February 23: Psalm 54; Genesis 49; 2 Chronicles 27; Acts 20:17–21:16 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 54(Listen)

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil¹of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

54   O God, save me by your name,
    and vindicate me by your might.
2   O God, hear my prayer;
    give ear to the words of my mouth.
3   For strangers²have risen against me;
    ruthless men seek my life;
    they do not set God before themselves.Selah
4   Behold, God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5   He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your faithfulness put an end to them.
6   With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
7   For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

(ESV)

Genesis 49(Listen)

Jacob Blesses His Sons

49 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.

2   “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
    listen to Israel your father.
3   “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
    my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
    preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4   Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
    because you went up to your father’s bed;
    then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5   “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
    weapons of violence are their swords.
6   Let my soul come not into their council;
    O my glory, be not joined to their company.
  For in their anger they killed men,
    and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
7   Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
    and their wrath, for it is cruel!
  I will divide them in Jacob
    and scatter them in Israel.
8   “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
    your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9   Judah is a lion’s cub;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
  He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
    and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10   The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
  until tribute comes to him;¹
    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11   Binding his foal to the vine
    and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
  he has washed his garments in wine
    and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12   His eyes are darker than wine,
    and his teeth whiter than milk.
13   “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;
    he shall become a haven for ships,
    and his border shall be at Sidon.
14   “Issachar is a strong donkey,
    crouching between the sheepfolds.²
15   He saw that a resting place was good,
    and that the land was pleasant,
  so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
    and became a servant at forced labor.
16   “Dan shall judge his people
    as one of the tribes of Israel.
17   Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
    a viper by the path,
  that bites the horse’s heels
    so that his rider falls backward.
18   I wait for your salvation, O LORD.
19   “Raiders shall raid Gad,³
    but he shall raid at their heels.
20   “Asher’s food shall be rich,
    and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21   “Naphtali is a doe let loose
    that bears beautiful fawns.⁴
22   “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
    a fruitful bough by a spring;
    his branches run over the wall.⁵
23   The archers bitterly attacked him,
    shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24   yet his bow remained unmoved;
    his arms⁶were made agile
  by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
    (from there is the Shepherd,⁷the Stone of Israel),
25   by the God of your father who will help you,
    by the Almighty⁸who will bless you
    with blessings of heaven above,
  blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
    blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26   The blessings of your father
    are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
    up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.⁹
  May they be on the head of Joseph,
    and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27   “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
    in the morning devouring the prey
    and at evening dividing the spoil.”

Jacob’s Death and Burial

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.”33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

(ESV)

2 Chronicles 27(Listen)

Jotham Reigns in Judah

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the LORD. But the people still followed corrupt practices.3 He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD and did much building on the wall of Ophel.4 Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills.5 He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents¹of silver, and 10,000 cors²of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years.6 So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.8 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.9 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

(ESV)

Acts 20:17–21:16(Listen)

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.¹22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by²the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all,27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,³which he obtained with his own blood.⁴29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said,‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

21 And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.⁵2 And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo.4 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers⁶and stayed with them for one day.8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied.10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.11 And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews⁷at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”12 When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”

15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

(ESV)