The Two Tablets Replaced
1Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. 2So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 3No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.” 4So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. 5The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. 6Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. 9He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.”
The Covenant Renewed
10Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.
11“Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim 14—for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, 16and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. 17You shall make for yourself no molten gods.
18“You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19“The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep. 20You shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21“You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.
25“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning.
26“You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Moses’ Face Shines
29It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 35the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.
8I will hear what God the Lord will say;
For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
But let them not turn back to folly.
9Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
10Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12Indeed, the Lord will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.
13Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.
7But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
1) How does Psalm 85 portray reconciliation after sin?
2) Why does Paul call Messiah’s covenant “more glorious”?
3) How do mercy and truth mirror יהוה’s revealed name in Exodus 34?
PSALM 69
A Cry of Distress and Imprecation on Adversaries.
For the choir director; according to Shoshannim. A Psalm of David.
1Save me, O God,
For the waters have threatened my life.
2I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.
3I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;
Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies;
What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
5O God, it is You who knows my folly,
And my wrongs are not hidden from You.
6May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts;
May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,
7Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Dishonor has covered my face.
8I have become estranged from my brothers
And an alien to my mother’s sons.
9For zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10When I wept in my soul with fasting,
It became my reproach.
11When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12Those who sit in the gate talk about me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.
13But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, at an acceptable time;
O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness,
Answer me with Your saving truth.
14Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink;
May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters.
15May the flood of water not overflow me
Nor the deep swallow me up,
Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.
16Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me,
17And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in distress; answer me quickly.
18Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it;
Ransom me because of my enemies!
19You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor;
All my adversaries are before You.
20Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick.
And I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
And for comforters, but I found none.
21They also gave me gall for my food
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22May their table before them become a snare;
And when they are in peace, may it become a trap.
23May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see,
And make their loins shake continually.
24Pour out Your indignation on them,
And may Your burning anger overtake them.
25May their camp be desolate;
May none dwell in their tents.
26For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten,
And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded.
27Add iniquity to their iniquity,
And may they not come into Your righteousness.
28May they be blotted out of the book of life
And may they not be recorded with the righteous.
29But I am afflicted and in pain;
May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.
30I will praise the name of God with song
And magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31And it will please the Lord better than an ox
Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.
32The humble have seen it and are glad;
You who seek God, let your heart revive.
33For the Lord hears the needy
And does not despise His who are prisoners.
34Let heaven and earth praise Him,
The seas and everything that moves in them.
35For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah,
That they may dwell there and possess it.
36The descendants of His servants will inherit it,
And those who love His name will dwell in it.
10According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.