March 25: Psalm 84; Exodus 29; Nehemiah 10; 1 Corinthians 2 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 84(Listen)

My Soul Longs for the Courts of theLord

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.¹A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

84   How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O LORD of hosts!
2   My soul longs, yes, faints
    for the courts of the LORD;
  my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.
3   Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
  at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
    my King and my God.
4   Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
    ever singing your praise!Selah
5   Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.²
6   As they go through the Valley of Baca
    they make it a place of springs;
    the early rain also covers it with pools.
7   They go from strength to strength;
    each one appears before God in Zion.
8   O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    give ear, O God of Jacob!Selah
9   Behold our shield, O God;
    look on the face of your anointed!
10   For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
    the LORD bestows favor and honor.
  No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
12   O LORD of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you!

(ESV)

Exodus 29(Listen)

Consecration of the Priests

29 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish,2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour.3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams.4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.5 Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod.6 And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban.7 You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.8 Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them,9 and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

10 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.11 Then you shall kill the bull before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting,12 and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of¹the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar.13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.14 But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

15 “Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram,16 and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar.17 Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head,18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering²to the LORD.

19 “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram,20 and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar.21 Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

22 “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination),23 and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD.24 You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.25 Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the LORD. It is a food offering to the LORD.

26 “You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be your portion.27 And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests’ portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and his sons’.28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD.

29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them.30 The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days.

31 “You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place.32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting.33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy.34 And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them,36 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it.37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly.39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.40 And with the first lamb a tenth measure³of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin⁴of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering.41 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.42 It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory.44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests.45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

(ESV)

Nehemiah 10(Listen)

The People Who Sealed the Covenant

10 “On the seals are the names of¹Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah,2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests.9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel;10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu.14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

The Obligations of the Covenant

28 “The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding,29 join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord and his rules and his statutes.30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.31 And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel²for the service of the house of our God:33 for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.34 We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.35 We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the LORD;36 also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks;37 and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor.38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse.39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.”

(ESV)

1 Corinthians 2(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

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

(ESV)