August 23: Psalms 1–3; Psalm 4; Psalm 7; 1 Kings 1:5–31; Acts 26:1–23; Mark 13:14–27 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalms 1–3 (Listen)

Book One

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

1   Blessed is the man¹
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
  nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2   but his delight is in the law² of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.


3   He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
  that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
  In all that he does, he prospers.
4   The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.


5   Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6   for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed

2   Why do the nations rage³
    and the peoples plot in vain?
2   The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
3   “Let us burst their bonds apart
    and cast away their cords from us.”


4   He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord holds them in derision.
5   Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6   “As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.”


7   I will tell of the decree:
  The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
8   Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
9   You shall break⁴ them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”


10   Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11   Serve the LORD with fear,
    and rejoice with trembling.
12   Kiss the Son,
    lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.
  Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

3   O LORD, how many are my foes!
    Many are rising against me;
2   many are saying of my soul,
    “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah⁵


3   But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
    my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4   I cried aloud to the LORD,
    and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah


5   I lay down and slept;
    I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
6   I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
    who have set themselves against me all around.


7   Arise, O LORD!
    Save me, O my God!
  For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked.


8   Salvation belongs to the LORD;
    your blessing be on your people! Selah

(ESV)

Psalm 4 (Listen)

Answer Me When I Call

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

4   Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
    You have given me relief when I was in distress.
    Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!


2   O men,¹ how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
    How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3   But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
    the LORD hears when I call to him.


4   Be angry,² and do not sin;
    ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5   Offer right sacrifices,
    and put your trust in the LORD.


6   There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
    Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”
7   You have put more joy in my heart
    than they have when their grain and wine abound.


8   In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

(ESV)

Psalm 7 (Listen)

In You Do I Take Refuge

A Shiggaion¹ of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

7   O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
    save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2   lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
    rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.


3   O LORD my God, if I have done this,
    if there is wrong in my hands,
4   if I have repaid my friend² with evil
    or plundered my enemy without cause,
5   let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
    and let him trample my life to the ground
    and lay my glory in the dust. Selah


6   Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
    lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
    awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7   Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
    over it return on high.


8   The LORD judges the peoples;
    judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
    and according to the integrity that is in me.
9   Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
    and may you establish the righteous—
  you who test the minds and hearts,³
    O righteous God!
10   My shield is with God,
    who saves the upright in heart.
11   God is a righteous judge,
    and a God who feels indignation every day.


12   If a man⁴ does not repent, God⁵ will whet his sword;
    he has bent and readied his bow;
13   he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
    making his arrows fiery shafts.
14   Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
    and is pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
15   He makes a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
16   His mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends.


17   I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
    and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

(ESV)

1 Kings 1:5–31 (Listen)

Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King

5 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. 7 He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him. 8 But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David’s mighty men were not with Adonijah.

9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent’s Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother.

Nathan and Bathsheba Before David

11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it? 12 Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’ 14 Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm¹ your words.”

15 So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king). 16 Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?” 17 She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ 18 And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it. 19 He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited. 20 And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”

22 While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 23 And they told the king, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? 25 For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders² of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not invited. 27 Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

Solomon Anointed King

28 Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. 29 And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, 30 as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.” 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

(ESV)

Acts 26:1–23 (Listen)

Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa

26 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4 “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,¹ ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

(ESV)

Mark 13:14–27 (Listen)

The Abomination of Desolation

14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter. 19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.

The Coming of the Son of Man

24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

(ESV)