20Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram 22and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.” 23Bethuel became the father of Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.
8Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.
9I will bear the indignation of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will see His righteousness.
10Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look on her;
At that time she will be trampled down
Like mire of the streets.
11It will be a day for building your walls.
On that day will your boundary be extended.
12It will be a day when they will come to you
From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
From Egypt even to the Euphrates,
Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants,
On account of the fruit of their deeds.
14Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,
The flock of Your possession
Which dwells by itself in the woodland,
In the midst of a fruitful field.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
As in the days of old.
15“As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,
I will show you miracles.”
16Nations will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will put their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
17They will lick the dust like a serpent,
Like reptiles of the earth.
They will come trembling out of their fortresses;
To the Lord our God they will come in dread
And they will be afraid before You.
18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in unchanging love.
19He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot.
Yes, You will cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20You will give truth to Jacob
And unchanging love to Abraham,
Which You swore to our forefathers
From the days of old.
31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
1) How does Micah highlight יהוה’s mercy and covenant faithfulness?
2) How does Paul apply that truth in light of Messiah’s sacrifice?
3) How should יהוה’s mercy reshape your trust and boldness before Him?
Peaceful Latter Days
1And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established as the chief of the mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
And the peoples will stream to it.
2Many nations will come and say,
“Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord
And to the house of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For from Zion will go forth the law,
Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they train for war.
4Each of them will sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid,
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
PSALM 88
A Petition to Be Saved from Death.
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1O Lord, the God of my salvation,
I have cried out by day and in the night before You.
2Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry!
3For my soul has had enough troubles,
And my life has drawn near to Sheol.
4I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit;
I have become like a man without strength,
5Forsaken among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And they are cut off from Your hand.
6You have put me in the lowest pit,
In dark places, in the depths.
7Your wrath has rested upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah.
8You have removed my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an object of loathing to them;
I am shut up and cannot go out.
9My eye has wasted away because of affliction;
I have called upon You every day, O Lord;
I have spread out my hands to You.
10Will You perform wonders for the dead?
Will the departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah.
11Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12Will Your wonders be made known in the darkness?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13But I, O Lord, have cried out to You for help,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14O Lord, why do You reject my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
15I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on;
I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome.
16Your burning anger has passed over me;
Your terrors have destroyed me.
17They have surrounded me like water all day long;
They have encompassed me altogether.
18You have removed lover and friend far from me;
My acquaintances are in darkness.
Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa
1Jehoshaphat his son then became king in his place, and made his position over Israel firm. 2He placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had captured.
His Good Reign
3The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, 4but sought the God of his father, followed His commandments, and did not act as Israel did. 5So the Lord established the kingdom in his control, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. 6He took great pride in the ways of the Lord and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah.
7Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; 8and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. 9They taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the Lord with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.
10Now the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. 11Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. 12So Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built fortresses and store cities in Judah. 13He had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and warriors, valiant men, in Jerusalem. 14This was their muster according to their fathers’ households: of Judah, commanders of thousands, Adnah was the commander, and with him 300,000 valiant warriors; 15and next to him was Johanan the commander, and with him 280,000; 16and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who volunteered for the Lord, and with him 200,000 valiant warriors; 17and of Benjamin, Eliada a valiant warrior, and with him 200,000 armed with bow and shield; 18and next to him Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 equipped for war. 19These are they who served the king, apart from those whom the king put in the fortified cities through all Judah.