December 2: Psalms 16–17; Psalm 22; Isaiah 3:8–15; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12; Luke 20:41–21:4

1 Advent

First Psalm:

Psalms 16–17

Psalms 16–17 (Listen)
You Will Not Abandon My Soul
A Miktam1 of David.

16   Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2   I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”

3   As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.2

4   The sorrows of those who run after3 another god shall multiply;
    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
    or take their names on my lips.

5   The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
6   The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

7   I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.4
8   I have set the LORD always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

9   Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being5 rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
10   For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.6

11   You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

In the Shadow of Your Wings
A Prayer of David.

17   Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry!
    Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
2   From your presence let my vindication come!
    Let your eyes behold the right!

3   You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,
    you have tested me, and you will find nothing;
    I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4   With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
    I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5   My steps have held fast to your paths;
    my feet have not slipped.

6   I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
    incline your ear to me; hear my words.
7   Wondrously show7 your steadfast love,
    O Savior of those who seek refuge
    from their adversaries at your right hand.

8   Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings,
9   from the wicked who do me violence,
    my deadly enemies who surround me.

10   They close their hearts to pity;
    with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
11   They have now surrounded our steps;
    they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
12   He is like a lion eager to tear,
    as a young lion lurking in ambush.

13   Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him!
    Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
14   from men by your hand, O LORD,
    from men of the world whose portion is in this life.8
  You fill their womb with treasure;9
    they are satisfied with children,
    and they leave their abundance to their infants.

15   As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
    when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Footnotes

[1] 16:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term


[2] 16:3 Or To the saints in the land, the excellent in whom is all my delight, I say:


[3] 16:4 Or who acquire


[4] 16:7 Hebrew my kidneys instruct me


[5] 16:9 Hebrew my glory


[6] 16:10 Or see the pit


[7] 17:7 Or Distinguish me by


[8] 17:14 Or from men whose portion in life is of the world


[9] 17:14 Or As for your treasured ones, you fill their womb

(ESV)

Second Psalm:

Psalm 22

Psalm 22 (Listen)
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

22   My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2   O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

3   Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises1 of Israel.
4   In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
5   To you they cried and were rescued;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6   But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7   All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8   “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9   Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10   On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11   Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help.

12   Many bulls encompass me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13   they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

14   I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
  my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
15   my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

16   For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
  they have pierced my hands and feet2—
17   I can count all my bones—
  they stare and gloat over me;
18   they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

19   But you, O LORD, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20   Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dog!
21     Save me from the mouth of the lion!
  You have rescued3 me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22   I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23   You who fear the LORD, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24   For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
  and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

25   From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26   The afflicted4 shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the LORD!
    May your hearts live forever!

27   All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the LORD,
  and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
28   For kingship belongs to the LORD,
    and he rules over the nations.

29   All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30   Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31   they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
    that he has done it.

Footnotes

[1] 22:3 Or dwelling in the praises


[2] 22:16 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts like a lion [they are at] my hands and feet


[3] 22:21 Hebrew answered


[4] 22:26 Or The meek

(ESV)

Old Testament:

Isaiah 3:8–15

Isaiah 3:8–15 (Listen)

8   For Jerusalem has stumbled,
    and Judah has fallen,
  because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,
    defying his glorious presence.1

9   For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
    they proclaim their sin like Sodom;
    they do not hide it.
  Woe to them!
    For they have brought evil on themselves.
10   Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
    for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11   Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
    for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
12   My people—infants are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
  O my people, your guides mislead you
    and they have swallowed up2 the course of your paths.

13   The LORD has taken his place to contend;
    he stands to judge peoples.
14   The LORD will enter into judgment
    with the elders and princes of his people:
  “It is you who have devoured3 the vineyard,
    the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15   What do you mean by crushing my people,
    by grinding the face of the poor?”
      declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

Footnotes

[1] 3:8 Hebrew the eyes of his glory


[2] 3:12 Or they have confused


[3] 3:14 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5

(ESV)

New Testament:

1 Thessalonians 4:1–12

1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 (Listen)
A Life Pleasing to God

4 Finally, then, brothers,1 we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification:2 that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body3 in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

Footnotes

[1] 4:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 10, 13


[2] 4:3 Or your holiness


[3] 4:4 Or how to take a wife for himself; Greek how to possess his own vessel

(ESV)

Gospel:

Luke 20:41–21:4

Luke 20:41–21:4 (Listen)
Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

  “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
  “Sit at my right hand,
43     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

44 David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”

Beware of the Scribes

45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

21 Jesus1 looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.2 3 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Footnotes

[1] 21:1 Greek He


[2] 21:2 Greek two lepta; a lepton was a Jewish bronze or copper coin worth about 1/128 of a denarius (which was a day’s wage for a laborer)

(ESV)