September 3: Job 37–38; 1 Timothy 1; Psalm 60; Proverbs 22:24–25

Job 37–38 (Listen)

Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty

37   “At this also my heart trembles
    and leaps out of its place.
2   Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
    and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3   Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
    and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
4   After it his voice roars;
    he thunders with his majestic voice,
    and he does not restrain the lightnings¹ when his voice is heard.
5   God thunders wondrously with his voice;
    he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6   For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
    likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
7   He seals up the hand of every man,
    that all men whom he made may know it.
8   Then the beasts go into their lairs,
    and remain in their dens.
9   From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
    and cold from the scattering winds.
10   By the breath of God ice is given,
    and the broad waters are frozen fast.
11   He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
    the clouds scatter his lightning.
12   They turn around and around by his guidance,
    to accomplish all that he commands them
    on the face of the habitable world.
13   Whether for correction or for his land
    or for love, he causes it to happen.
14   “Hear this, O Job;
    stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
15   Do you know how God lays his command upon them
    and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
16   Do you know the balancings² of the clouds,
    the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,
17   you whose garments are hot
    when the earth is still because of the south wind?
18   Can you, like him, spread out the skies,
    hard as a cast metal mirror?
19   Teach us what we shall say to him;
    we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
20   Shall it be told him that I would speak?
    Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?
21   “And now no one looks on the light
    when it is bright in the skies,
    when the wind has passed and cleared them.
22   Out of the north comes golden splendor;
    God is clothed with awesome majesty.
23   The Almighty—we cannot find him;
    he is great in power;
    justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
24   Therefore men fear him;
    he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”³

The Lord Answers Job

38 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2   “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3   Dress for action⁴ like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.
4   “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.
5   Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
6   On what were its bases sunk,
    or who laid its cornerstone,
7   when the morning stars sang together
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8   “Or who shut in the sea with doors
    when it burst out from the womb,
9   when I made clouds its garment
    and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10   and prescribed limits for it
    and set bars and doors,
11   and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
    and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
12   “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
    and caused the dawn to know its place,
13   that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
    and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14   It is changed like clay under the seal,
    and its features stand out like a garment.
15   From the wicked their light is withheld,
    and their uplifted arm is broken.
16   “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17   Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
    or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18   Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
    Declare, if you know all this.
19   “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
    and where is the place of darkness,
20   that you may take it to its territory
    and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21   You know, for you were born then,
    and the number of your days is great!
22   “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
    or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23   which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war?
24   What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
    or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25   “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
    and a way for the thunderbolt,
26   to bring rain on a land where no man is,
    on the desert in which there is no man,
27   to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
    and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28   “Has the rain a father,
    or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29   From whose womb did the ice come forth,
    and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
30   The waters become hard like stone,
    and the face of the deep is frozen.
31   “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
    or loose the cords of Orion?
32   Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth⁵ in their season,
    or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33   Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
    Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34   “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
    that a flood of waters may cover you?
35   Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
    and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36   Who has put wisdom in the inward parts⁶
    or given understanding to the mind?⁷
37   Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
    Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38   when the dust runs into a mass
    and the clods stick fast together?
39   “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
    or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40   when they crouch in their dens
    or lie in wait in their thicket?
41   Who provides for the raven its prey,
    when its young ones cry to God for help,
    and wander about for lack of food?

(ESV)

1 Timothy 1 (Listen)

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Warning Against False Teachers

3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship¹ from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,² liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound³ doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners

12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.⁴ Amen.

18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

(ESV)

Psalm 60 (Listen)

He Will Tread Down Our Foes

To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam¹ of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

60   O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
    you have been angry; oh, restore us.
2   You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
    repair its breaches, for it totters.
3   You have made your people see hard things;
    you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
4   You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
    that they may flee to it from the bow.²Selah
5   That your beloved ones may be delivered,
    give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
6   God has spoken in his holiness:³
    “With exultation I will divide up Shechem
    and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7   Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet;
    Judah is my scepter.
8   Moab is my washbasin;
    upon Edom I cast my shoe;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.”⁴
9   Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
10   Have you not rejected us, O God?
    You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11   Oh, grant us help against the foe,
    for vain is the salvation of man!
12   With God we shall do valiantly;
    it is he who will tread down our foes.

(ESV)

Proverbs 22:24–25 (Listen)

24   Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
    nor go with a wrathful man,
25   lest you learn his ways
    and entangle yourself in a snare.

(ESV)