March 23: Psalm 119:97–120; Psalms 81–82; Genesis 45:16–28; 1 Corinthians 8; Mark 6:13–29 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 119:97–120(Listen)

Mem

97   Oh how I love your law!
    It is my meditation all the day.
98   Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
    for it is ever with me.
99   I have more understanding than all my teachers,
    for your testimonies are my meditation.
100   I understand more than the aged,¹
    for I keep your precepts.
101   I hold back my feet from every evil way,
    in order to keep your word.
102   I do not turn aside from your rules,
    for you have taught me.
103   How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104   Through your precepts I get understanding;
    therefore I hate every false way.

Nun

105   Your word is a lamp to my feet
    and a light to my path.
106   I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
    to keep your righteous rules.
107   I am severely afflicted;
    give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
108   Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD,
    and teach me your rules.
109   I hold my life in my hand continually,
    but I do not forget your law.
110   The wicked have laid a snare for me,
    but I do not stray from your precepts.
111   Your testimonies are my heritage forever,
    for they are the joy of my heart.
112   I incline my heart to perform your statutes
    forever, to the end.²

Samekh

113   I hate the double-minded,
    but I love your law.
114   You are my hiding place and my shield;
    I hope in your word.
115   Depart from me, you evildoers,
    that I may keep the commandments of my God.
116   Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,
    and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
117   Hold me up, that I may be safe
    and have regard for your statutes continually!
118   You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,
    for their cunning is in vain.
119   All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,
    therefore I love your testimonies.
120   My flesh trembles for fear of you,
    and I am afraid of your judgments.

(ESV)

Psalms 81–82(Listen)

Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.¹Of Asaph.

81   Sing aloud to God our strength;
    shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2   Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
    the sweet lyre with the harp.
3   Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
    at the full moon, on our feast day.
4   For it is a statute for Israel,
    a rule²of the God of Jacob.
5   He made it a decree in Joseph
    when he went out over³the land of Egypt.
  I hear a language I had not known:
6   “I relieved your⁴shoulder of the burden;
    your hands were freed from the basket.
7   In distress you called, and I delivered you;
    I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.Selah
8   Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9   There shall be no strange god among you;
    you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10   I am the LORD your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11   “But my people did not listen to my voice;
    Israel would not submit to me.
12   So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
    to follow their own counsels.
13   Oh, that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would walk in my ways!
14   I would soon subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes.
15   Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
    and their fate would last forever.
16   But he would feed you⁵with the finest of the wheat,
    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Rescue the Weak and Needy

A Psalm of Asaph.

82   God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2   “How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked?Selah
3   Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
    maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4   Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5   They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    they walk about in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6   I said, “You are gods,
    sons of the Most High, all of you;
7   nevertheless, like men you shall die,
    and fall like any prince.”⁶
8   Arise, O God, judge the earth;
    for you shall inherit all the nations!

(ESV)

Genesis 45:16–28(Listen)

16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan,18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.20 Have no concern for¹your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels²of silver and five changes of clothes.23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey.24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”

25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them.27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

(ESV)

1 Corinthians 8(Listen)

Food Offered to Idols

8 Now concerning¹food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.²

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating³in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged,⁴if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.12 Thus, sinning against your brothers⁵and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

(ESV)

Mark 6:13–29(Listen)

13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’¹name had become known. Some²said, “John the Baptist³has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not,20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s⁴head. He went and beheaded him in the prison28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

(ESV)