March 8: Psalm 45; Psalms 47–48; Genesis 37:12–24; 1 Corinthians 1:20–31; Mark 1:14–28 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 45(Listen)

Your Throne, O God, Is Forever

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil¹of the Sons of Korah; a love song.

45   My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
    I address my verses to the king;
    my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
2   You are the most handsome of the sons of men;
    grace is poured upon your lips;
    therefore God has blessed you forever.
3   Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
    in your splendor and majesty!
4   In your majesty ride out victoriously
    for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
    let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
5   Your arrows are sharp
    in the heart of the king’s enemies;
    the peoples fall under you.
6   Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
    The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7     you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
  Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8     your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
  From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9     daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
    at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
10   Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
    forget your people and your father’s house,
11     and the king will desire your beauty.
  Since he is your lord, bow to him.
12     The people²of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
    the richest of the people.³
13   All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
14     In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
    with her virgin companions following behind her.
15   With joy and gladness they are led along
    as they enter the palace of the king.
16   In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
    you will make them princes in all the earth.
17   I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
    therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

(ESV)

Psalms 47–48(Listen)

God Is King over All the Earth

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

47   Clap your hands, all peoples!
    Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
2   For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,
    a great king over all the earth.
3   He subdued peoples under us,
    and nations under our feet.
4   He chose our heritage for us,
    the pride of Jacob whom he loves.Selah
5   God has gone up with a shout,
    the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6   Sing praises to God, sing praises!
    Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7   For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing praises with a psalm!¹
8   God reigns over the nations;
    God sits on his holy throne.
9   The princes of the peoples gather
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
  For the shields of the earth belong to God;
    he is highly exalted!

Zion, the City of Our God

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

48   Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
  His holy mountain,2 beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
  Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
3   Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress.
4   For behold, the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
5   As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
6   Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish as of a woman in labor.
7   By the east wind you shattered
    the ships of Tarshish.
8   As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the LORD of hosts,
  in the city of our God,
    which God will establish forever.Selah
9   We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
10   As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
  Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11     Let Mount Zion be glad!
  Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!
12   Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
13   consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
  that you may tell the next generation
14     that this is God,
  our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.²

(ESV)

Genesis 37:12–24(Listen)

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem.13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?”16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.”17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him.19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer.20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.¹Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.”22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore.24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

(ESV)

1 Corinthians 1:20–31(Listen)

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach¹to save those who believe.22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,²not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,29 so that no human being³might boast in the presence of God.30 And because of him⁴you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

(ESV)

Mark 1:14–28(Listen)

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,15 and saying,“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;¹repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.17 And Jesus said to them,“Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”²18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying,“Be silent, and come out of him!”26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

(ESV)