Responsive Reading: Psalm 132 : 11, 13, 17, 18; Psalm 78 : 70-72

11.     The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

13.     For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.

17.     There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.

18.     His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.

70     He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

71.     From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72.     So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart.

1. Psalm 24 : 3, 4 (to ;)

3     Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

4     He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;

2. I Samuel 16 : 1, 4 (to .), 5 (And he sanctified), 7, 11 (to 3rd ,), 12, 13 (to 1st .), 14, 23

1     And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

4     And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Beth-lehem.

5     And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

7     But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

11     And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest,

12     And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

13     Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

14     But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

23     And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

3. I Samuel 23 : 15-17 (to 2nd ,)

15     And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.

16     And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

17     And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel,

4. I Samuel 25 : 29 (to ;)

29     Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God;

5. I Samuel 24 : 1 (to 2nd ,), 3 (he)-6, 8, 10-12, 16-18, 20

1     And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines,

3     … he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.

4     And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.

5     And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.

6     And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.

8     David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.

10     Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed.

11     Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.

12     The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

16     And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.

17     And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.

18     And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not.

20     And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.

6. II Samuel 22 : 1, 3, 7, 21, 25, 27 (to ;)

1     And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:

3     The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

7     In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

21     The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

25     Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.

27     With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;

7. Matthew 5 : 8

8     Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

1. 280 : 26 (God)-30

God, the Soul of man and of all existence, being perpetual in His own individuality, harmony, and immortality, imparts and perpetuates these qualities in man, — through Mind, not matter.

2. 70 : 12-16

The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal. The questions are: What are God's identities? What is Soul? Does life or soul exist in the thing formed?

3. 71 : 6 (Spirit)-9

Spirit, or the divine Principle of all, is not in Spirit's formations. Soul is synonymous with Spirit, God, the creative, governing, infinite Principle outside of finite form, which forms only reflect.

4. 467 : 17-23

Science reveals Spirit, Soul, as not in the body, and God as not in man but as reflected by man. The greater cannot be in the lesser. The belief that the greater can be in the lesser is an error that works ill. This is a leading point in the Science of Soul, that Principle is not in its idea. Spirit, Soul, is not confined in man, and is never in matter.

5. 478 : 3-13

What evidence of Soul or of immortality have you within mortality? Even according to the teachings of natural science, man has never beheld Spirit or Soul leaving a body or entering it. What basis is there for the theory of indwelling spirit, except the claim of mortal belief? What would be thought of the declaration that a house was inhabited, and by a certain class of persons, when no such persons were ever seen to go into the house or to come out of it, nor were they even visible through the windows? Who can see a soul in the body?

6. 300 : 23-4

Spirit is God, Soul; therefore Soul is not in matter. If Spirit were in matter, God would have no representative, and matter would be identical with God. The theory that soul, spirit, intelligence, inhabits matter is taught by the schools. This theory is unscientific. The universe reflects and expresses the divine substance or Mind; therefore God is seen only in the spiritual universe and spiritual man, as the sun is seen in the ray of light which goes out from it. God is revealed only in that which reflects Life, Truth, Love, — yea, which manifests God's attributes and power, even as the human likeness thrown upon the mirror, repeats the color, form, and action of the person in front of the mirror.

7. 477 : 20 (Identity)-31

Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love. Soul is the substance, Life, and intelligence of man, which is individualized, but not in matter. Soul can never reflect anything inferior to Spirit.

Man is the expression of Soul. The Indians caught some glimpses of the underlying reality, when they called a certain beautiful lake "the smile of the Great Spirit." Separated from man, who expresses Soul, Spirit would be a nonentity; man, divorced from Spirit, would lose his entity.

8. 337 : 2 (man)-4

…man, reflecting God, cannot lose his individuality; but as material sensation, or a soul in the body, blind mortals do lose sight of spiritual individuality.

9. 216 : 30-5

Give up your material belief of mind in matter, and have but one Mind, even God; for this Mind forms its own likeness. The loss of man’s identity through the understanding which Science confers is impossible; and the notion of such a possibility is more absurd than to conclude that individual musical tones are lost in the origin of harmony.

10. 261 : 21-27

Detach sense from the body, or matter, which is only a form of human belief, and you may learn the meaning of God, or good, and the nature of the immutable and immortal. Breaking away from the mutations of time and sense, you will neither lose the solid objects and ends of life nor your own identity.

11. 265 : 10-15

This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace.

12. 323 : 6-8 (to 2nd ,), 32-6

Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we are helped onward in the march towards righteousness, peace, and purity,

Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

13. 467 : 1-16

Question. — What are the demands of the Science of Soul?

Answer. — The first demand of this Science is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This me is Spirit. Therefore the command means this: Thou shalt have no intelligence, no life, no substance, no truth, no love, but that which is spiritual. The second is like unto it, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established. Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which was also in Christ.