

9. 384 : 3-12

We should relieve our minds from the depressing thought that we have transgressed a material law and must of necessity pay the penalty. Let us reassure ourselves with the law of Love. God never punishes man for doing right, for honest labor, or for deeds of kindness, though they expose him to fatigue, cold, heat, contagion. If man seems to incur the penalty through matter, this is but a belief of mortal mind, not an enactment of wisdom, and man has only to enter his protest against this belief in order to annul it.

10. 376 : 13 (there)-16

…there is more life and immortality in one good motive and act, than in all the blood which ever flowed through mortal veins and simulated a corporeal sense of life.

11. 387 : 8 (when)-12

…when we realize that immortal Mind is ever active, and that spiritual energies can neither wear out nor can so-called material law trespass upon God-given powers and resources, we are able to rest in Truth, refreshed by the assurances of immortality, opposed to mortality.

12. 167 : 6-10

We apprehend Life in divine Science only as we live above corporeal sense and correct it. Our proportionate admission of the claims of good or of evil determines the harmony of our existence, — our health, our longevity, and our Christianity.

13. 392 : 27-32

When the condition is present which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise, heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears. Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the body cannot suffer from them. 

14. 393 : 8-15

Mind is the master of the corporeal senses, and can conquer sickness, sin, and death. Exercise this God-given authority. Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. 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.