May 25: Psalm 144; Numbers 30; Obadiah 1–14; 1 Timothy 1 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 144 (Listen)

My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

144   Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
2   he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
  my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples¹ under me.


3   O LORD, what is man that you regard him,
    or the son of man that you think of him?
4   Man is like a breath;
    his days are like a passing shadow.


5   Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down!
    Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
6   Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
    send out your arrows and rout them!
7   Stretch out your hand from on high;
    rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
    from the hand of foreigners,
8   whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.


9   I will sing a new song to you, O God;
    upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10   who gives victory to kings,
    who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
11   Rescue me and deliver me
    from the hand of foreigners,
  whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.


12   May our sons in their youth
    be like plants full grown,
  our daughters like corner pillars
    cut for the structure of a palace;
13   may our granaries be full,
    providing all kinds of produce;
  may our sheep bring forth thousands
    and ten thousands in our fields;
14   may our cattle be heavy with young,
    suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;²
  may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
15   Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
    Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

(ESV)

Numbers 30 (Listen)

Men and Vows

30 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the LORD has commanded. 2 If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Women and Vows

3 “If a woman vows a vow to the LORD and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her.

6 “If she marries a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7 and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8 But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the LORD will forgive her. 9 (But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.) 10 And if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, 11 and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. 12 But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the LORD will forgive her. 13 Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself,¹ her husband may establish,² or her husband may make void. 14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. 15 But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”

16 These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father’s house.

(ESV)

Obadiah 1–14 (Listen)

1 The vision of Obadiah.

Edom Will Be Humbled

  Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:
  We have heard a report from the LORD,
    and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
  “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
2   Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
    you shall be utterly despised.¹
3   The pride of your heart has deceived you,
    you who live in the clefts of the rock,²
    in your lofty dwelling,
  who say in your heart,
    “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
4   Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
    though your nest is set among the stars,
    from there I will bring you down,
      declares the LORD.


5   If thieves came to you,
    if plunderers came by night—
    how you have been destroyed!—
    would they not steal only enough for themselves?
  If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave gleanings?
6   How Esau has been pillaged,
    his treasures sought out!
7   All your allies have driven you to your border;
    those at peace with you have deceived you;
  they have prevailed against you;
    those who eat your bread³ have set a trap beneath you—
    you have⁴ no understanding.


8   Will I not on that day, declares the LORD,
    destroy the wise men out of Edom,
    and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9   And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
    so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

Edom’s Violence Against Jacob

10   Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
    shame shall cover you,
    and you shall be cut off forever.
11   On the day that you stood aloof,
    on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
  and foreigners entered his gates
    and cast lots for Jerusalem,
    you were like one of them.
12   But do not gloat over the day of your brother
    in the day of his misfortune;
  do not rejoice over the people of Judah
    in the day of their ruin;
  do not boast⁵
    in the day of distress.
13   Do not enter the gate of my people
    in the day of their calamity;
  do not gloat over his disaster
    in the day of his calamity;
  do not loot his wealth
    in the day of his calamity.
14   Do not stand at the crossroads
    to cut off his fugitives;
  do not hand over his survivors
    in the day of distress.

(ESV)

1 Timothy 1 (Listen)

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Warning Against False Teachers

3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship¹ from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,² liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound³ doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners

12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.⁴ Amen.

18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

(ESV)