Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is Judges 21:21-23.

If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, 'Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'" And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. — Judges 21:21-23

Israel found a way to move on—but not to make it right. They buried the mess instead of confessing it. What started as a battle for justice ends in a festival of deception and abduction. It's a tragic cover-up wrapped in religious ceremony.

They thought the problem was solved, but nothing was healed. They won the battle, but lost thousands of brothers. Their sin was buried—but not gone.

When we bury sin, it doesn't disappear; it festers. We might hide it beneath success, busyness, or excuses, but buried sin always resurfaces. It's like sweeping dirt under the carpet—sooner or later, someone lifts the rug, and everything hidden spills out.

We do this all the time. We ignore the conflict instead of confronting it. We hide our struggles instead of confessing them. We mask pain with performance, hoping time will heal what only repentance can restore.

But here's the truth: you can't bury what God wants to heal. Israel needed confession, not cover-up. They needed repentance, not rationalization. And so do we.

If you've been burying something—anger, bitterness, guilt, or sin—it's time to uncover it before God. Confession doesn't expose you to shame; it opens you to grace. God can only heal what you bring into the light.

So lift the rug. Let God sweep the room clean. Don't live with lumps under your life—bring them to the One who can make all things new.

ASK THIS:

1. What sin or issue have I been hiding instead of confessing?
2. Have I mistaken covering up sin for moving on?
3. What "carpets" in my life need to be lifted before God?
4. How can I create space for honesty and healing this week?

DO THIS:

• Ask God to reveal anything you've been burying in your heart.
• Stop sweeping things under the rug—let grace do the cleaning.

PRAY THIS:

Lord, I've hidden what You want to heal. Expose my heart with Your light. Help me confess what I've buried and receive Your grace instead of guilt. Don't let me live with sin under the carpet—cleanse me completely. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Come to the Altar."

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is Judges 21:16-20.

Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?" And they said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters." For the people of Israel had sworn, "Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin." So they said, "Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah." And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards and watch. — Judges 21:16-20

Israel is trapped in a cycle of compromise. They made one foolish vow, then another plan to fix the fallout, and now they're crafting another workaround to solve the mess they created. They're solving a spiritual problem with sinful logic.

It's a dangerous pattern: one bad decision leads to another. And instead of repenting, Israel rationalizes. They think their cleverness will fix what only God's grace can heal.

We've all done this. Maybe it's a bad business decision that we try to cover with another risky one—hoping to fix our losses instead of facing our mistakes. Or maybe it's a spiritual shortcut: compromising truth to keep peace, lying to protect reputation, or bending God's Word to justify our behavior. The deeper we dig, the more we sink.

This is the danger of human reasoning apart from divine guidance. When we try to solve sin with sin, we multiply destruction. The Israelites thought they were preserving the nation, but they were only proving how far they'd drifted from God.

This passage reminds us why we need a Righteous Judge. Because left to ourselves, we'll always judge wrongly. We justify what God condemns and condemn what God forgives. But there is One who judges rightly—Jesus Christ. He alone can make sense of our chaos and turn our regret into redemption.

You can face His judgment now—through repentance and faith—or later—by your own unrighteousness. The choice is yours.

Today, if you've been living on your own logic, lay it down. Ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. Let His righteousness cover your wrongs and guide your next decision.

ASK THIS:

1. Where have I tried to fix a spiritual problem with human reasoning?
2. What's one area where I need to stop rationalizing and start repenting?
3. How can I invite Jesus into my decision-making today?
4. Do I trust His righteousness more than my logic?

DO THIS:

• Identify one area where you've been solving problems without God's guidance.
• If you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, do it today.

PRAY THIS:

Lord, forgive me for trying to fix spiritual problems with sinful logic. Help me to stop leaning on my understanding and start trusting Your wisdom. I surrender to Your righteous judgment and receive the grace You offer through Jesus Christ. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Jesus, Have It All."

After 1960, America didn't just experience cultural drift—it experienced legal formation.

SUMMARY:

Over the last sixty years, a series of landmark legal decisions quietly reshaped America's moral framework—moving the nation away from historic Christian convictions on life, marriage, sexuality, and authority. These shifts didn't just change laws; they retrained conscience. And if the law has been forming minds, the church can no longer afford to stay silent.