March 9: Psalm 119:49–72; Psalm 49; Psalm 53; Genesis 37:25–36; 1 Corinthians 2:1–13; Mark 1:29–45 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 119:49–72(Listen)

Zayin

49   Remember your word to your servant,
    in which you have made me hope.
50   This is my comfort in my affliction,
    that your promise gives me life.
51   The insolent utterly deride me,
    but I do not turn away from your law.
52   When I think of your rules from of old,
    I take comfort, O LORD.
53   Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
    who forsake your law.
54   Your statutes have been my songs
    in the house of my sojourning.
55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD,
    and keep your law.
56   This blessing has fallen to me,
    that I have kept your precepts.

Heth

57   The LORD is my portion;
    I promise to keep your words.
58   I entreat your favor with all my heart;
    be gracious to me according to your promise.
59   When I think on my ways,
    I turn my feet to your testimonies;
60   I hasten and do not delay
    to keep your commandments.
61   Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
    I do not forget your law.
62   At midnight I rise to praise you,
    because of your righteous rules.
63   I am a companion of all who fear you,
    of those who keep your precepts.
64   The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;
    teach me your statutes!

Teth

65   You have dealt well with your servant,
    O LORD, according to your word.
66   Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
    for I believe in your commandments.
67   Before I was afflicted I went astray,
    but now I keep your word.
68   You are good and do good;
    teach me your statutes.
69   The insolent smear me with lies,
    but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;
70   their heart is unfeeling like fat,
    but I delight in your law.
71   It is good for me that I was afflicted,
    that I might learn your statutes.
72   The law of your mouth is better to me
    than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

(ESV)

Psalm 49(Listen)

Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

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

49   Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2   both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
3   My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4   I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5   Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6   those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7   Truly no man can ransom another,
    or give to God the price of his life,
8   for the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
9   that he should live on forever
    and never see the pit.
10   For he sees that even the wise die;
    the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and leave their wealth to others.
11   Their graves are their homes forever,¹
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they called lands by their own names.
12   Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish.
13   This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts.²Selah
14   Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
  and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15   But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me.Selah
16   Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
17   For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
18   For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19   his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
20   Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

(ESV)

Psalm 53(Listen)

There Is None Who Does Good

To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil¹of David.

53   The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
    there is none who does good.
2   God looks down from heaven
    on the children of man
  to see if there are any who understand,²
    who seek after God.
3   They have all fallen away;
    together they have become corrupt;
  there is none who does good,
    not even one.
4   Have those who work evil no knowledge,
    who eat up my people as they eat bread,
    and do not call upon God?
5   There they are, in great terror,
    where there is no terror!
  For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
    you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6   Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

(ESV)

Genesis 37:25–36(Listen)

25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him.28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels¹of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?”31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.”33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.”34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

(ESV)

1 Corinthians 2:1–13(Listen)

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers,¹did not come proclaiming to you the testimony²of God with lofty speech or wisdom.2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men³but in the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.9 But, as it is written,

  “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
  what God has prepared for those who love him”—

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.⁴

(ESV)

Mark 1:29–45(Listen)

Jesus Heals Many

29 And immediately he¹left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door.34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”38 And he said to them,“Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

40 And a leper²came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him,“I will; be clean.”42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.43 And Jesus³sternly charged him and sent him away at once,44 and said to him,“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

(ESV)