November 28: Psalms 1–3; Psalm 4; Psalm 7; Isaiah 1:10–20; 1 Thessalonians 1; Luke 20:1–8

1 Advent

First Psalm:

Psalms 1–3

Psalms 1–3 (Listen)
Book One
The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

1   Blessed is the man1
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
  nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2   but his delight is in the law2 of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

3   He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
  that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
  In all that he does, he prospers.
4   The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5   Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6   for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed

2   Why do the nations rage3
    and the peoples plot in vain?
2   The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
3   “Let us burst their bonds apart
    and cast away their cords from us.”

4   He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord holds them in derision.
5   Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6   “As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.”

7   I will tell of the decree:
  The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
8   Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
9   You shall break4 them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10   Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11   Serve the LORD with fear,
    and rejoice with trembling.
12   Kiss the Son,
    lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.
  Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Save Me, O My God
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

3   O LORD, how many are my foes!
    Many are rising against me;
2   many are saying of my soul,
    “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah5

3   But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
    my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4   I cried aloud to the LORD,
    and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5   I lay down and slept;
    I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
6   I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
    who have set themselves against me all around.

7   Arise, O LORD!
    Save me, O my God!
  For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked.

8   Salvation belongs to the LORD;
    your blessing be on your people! Selah

Footnotes

[1] 1:1 The singular Hebrew word for man (ish) is used here to portray a representative example of a godly person; see Preface


[2] 1:2 Or instruction


[3] 2:1 Or nations noisily assemble


[4] 2:9 Revocalization yields (compare Septuagint) You shall rule


[5] 3:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word Selah, used frequently in the Psalms, is uncertain. It may be a musical or liturgical direction

(ESV)

Second Psalm:

Psalm 4; Psalm 7

Psalm 4 (Listen)
Answer Me When I Call
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

4   Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
    You have given me relief when I was in distress.
    Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

2   O men,1 how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
    How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3   But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
    the LORD hears when I call to him.

4   Be angry,2 and do not sin;
    ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5   Offer right sacrifices,
    and put your trust in the LORD.

6   There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
    Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”
7   You have put more joy in my heart
    than they have when their grain and wine abound.

8   In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Footnotes

[1] 4:2 Or O men of rank


[2] 4:4 Or Be agitated

(ESV)

Psalm 7 (Listen)
In You Do I Take Refuge
A Shiggaion1 of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

7   O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
    save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2   lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
    rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

3   O LORD my God, if I have done this,
    if there is wrong in my hands,
4   if I have repaid my friend2 with evil
    or plundered my enemy without cause,
5   let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
    and let him trample my life to the ground
    and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

6   Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
    lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
    awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7   Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
    over it return on high.

8   The LORD judges the peoples;
    judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
    and according to the integrity that is in me.
9   Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
    and may you establish the righteous—
  you who test the minds and hearts,3
    O righteous God!
10   My shield is with God,
    who saves the upright in heart.
11   God is a righteous judge,
    and a God who feels indignation every day.

12   If a man4 does not repent, God5 will whet his sword;
    he has bent and readied his bow;
13   he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
    making his arrows fiery shafts.
14   Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
    and is pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
15   He makes a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
16   His mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends.

17   I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
    and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

Footnotes

[1] 7:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term


[2] 7:4 Hebrew the one at peace with me


[3] 7:9 Hebrew the hearts and kidneys


[4] 7:12 Hebrew he


[5] 7:12 Hebrew he

(ESV)

Old Testament:

Isaiah 1:10–20

Isaiah 1:10–20 (Listen)

10   Hear the word of the LORD,
    you rulers of Sodom!
  Give ear to the teaching1 of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!
11   “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
    says the LORD;
  I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
    and the fat of well-fed beasts;
  I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
    or of lambs, or of goats.

12   “When you come to appear before me,
    who has required of you
    this trampling of my courts?
13   Bring no more vain offerings;
    incense is an abomination to me.
  New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
    I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
14   Your new moons and your appointed feasts
    my soul hates;
  they have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
15   When you spread out your hands,
    I will hide my eyes from you;
  even though you make many prayers,
    I will not listen;
    your hands are full of blood.
16   Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
  cease to do evil,
17     learn to do good;
  seek justice,
    correct oppression;
  bring justice to the fatherless,
    plead the widow’s cause.

18   “Come now, let us reason2 together, says the LORD:
  though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
  though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.
19   If you are willing and obedient,
    you shall eat the good of the land;
20   but if you refuse and rebel,
    you shall be eaten by the sword;
    for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Footnotes

[1] 1:10 Or law


[2] 1:18 Or dispute

(ESV)

New Testament:

1 Thessalonians 1

1 Thessalonians 1 (Listen)
Greeting

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly1 mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers2 loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Footnotes

[1] 1:2 Or without ceasing


[2] 1:4 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters

(ESV)

Gospel:

Luke 20:1–8

Luke 20:1–8 (Listen)
The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20 One day, as Jesus1 was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Footnotes

[1] 20:1 Greek he

(ESV)