Reading the Bible Together

The Passage for the Day

Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.

 1 He has founded his city on the holy mountain.

    2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion 
       more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.

    3 Glorious things are said of you, 
       city of God: 

    4 ”I will record Rahab and Babylon 
       among those who acknowledge me— 
       Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush— 
       and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” 

    5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said, 
       “This one and that one were born in her, 
       and the Most High himself will establish her.”

    6 The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: 
       “This one was born in Zion.”

    7 As they make music they will sing, 
       “All my fountains are in you.”

Points of interest:

·         ‘the gates of Zion’—Zion is another way to refer to Jerusalem.  Technically speaking, Zion is the name of the mountain on which Jerusalem rests.

·         ‘more than all the other dwellings of Jacob’—Jacob, remember, is another name for Israel.  In the Exodus passage we read last week, God promised that Israel would be his ‘treasured possession out of all the nations.’  Here, the sons of Korah are saying that Jerusalem is God’s treasured possession out of all of Israel.  That makes Jerusalem pretty special.

·         ‘Rahab and Babylon‘—Rahab (aka Egypt), Babylon, Philistia, Tyre (Phoenicia, in modern-day Lebanon), and Cush (modern-day Sudan) are all relatively powerful foreign nations.  Rahab, Babylon, and Cush are military powers.  Tyre is the most powerful trading nation of the ancient Mediterranean.  The Philistines are a local group of people with whom the Israelites routinely fought for dominance of the same land: Philistia or Israel, depending on how you looked at it.  The giant Goliath, whom David fought, was a Philistine.

·         ‘This one was born in Zion’—these other nations might be viewed as rivals, but the sons of Korah consider them neighbors instead.  More than that, in God’s eyes, all of these other nations are residents of Zion.  They’re not illegal aliens, temporary guests, or even holders of green cards, either; they’re somehow actually born citizens of Zion.  The sons of Korah go a long way to tell us just how wonderful a place Jerusalem is.  Then, they tell us that everyone, from just about anywhere, can be a natural-born citizen of this wonderful place: citizenship is not exclusive.

Taking it home:

·         For you: This psalm tells us that it’s as if every town is God’s hometown.  Take a moment to pray for the city where you were born.  Ask God to bring prosperity to that city, and take a moment to thank God for any of the ways that your upbringing in that city has influenced who you are today.

·         For your six: Pray that Boston, Cambridge (or wherever you six might live) would be a good place of residence.  Pray that God would establish himself in the cities where your six live—that they would be places of safety, peace and unity.  If any of your six live far away from family or where they grew up, ask that God would make their city of residence feel like home for the time being.

·         For America: The people of Rahab and Babylon and those other places lived far away from the temple, and most of them probably knew little directly of the God of Israel.  Yet, God recognized them all as his own people, born in the shadow of the temple.  Pray that God would recognize and honor any amount of faith that people have in him, whether or not those people go to church.  Pray also that God would give them friends with whom they can explore their faith and their spiritual questions.

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Romans 2

God’s Righteous Judgment

¹ You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ² Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³ So when you, a mere human, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴ Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

⁵ But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶ God “will repay everyone according to what they have done.” ⁷ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰ but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹ For God does not show favoritism.

¹³ Look! He advances like the clouds,
his chariots come like a whirlwind,
his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us! We are ruined!

¹⁴ Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.
How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

¹⁵ A voice is announcing from Dan,
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

¹⁶ “Tell this to the nations,
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,
raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷ They surround her like people guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against me,’ ”
declares the LORD.

¹⁸ “Your own conduct and actions
have brought this on you.
This is your punishment.
How bitter it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”

¹⁹ Oh, my anguish, my anguish!
I writhe in pain.
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart pounds within me,
I cannot keep silent.
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;
I have heard the battle cry.

²⁰ Disaster follows disaster;
the whole land lies in ruins.
In an instant my tents are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment.

²¹ How long must I see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?

²² “My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good.”

²³ I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens,
and their light was gone.

²⁴ I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.

²⁵ I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away.

²⁶ I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;
all its towns lay in ruins
before the LORD, before his fierce anger.

²⁷ This is what the LORD says:
“The whole land will be ruined,
though I will not destroy it completely.

²⁸ Therefore the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow dark,
because I have spoken and will not relent,
I have decided and will not turn back.”

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

¹ You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
you have been angry—now restore us!

² You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking.

³ You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

⁴ But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow.

⁵ Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.

⁶ God has spoken from his sanctuary:
“In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.

⁷ Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah is my scepter.

⁸ Moab is my washbasin,
on Edom I toss my sandal;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

⁹ Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?

¹⁰ Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies?

¹¹ Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless.

¹² With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies.