November 21: Psalm 97; Psalms 99–100; Psalms 94–95; 1 Maccabees 3:25-41; Revelation 21:1–8; Matthew 17:14–20 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 97(Listen)

TheLordReigns

97   The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;
    let the many coastlands be glad!
2   Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3   Fire goes before him
    and burns up his adversaries all around.
4   His lightnings light up the world;
    the earth sees and trembles.
5   The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
    before the Lord of all the earth.
6   The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    and all the peoples see his glory.
7   All worshipers of images are put to shame,
    who make their boast in worthless idols;
    worship him, all you gods!
8   Zion hears and is glad,
    and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
    because of your judgments, O LORD.
9   For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
    you are exalted far above all gods.
10   O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
    He preserves the lives of his saints;
    he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11   Light is sown¹for the righteous,
    and joy for the upright in heart.
12   Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
    and give thanks to his holy name!

(ESV)

Psalms 99–100(Listen)

TheLordOur God Is Holy

99   The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble!
    He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2   The LORD is great in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the peoples.
3   Let them praise your great and awesome name!
    Holy is he!
4   The King in his might loves justice.¹
    You have established equity;
  you have executed justice
    and righteousness in Jacob.
5   Exalt the LORD our God;
    worship at his footstool!
    Holy is he!
6   Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
    They called to the LORD, and he answered them.
7   In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.
8   O LORD our God, you answered them;
    you were a forgiving God to them,
    but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9   Exalt the LORD our God,
    and worship at his holy mountain;
    for the LORD our God is holy!

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A Psalm for giving thanks.

100   Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2     Serve the LORD with gladness!
    Come into his presence with singing!
3   Know that the LORD, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;²
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4   Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5   For the LORD is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

(ESV)

Psalms 94–95(Listen)

TheLordWill Not Forsake His People

94   O LORD, God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, shine forth!
2   Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    repay to the proud what they deserve!
3   O LORD, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult?
4   They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.
5   They crush your people, O LORD,
    and afflict your heritage.
6   They kill the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder the fatherless;
7   and they say, “The LORD does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
8   Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
9   He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
  He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10   He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
  He who teaches man knowledge—
11     the LORD—knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are but a breath.¹
12   Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD,
    and whom you teach out of your law,
13   to give him rest from days of trouble,
    until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14   For the LORD will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage;
15   for justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16   Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17   If the LORD had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18   When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
19   When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
20   Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame²injustice by statute?
21   They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.³
22   But the LORD has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.
23   He will bring back on them their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the LORD our God will wipe them out.

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

95   Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2   Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3   For the LORD is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
4   In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
5   The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.
6   Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7   For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.
  Today, if you hear his voice,
8     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9   when your fathers put me to the test
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10   For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
    and they have not known my ways.”
11   Therefore I swore in my wrath,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”

(ESV)

Revelation 21:1–8(Listen)

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place¹of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,²and God himself will be with them as their God.³4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

(ESV)

Matthew 17:14–20(Listen)

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon

14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him,15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”17 And Jesus answered,“O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”18 And Jesus rebuked the demon,¹and it²came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.³19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”20 He said to them,“Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”⁴

(ESV)