March 23: Psalms 120–123; Psalms 124–127; Jeremiah 25:8–17; Romans 10:1–13; John 9:18–41 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalms 120–123 (Listen)

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of Ascents.

120   In my distress I called to the LORD,
    and he answered me.
2   Deliver me, O LORD,
    from lying lips,
    from a deceitful tongue.


3   What shall be given to you,
    and what more shall be done to you,
    you deceitful tongue?
4   A warrior’s sharp arrows,
    with glowing coals of the broom tree!


5   Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
    that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6   Too long have I had my dwelling
    among those who hate peace.
7   I am for peace,
    but when I speak, they are for war!

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

121   I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
2   My help comes from the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth.


3   He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
4   Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.


5   The LORD is your keeper;
    the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6   The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.


7   The LORD will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
8   The LORD will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Let Us Go to the House of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

122   I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
2   Our feet have been standing
    within your gates, O Jerusalem!


3   Jerusalem—built as a city
    that is bound firmly together,
4   to which the tribes go up,
    the tribes of the LORD,
  as was decreed for¹ Israel,
    to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5   There thrones for judgment were set,
    the thrones of the house of David.


6   Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
    “May they be secure who love you!
7   Peace be within your walls
    and security within your towers!”
8   For my brothers and companions’ sake
    I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9   For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
    I will seek your good.

Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

A Song of Ascents.

123   To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2   Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
  as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
  so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
    till he has mercy upon us.


3   Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4   Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

(ESV)

Psalms 124–127 (Listen)

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

124   If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
    let Israel now say—
2   if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
    when people rose up against us,
3   then they would have swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
4   then the flood would have swept us away,
    the torrent would have gone over us;
5   then over us would have gone
    the raging waters.


6   Blessed be the LORD,
    who has not given us
    as prey to their teeth!
7   We have escaped like a bird
    from the snare of the fowlers;
  the snare is broken,
    and we have escaped!


8   Our help is in the name of the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth.

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of Ascents.

125   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
    which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2   As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the LORD surrounds his people,
    from this time forth and forevermore.
3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
    on the land allotted to the righteous,
  lest the righteous stretch out
    their hands to do wrong.
4   Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
    and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5   But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
    the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
    Peace be upon Israel!

Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord

A Song of Ascents.

126   When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
2   Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
  then they said among the nations,
    “The LORD has done great things for them.”
3   The LORD has done great things for us;
    we are glad.


4   Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
    like streams in the Negeb!
5   Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!
6   He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
  shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him.

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

127   Unless the LORD builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
  Unless the LORD watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
2   It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
  eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives to his beloved sleep.


3   Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.
4   Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the children¹ of one’s youth.
5   Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
  He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.²

(ESV)

Jeremiah 25:8–17 (Listen)

8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.”

17 So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:

(ESV)

Romans 10:1–13 (Listen)

10 Brothers,¹ my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.²

The Message of Salvation to All

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

(ESV)

John 9:18–41 (Listen)

18 The Jews¹ did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus² to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”³ 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt;⁴ but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

(ESV)