February 14: Psalm 89:1–18; Psalm 89:19–52; Genesis 30:1–24; 1 John 1; John 9:1–17 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 89:1–18(Listen)

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of theLord

A Maskil¹of Ethan the Ezrahite.

89   I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
2   For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
3   You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
4   ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’”Selah
5   Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
6   For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
    Who among the heavenly beings²is like the LORD,
7   a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
    and awesome above all who are around him?
8   O LORD God of hosts,
    who is mighty as you are, O LORD,
    with your faithfulness all around you?
9   You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.
10   You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11   The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
12   The north and the south, you have created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13   You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14   Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15   Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,
16   who exult in your name all the day
    and in your righteousness are exalted.
17   For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.
18   For our shield belongs to the LORD,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.

(ESV)

Psalm 89:19–52(Listen)

19   Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,¹and said:
    “I have granted help to one who is mighty;
    I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20   I have found David, my servant;
    with my holy oil I have anointed him,
21   so that my hand shall be established with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
22   The enemy shall not outwit him;
    the wicked shall not humble him.
23   I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.
24   My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25   I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
26   He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27   And I will make him the firstborn,
    the highest of the kings of the earth.
28   My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
    and my covenant will stand firm²for him.
29   I will establish his offspring forever
    and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30   If his children forsake my law
    and do not walk according to my rules,³
31   if they violate my statutes
    and do not keep my commandments,
32   then I will punish their transgression with the rod
    and their iniquity with stripes,
33   but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
    or be false to my faithfulness.
34   I will not violate my covenant
    or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35   Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
    I will not lie to David.
36   His offspring shall endure forever,
    his throne as long as the sun before me.
37   Like the moon it shall be established forever,
    a faithful witness in the skies.”Selah
38   But now you have cast off and rejected;
    you are full of wrath against your anointed.
39   You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
    you have defiled his crown in the dust.
40   You have breached all his walls;
    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41   All who pass by plunder him;
    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42   You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
    you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43   You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
    and you have not made him stand in battle.
44   You have made his splendor to cease
    and cast his throne to the ground.
45   You have cut short the days of his youth;
    you have covered him with shame.Selah
46   How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47   Remember how short my time is!
    For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48   What man can live and never see death?
    Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?Selah
49   Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
    which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
50   Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
    and how I bear in my heart the insults⁴of all the many nations,
51   with which your enemies mock, O LORD,
    with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
52   Blessed be the LORD forever!
      Amen and Amen.

(ESV)

Genesis 30:1–24(Listen)

30 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf,¹that even I may have children²through her.”4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.³7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings⁴I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.⁵

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.⁶12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.⁷

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night.17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.⁸

19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son.20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.⁹21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”24 And she called his name Joseph,¹⁰saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”

(ESV)

1 John 1(Listen)

The Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.4 And we are writing these things so that our¹joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

(ESV)

John 9:1–17(Listen)

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”3 Jesus answered,“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud7 and said to him,“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”(which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me,‘Go to Siloam and wash.’So I went and washed and received my sight.”12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

(ESV)