February 8: Psalm 78:1–39; Psalm 78:40–72; Genesis 26:1–6; Genesis 26:12–33; Hebrews 13:17–25; John 7:53–8:11 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 78:1–39(Listen)

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil¹of Asaph.

78   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2   I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3   things that we have heard and known,
    that our fathers have told us.
4   We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.
5   He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
  which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
6   that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
  and arise and tell them to their children,
7     so that they should set their hope in God
  and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
8   and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9   The Ephraimites, armed with²the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
10   They did not keep God’s covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
11   They forgot his works
    and the wonders that he had shown them.
12   In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13   He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
    and made the waters stand like a heap.
14   In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
    and all the night with a fiery light.
15   He split rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16   He made streams come out of the rock
    and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17   Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18   They tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
19   They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20   He struck the rock so that water gushed out
    and streams overflowed.
  Can he also give bread
    or provide meat for his people?”
21   Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;
    a fire was kindled against Jacob;
    his anger rose against Israel,
22   because they did not believe in God
    and did not trust his saving power.
23   Yet he commanded the skies above
    and opened the doors of heaven,
24   and he rained down on them manna to eat
    and gave them the grain of heaven.
25   Man ate of the bread of the angels;
    he sent them food in abundance.
26   He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
    and by his power he led out the south wind;
27   he rained meat on them like dust,
    winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28   he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
    all around their dwellings.
29   And they ate and were well filled,
    for he gave them what they craved.
30   But before they had satisfied their craving,
    while the food was still in their mouths,
31   the anger of God rose against them,
    and he killed the strongest of them
    and laid low the young men of Israel.
32   In spite of all this, they still sinned;
    despite his wonders, they did not believe.
33   So he made their days vanish like³a breath,⁴
    and their years in terror.
34   When he killed them, they sought him;
    they repented and sought God earnestly.
35   They remembered that God was their rock,
    the Most High God their redeemer.
36   But they flattered him with their mouths;
    they lied to him with their tongues.
37   Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
38   Yet he, being compassionate,
    atoned for their iniquity
    and did not destroy them;
  he restrained his anger often
    and did not stir up all his wrath.
39   He remembered that they were but flesh,
    a wind that passes and comes not again.

(ESV)

Psalm 78:40–72(Listen)

40   How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
    and grieved him in the desert!
41   They tested God again and again
    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42   They did not remember his power¹
    or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43   when he performed his signs in Egypt
    and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
44   He turned their rivers to blood,
    so that they could not drink of their streams.
45   He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
    and frogs, which destroyed them.
46   He gave their crops to the destroying locust
    and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47   He destroyed their vines with hail
    and their sycamores with frost.
48   He gave over their cattle to the hail
    and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49   He let loose on them his burning anger,
    wrath, indignation, and distress,
    a company of destroying angels.
50   He made a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death,
    but gave their lives over to the plague.
51   He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
    the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52   Then he led out his people like sheep
    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53   He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
    but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54   And he brought them to his holy land,
    to the mountain which his right hand had won.
55   He drove out nations before them;
    he apportioned them for a possession
    and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56   Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
    and did not keep his testimonies,
57   but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
    they twisted like a deceitful bow.
58   For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
    they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
59   When God heard, he was full of wrath,
    and he utterly rejected Israel.
60   He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,
    the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61   and delivered his power to captivity,
    his glory to the hand of the foe.
62   He gave his people over to the sword
    and vented his wrath on his heritage.
63   Fire devoured their young men,
    and their young women had no marriage song.
64   Their priests fell by the sword,
    and their widows made no lamentation.
65   Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
    like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66   And he put his adversaries to rout;
    he put them to everlasting shame.
67   He rejected the tent of Joseph;
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68   but he chose the tribe of Judah,
    Mount Zion, which he loves.
69   He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
    like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70   He chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
71   from following the nursing ewes he brought him
    to shepherd Jacob his people,
    Israel his inheritance.
72   With upright heart he shepherded them
    and guided them with his skillful hand.

(ESV)

Genesis 26:1–6(Listen)

God’s Promise to Isaac

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines.2 And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac and Abimelech

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

(ESV)

Genesis 26:12–33(Listen)

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him,13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them.19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water,20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,¹because they contended with him.21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.²22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,³saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beersheba.24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army,27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?”28 They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.”30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.”33 He called it Shibah;⁴therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

(ESV)

Hebrews 13:17–25(Listen)

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Benediction

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us¹that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

22 I appeal to you, brothers,²bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon.24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.25 Grace be with all of you.

(ESV)

John 7:53–8:11(Listen)

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]¹

The Woman Caught in Adultery

53 [[They went each to his own house,8 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them,“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.10 Jesus stood up and said to her,“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said,“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]]

(ESV)