TEXTS FROM ACTS AND PSALMS

The lesson from Acts tells of the stoning of Stephen. The psalm has no actual connection with Stephen's speech or the account of his execution, but in the story of his death Stephen prays. Psalm 31 is itself a prayer-song for deliverance from one's enemies in which the psalmist utters a line (31:5) similar to Stephen's first prayer (7:59), so there is an imaginative way to relate the texts to each other.

Acts 7:55-60 - "Living and Dying as Jesus Did"
Setting.  The pattern of story-telling in Acts is to narrate a specific event, often in some detail, to the point of reporting speeches and statements made by prominent persons. Then Acts will give a general summary statement about the situation of the believers that reveals the progress of the early Christians in …