August 22: Psalms 146–147; Psalms 111–113; 2 Samuel 24:1–2; 2 Samuel 24:10–25; Galatians 3:23–4:7; John 8:12–20 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalms 146–147 (Listen)

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

146   Praise the LORD!
  Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2   I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.


3   Put not your trust in princes,
    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4   When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    on that very day his plans perish.


5   Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6   who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
  who keeps faith forever;
7     who executes justice for the oppressed,
    who gives food to the hungry.


  The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8     the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
  The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the LORD loves the righteous.
9   The LORD watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.


10   The LORD will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, to all generations.
  Praise the LORD!

He Heals the Brokenhearted

147   Praise the LORD!
  For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant,¹ and a song of praise is fitting.
2   The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3   He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4   He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
5   Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
6   The LORD lifts up the humble;²
    he casts the wicked to the ground.


7   Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre!
8   He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
9   He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
10   His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11   but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.


12   Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!
13   For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
14   He makes peace in your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15   He sends out his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.
16   He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
17   He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
18   He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19   He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and rules³ to Israel.
20   He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
    they do not know his rules.⁴
  Praise the LORD!

(ESV)

Psalms 111–113 (Listen)

Great Are the Lord’s Works

111   ¹ Praise the LORD!
  I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
    in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2   Great are the works of the LORD,
    studied by all who delight in them.
3   Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
    and his righteousness endures forever.
4   He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
    the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5   He provides food for those who fear him;
    he remembers his covenant forever.
6   He has shown his people the power of his works,
    in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7   The works of his hands are faithful and just;
    all his precepts are trustworthy;
8   they are established forever and ever,
    to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9   He sent redemption to his people;
    he has commanded his covenant forever.
    Holy and awesome is his name!
10   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
    all those who practice it have a good understanding.
    His praise endures forever!

The Righteous Will Never Be Moved

112   ² Praise the LORD!
  Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
    who greatly delights in his commandments!
2   His offspring will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3   Wealth and riches are in his house,
    and his righteousness endures forever.
4   Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
    he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5   It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
    who conducts his affairs with justice.
6   For the righteous will never be moved;
    he will be remembered forever.
7   He is not afraid of bad news;
    his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
8   His heart is steady;³ he will not be afraid,
    until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
9   He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
    his righteousness endures forever;
    his horn is exalted in honor.
10   The wicked man sees it and is angry;
    he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
    the desire of the wicked will perish!

Who Is like the Lord Our God?

113   Praise the LORD!
  Praise, O servants of the LORD,
    praise the name of the LORD!


2   Blessed be the name of the LORD
    from this time forth and forevermore!
3   From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    the name of the LORD is to be praised!


4   The LORD is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens!
5   Who is like the LORD our God,
    who is seated on high,
6   who looks far down
    on the heavens and the earth?
7   He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8   to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
9   He gives the barren woman a home,
    making her the joyous mother of children.
  Praise the LORD!

(ESV)

2 Samuel 24:1–2 (Listen)

David’s Census

24 Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,¹ who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.”

(ESV)

2 Samuel 24:10–25 (Listen)

The Lord’s Judgment of David’s Sin

10 But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer¹ you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three² years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

15 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

David Builds an Altar

18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up at Gad’s word, as the LORD commanded. 20 And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. 21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be averted from the people.” 22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels³ of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.

(ESV)

Galatians 3:23–4:7 (Listen)

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave¹ nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Sons and Heirs

4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,² though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles³ of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

(ESV)

John 8:12–20 (Listen)

I Am the Light of the World

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father¹ who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

(ESV)