August 17: Psalms 120–123; Psalms 124–127; 2 Samuel 18:9–18; Acts 23:12–24; Mark 11:27–12:12 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalms 120–123 (Listen)

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of Ascents.

120   In my distress I called to the LORD,
    and he answered me.
2   Deliver me, O LORD,
    from lying lips,
    from a deceitful tongue.


3   What shall be given to you,
    and what more shall be done to you,
    you deceitful tongue?
4   A warrior’s sharp arrows,
    with glowing coals of the broom tree!


5   Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
    that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6   Too long have I had my dwelling
    among those who hate peace.
7   I am for peace,
    but when I speak, they are for war!

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

121   I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
2   My help comes from the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth.


3   He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
4   Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.


5   The LORD is your keeper;
    the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6   The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.


7   The LORD will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
8   The LORD will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Let Us Go to the House of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

122   I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
2   Our feet have been standing
    within your gates, O Jerusalem!


3   Jerusalem—built as a city
    that is bound firmly together,
4   to which the tribes go up,
    the tribes of the LORD,
  as was decreed for¹ Israel,
    to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5   There thrones for judgment were set,
    the thrones of the house of David.


6   Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
    “May they be secure who love you!
7   Peace be within your walls
    and security within your towers!”
8   For my brothers and companions’ sake
    I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9   For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
    I will seek your good.

Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

A Song of Ascents.

123   To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2   Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
  as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
  so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
    till he has mercy upon us.


3   Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4   Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

(ESV)

Psalms 124–127 (Listen)

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

124   If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
    let Israel now say—
2   if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
    when people rose up against us,
3   then they would have swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
4   then the flood would have swept us away,
    the torrent would have gone over us;
5   then over us would have gone
    the raging waters.


6   Blessed be the LORD,
    who has not given us
    as prey to their teeth!
7   We have escaped like a bird
    from the snare of the fowlers;
  the snare is broken,
    and we have escaped!


8   Our help is in the name of the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth.

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of Ascents.

125   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
    which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2   As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the LORD surrounds his people,
    from this time forth and forevermore.
3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
    on the land allotted to the righteous,
  lest the righteous stretch out
    their hands to do wrong.
4   Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
    and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5   But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
    the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
    Peace be upon Israel!

Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord

A Song of Ascents.

126   When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
2   Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
  then they said among the nations,
    “The LORD has done great things for them.”
3   The LORD has done great things for us;
    we are glad.


4   Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
    like streams in the Negeb!
5   Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!
6   He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
  shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him.

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

127   Unless the LORD builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
  Unless the LORD watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
2   It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
  eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives to his beloved sleep.


3   Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.
4   Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the children¹ of one’s youth.
5   Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
  He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.²

(ESV)

2 Samuel 18:9–18 (Listen)

9 And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak,¹ and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 10 And a certain man saw it and told Joab, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” 11 Joab said to the man who told him, “What, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” 12 But the man said to Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the king’s son, for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake protect the young man Absalom.’ 13 On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life² (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.” 14 Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. 15 And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.

16 Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them. 17 And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled every one to his own home. 18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s monument³ to this day.

(ESV)

Acts 23:12–24 (Listen)

A Plot to Kill Paul

12 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

16 Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” 19 The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. 21 But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” 22 So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.¹ 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”

(ESV)

Mark 11:27–12:12 (Listen)

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants

12 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant¹ to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:

  “‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;²
11   this was the Lord’s doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

(ESV)