November 30: Psalm 119:1–24; Psalms 12–14; Isaiah 2:1–11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13–20; Luke 20:19–26

1 Advent

First Psalm:

Psalm 119:1–24

Psalm 119:1–24 (Listen)
Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet
Aleph

119   1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
    who walk in the law of the LORD!
2   Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
    who seek him with their whole heart,
3   who also do no wrong,
    but walk in his ways!
4   You have commanded your precepts
    to be kept diligently.
5   Oh that my ways may be steadfast
    in keeping your statutes!
6   Then I shall not be put to shame,
    having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7   I will praise you with an upright heart,
    when I learn your righteous rules.2
8   I will keep your statutes;
    do not utterly forsake me!

Beth

9   How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
10   With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
11   I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12   Blessed are you, O LORD;
    teach me your statutes!
13   With my lips I declare
    all the rules3 of your mouth.
14   In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
15   I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16   I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

Gimel

17   Deal bountifully with your servant,
    that I may live and keep your word.
18   Open my eyes, that I may behold
    wondrous things out of your law.
19   I am a sojourner on the earth;
    hide not your commandments from me!
20   My soul is consumed with longing
    for your rules4 at all times.
21   You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
    who wander from your commandments.
22   Take away from me scorn and contempt,
    for I have kept your testimonies.
23   Even though princes sit plotting against me,
    your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24   Your testimonies are my delight;
    they are my counselors.

Footnotes

[1] 119:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter


[2] 119:7 Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164


[3] 119:13 Or all the just decrees


[4] 119:20 Or your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175

(ESV)

Second Psalm:

Psalms 12–14

Psalms 12–14 (Listen)
The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.

12   Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2   Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3   May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
4   those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

5   “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the LORD;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6   The words of the LORD are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

7   You, O LORD, will keep them;
    you will guard us2 from this generation forever.
8   On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

How Long, O Lord?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

13   How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2   How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
  How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3   Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4   lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

5   But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6   I will sing to the LORD,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The Fool Says, There Is No God
To the choirmaster. Of David.

14   The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good.

2   The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,3
    who seek after God.

3   They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.

4   Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
    who eat up my people as they eat bread
    and do not call upon the LORD?

5   There they are in great terror,
    for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6   You would shame the plans of the poor,
    but4 the LORD is his refuge.

7   Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Footnotes

[1] 12:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term


[2] 12:7 Or guard him


[3] 14:2 Or that act wisely


[4] 14:6 Or for

(ESV)

Old Testament:

Isaiah 2:1–11

Isaiah 2:1–11 (Listen)
The Mountain of the Lord

2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2   It shall come to pass in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the LORD
  shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and shall be lifted up above the hills;
  and all the nations shall flow to it,
3     and many peoples shall come, and say:
  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
  that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
  For out of Zion shall go forth the law,1
    and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4   He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
  and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
  nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore.

5   O house of Jacob,
    come, let us walk
    in the light of the LORD.

The Day of the Lord

6   For you have rejected your people,
    the house of Jacob,
  because they are full of things from the east
    and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
    and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7   Their land is filled with silver and gold,
    and there is no end to their treasures;
  their land is filled with horses,
    and there is no end to their chariots.
8   Their land is filled with idols;
    they bow down to the work of their hands,
    to what their own fingers have made.
9   So man is humbled,
    and each one is brought low—
    do not forgive them!
10   Enter into the rock
    and hide in the dust
  from before the terror of the LORD,
    and from the splendor of his majesty.
11   The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
    and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
  and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

Footnotes

[1] 2:3 Or teaching

(ESV)

New Testament:

1 Thessalonians 2:13–20

1 Thessalonians 2:13–20 (Listen)

13 And we also thank God constantly1 for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men2 but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,3 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!4

Paul’s Longing to See Them Again

17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

Footnotes

[1] 2:13 Or without ceasing


[2] 2:13 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women


[3] 2:14 The Greek word Ioudaioi can refer to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, who opposed the Christian faith in that time


[4] 2:16 Or completely, or forever

(ESV)

Gospel:

Luke 20:19–26

Luke 20:19–26 (Listen)
Paying Taxes to Caesar

19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality,1 but truly teach the way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius.2 Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

Footnotes

[1] 20:21 Greek and do not receive a face


[2] 20:24 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

(ESV)