April 21: Psalm 111; Leviticus 17; Isaiah 22; Galatians 2 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 111(Listen)

Great Are theLord’s Works

111   ¹Praise the LORD!
  I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
    in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2   Great are the works of the LORD,
    studied by all who delight in them.
3   Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
    and his righteousness endures forever.
4   He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
    the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5   He provides food for those who fear him;
    he remembers his covenant forever.
6   He has shown his people the power of his works,
    in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7   The works of his hands are faithful and just;
    all his precepts are trustworthy;
8   they are established forever and ever,
    to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9   He sent redemption to his people;
    he has commanded his covenant forever.
    Holy and awesome is his name!
10   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
    all those who practice it have a good understanding.
    His praise endures forever!

(ESV)

Leviticus 17(Listen)

The Place of Sacrifice

17 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the LORD has commanded.3 If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp,4 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people.5 This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the LORD, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD.6 And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the LORD.7 So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

8 “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice9 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws Against Eating Blood

10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.14 For the life of every creature¹is its blood: its blood is its life.²Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.15 And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean.16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.”

(ESV)

Isaiah 22(Listen)

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

22 The oracle concerning the valley of vision.

  What do you mean that you have gone up,
    all of you, to the housetops,
2   you who are full of shoutings,
    tumultuous city, exultant town?
  Your slain are not slain with the sword
    or dead in battle.
3   All your leaders have fled together;
    without the bow they were captured.
  All of you who were found were captured,
    though they had fled far away.
4   Therefore I said:
  “Look away from me;
    let me weep bitter tears;
  do not labor to comfort me
    concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5   For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day
    of tumult and trampling and confusion
    in the valley of vision,
  a battering down of walls
    and a shouting to the mountains.
6   And Elam bore the quiver
    with chariots and horsemen,
    and Kir uncovered the shield.
7   Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
    and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.
8   He has taken away the covering of Judah.

In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest,9 and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool,10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.11 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

12   In that day the Lord GOD of hosts
    called for weeping and mourning,
    for baldness and wearing sackcloth;
13   and behold, joy and gladness,
    killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
    eating flesh and drinking wine.
  “Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”
14   The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:
  “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,”
    says the Lord GOD of hosts.

15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him:16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock?17 Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house.19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station.20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house.24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons.25 In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”

(ESV)

Galatians 2(Listen)

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles),9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.¹13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;16 yet we know that a person is not justified²by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness³were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

(ESV)