March 1: Psalms 56–58; Psalms 64–65; Jeremiah 1:11–19; Romans 1:1–15; John 4:27–42 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalms 56–58 (Listen)

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam¹ of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

56   Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2   my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.
3   When I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
4   In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?


5   All day long they injure my cause;²
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6   They stir up strife, they lurk;
    they watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
7   For their crime will they escape?
    In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!


8   You have kept count of my tossings;³
    put my tears in your bottle.
    Are they not in your book?
9   Then my enemies will turn back
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that⁴ God is for me.
10   In God, whose word I praise,
    in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11   in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?


12   I must perform my vows to you, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to you.
13   For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
  that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam⁵ of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

57   Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
  in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of destruction pass by.
2   I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3   He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
  God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!


4   My soul is in the midst of lions;
    I lie down amid fiery beasts—
  the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose tongues are sharp swords.


5   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!


6   They set a net for my steps;
    my soul was bowed down.
  They dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7   My heart is steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
  I will sing and make melody!
8     Awake, my glory!⁶
  Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
9   I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10   For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.


11   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam⁷ of David.

58   Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?⁸
    Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2   No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
    your hands deal out violence on earth.


3   The wicked are estranged from the womb;
    they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4   They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
    like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5   so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
    or of the cunning enchanter.


6   O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
    tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7   Let them vanish like water that runs away;
    when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8   Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
    like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9   Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
    whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!⁹


10   The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
    he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11   Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
    surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

(ESV)

Psalms 64–65 (Listen)

Hide Me from the Wicked

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

64   Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
    preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2   Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
    from the throng of evildoers,
3   who whet their tongues like swords,
    who aim bitter words like arrows,
4   shooting from ambush at the blameless,
    shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
5   They hold fast to their evil purpose;
    they talk of laying snares secretly,
  thinking, “Who can see them?”
6     They search out injustice,
  saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
    For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.


7   But God shoots his arrow at them;
    they are wounded suddenly.
8   They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;
    all who see them will wag their heads.
9   Then all mankind fears;
    they tell what God has brought about
    and ponder what he has done.


10   Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD
    and take refuge in him!
  Let all the upright in heart exult!

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

65   Praise is due to you,¹ O God, in Zion,
    and to you shall vows be performed.
2   O you who hear prayer,
    to you shall all flesh come.
3   When iniquities prevail against me,
    you atone for our transgressions.
4   Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
    to dwell in your courts!
  We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
    the holiness of your temple!


5   By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
    O God of our salvation,
  the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas;
6   the one who by his strength established the mountains,
    being girded with might;
7   who stills the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    the tumult of the peoples,
8   so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
  You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.


9   You visit the earth and water it;²
    you greatly enrich it;
  the river of God is full of water;
    you provide their grain,
    for so you have prepared it.
10   You water its furrows abundantly,
    settling its ridges,
  softening it with showers,
    and blessing its growth.
11   You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12   The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills gird themselves with joy,
13   the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
    the valleys deck themselves with grain,
    they shout and sing together for joy.

(ESV)

Jeremiah 1:11–19 (Listen)

11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond¹ branch.” 12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14 Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north disaster² shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, dress yourself for work;³ arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”

(ESV)

Romans 1:1–15 (Listen)

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant¹ of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David² according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,³ that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians,⁴ both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

(ESV)

John 4:27–42 (Listen)

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

(ESV)