September 29: Psalm 101; Psalm 109:1–30; Psalm 119:121–144; 2 Kings 18:9–25; 1 Corinthians 8; Matthew 7:13–21 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 101 (Listen)

I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David.

101   I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
    to you, O LORD, I will make music.
2   I will ponder the way that is blameless.
    Oh when will you come to me?
  I will walk with integrity of heart
    within my house;
3   I will not set before my eyes
    anything that is worthless.
  I hate the work of those who fall away;
    it shall not cling to me.
4   A perverse heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.


5   Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
    I will destroy.
  Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart
    I will not endure.


6   I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
  he who walks in the way that is blameless
    shall minister to me.


7   No one who practices deceit
    shall dwell in my house;
  no one who utters lies
    shall continue before my eyes.


8   Morning by morning I will destroy
    all the wicked in the land,
  cutting off all the evildoers
    from the city of the LORD.

(ESV)

Psalm 109:1–30 (Listen)

Help Me, O Lord My God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

109   Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2   For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
    speaking against me with lying tongues.
3   They encircle me with words of hate,
    and attack me without cause.
4   In return for my love they accuse me,
    but I give myself to prayer.¹
5   So they reward me evil for good,
    and hatred for my love.


6   Appoint a wicked man against him;
    let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7   When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
    let his prayer be counted as sin!
8   May his days be few;
    may another take his office!
9   May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow!
10   May his children wander about and beg,
    seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11   May the creditor seize all that he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12   Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
    nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13   May his posterity be cut off;
    may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14   May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
    and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15   Let them be before the LORD continually,
    that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!


16   For he did not remember to show kindness,
    but pursued the poor and needy
    and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17   He loved to curse; let curses come² upon him!
    He did not delight in blessing; may it be far³ from him!
18   He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
    may it soak⁴ into his body like water,
    like oil into his bones!
19   May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
    like a belt that he puts on every day!
20   May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
    of those who speak evil against my life!


21   But you, O GOD my Lord,
    deal on my behalf for your name’s sake;
    because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22   For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is stricken within me.
23   I am gone like a shadow at evening;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24   My knees are weak through fasting;
    my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25   I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they wag their heads.


26   Help me, O LORD my God!
    Save me according to your steadfast love!
27   Let them know that this is your hand;
    you, O LORD, have done it!
28   Let them curse, but you will bless!
    They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29   May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
    may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!


30   With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
    I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

(ESV)

Psalm 119:121–144 (Listen)

Ayin

121   I have done what is just and right;
    do not leave me to my oppressors.
122   Give your servant a pledge of good;
    let not the insolent oppress me.
123   My eyes long for your salvation
    and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
124   Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
    and teach me your statutes.
125   I am your servant; give me understanding,
    that I may know your testimonies!
126   It is time for the LORD to act,
    for your law has been broken.
127   Therefore I love your commandments
    above gold, above fine gold.
128   Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;
    I hate every false way.

Pe

129   Your testimonies are wonderful;
    therefore my soul keeps them.
130   The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it imparts understanding to the simple.
131   I open my mouth and pant,
    because I long for your commandments.
132   Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    as is your way with those who love your name.
133   Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
    and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
134   Redeem me from man’s oppression,
    that I may keep your precepts.
135   Make your face shine upon your servant,
    and teach me your statutes.
136   My eyes shed streams of tears,
    because people do not keep your law.

Tsadhe

137   Righteous are you, O LORD,
    and right are your rules.
138   You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness
    and in all faithfulness.
139   My zeal consumes me,
    because my foes forget your words.
140   Your promise is well tried,
    and your servant loves it.
141   I am small and despised,
    yet I do not forget your precepts.
142   Your righteousness is righteous forever,
    and your law is true.
143   Trouble and anguish have found me out,
    but your commandments are my delight.
144   Your testimonies are righteous forever;
    give me understanding that I may live.

(ESV)

2 Kings 18:9–25 (Listen)

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents¹ of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

(ESV)

1 Corinthians 8 (Listen)

Food Offered to Idols

8 Now concerning¹ food 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 eating³ in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged,⁴ if 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 brothers⁵ and 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)

Matthew 7:13–21 (Listen)

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy¹ that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

A Tree and Its Fruit

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

I Never Knew You

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

(ESV)