Tuesday April 07, 2020

Good morning. 

April 07, 2020

Psalms 37 

PSALM 37

The Righteous will Dwell Secure in the Land 

A Psalm of David.

Do not worry because of evildoers,

Nor be envious toward wrongdoers;

For they will wither quickly like the grass,

And fade like the green herb.

Trust [rely on and have confidence] in the Lord and do good;

Dwell in the land and feed [securely] on His faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

And He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

Trust in Him also and He will do it.

He will make your righteousness [your pursuit of right standing with God] like the light,

And your judgment like [the shining of] the noonday [sun].

Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him;

Do not fret (whine, agonize) because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

Cease from anger and abandon wrath;

Do not fret; it leads only to evil.

For those who do evil will be cut off,

But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.

For yet a little while and the wicked one will be gone [forever];

Though you look carefully where he used to be, he will not be [found].

But the humble will [at last] inherit the land

And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity and peace.

The wicked plots against the righteous

And gnashes at him with his teeth.

The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous],

For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming.

The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow

To cast down the afflicted and the needy,

To slaughter those who are upright in conduct [those with personal integrity and godly character].

The sword [of the ungodly] will enter their own heart,

And their bow will be broken.

Better is the little of the righteous [who seek the will of God]

Than the abundance (riches) of many wicked (godless).

For the arms of the wicked will be broken,

But the Lord upholds and sustains the righteous [who seek Him].

The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

And their inheritance will continue forever.

They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,

And in the days of famine they will have plenty and be satisfied.

But the wicked (ungodly) will perish,

And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures and like the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke],

They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

The wicked borrows and does not pay back,

But the righteous is gracious and kind and gives.

For those blessed by God will [at last] inherit the land,

But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the Lord,

And He delights in his way [and blesses his path].

When he falls, he will not be hurled down,

Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him.

I have been young and now I am old,

Yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned

Or his descendants pleading for bread.

All day long he is gracious and lends,

And his descendants are a blessing.

Depart from evil and do good;

And you will dwell [securely in the land] forever.

For the Lord delights in justice

And does not abandon His saints (faithful ones);

They are preserved forever,

But the descendants of the wicked will [in time] be cut off.

The righteous will inherit the land

And live in it forever.

The mouth of the righteous proclaims wisdom,

And his tongue speaks justice and truth.

The law of his God is in his heart;

Not one of his steps will slip.

The wicked lies in wait for the righteous

And seeks to kill him.

The Lord will not leave him in his hand

Or let him be condemned when he is judged.

Wait for and expect the Lord and keep His way,

And He will exalt you to inherit the land;

[In the end] when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

I have seen a wicked, violent man [with great power]

Spreading and flaunting himself like a cedar in its native soil,

Yet he passed away, and lo, he was no more;

I sought him, but he could not be found.

Mark the blameless man [who is spiritually complete], and behold the upright [who walks in moral integrity];

There is a [good] future for the man of peace [because a life of honor blesses one’s descendants].

As for transgressors, they will be completely destroyed;

The future of the wicked will be cut off.

But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

He is their refuge and stronghold in the time of trouble.

The Lord helps them and rescues them;

He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,

Because they take refuge in Him.

Matthew 13

Teaching the Parables to the Crowds

That same day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting beside the sea [of Galilee]. 

But such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat there [positioning Himself as a teacher], while the whole crowd stood on the shore.

He told them many things in parables, saying, “Listen carefully: a sower went out to sow [seed in his field]; 

and as he sowed, some seed fell beside the road [between the fields], and the birds came and ate it. 

Other seed fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil; and at once they sprang up because they had no depth of soil. 

But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 

Other seed fell among thorns, and thorns came up and choked them out. 

Other seed fell on good soil and yielded grain, some a hundred times as much [as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty. 

He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.”

Then the disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do You speak to the crowds in parables?” 

Jesus replied to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 

For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God’s word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied; but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God’s word], even what he has will be taken away from him. 

This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things]. 

In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will hear and keep on hearing, but never understand;

And you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend;

For this nation’s heart has grown hard,

And with their ears they hardly hear,

And they have [tightly] closed their eyes,

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart, and turn [to Me]

And I would heal them [spiritually].’

 But blessed [spiritually aware, and favored by God] are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, many prophets and righteous men [who were honorable and in right standing with God] longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

“Listen then to the [meaning of the] parable of the sower: 

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom [regarding salvation] and does not understand and grasp it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 

The one on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and at once welcomes it with joy; 

yet he has no [substantial] root in himself, but is only temporary, and when pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles and falls away [abandoning the One who is the source of salvation]. 

And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit. 

And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands and grasps it; he indeed bears fruit and yields, some a hundred times [as much as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty.”

Weeds among Wheat

Jesus gave them another parable [to consider], saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 

But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds [resembling wheat] among the wheat, and went away. 

So when the plants sprouted and formed grain, the weeds appeared also. 

The servants of the owner came to him and said, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then how does it have weeds in it?’ 

He replied to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Then do you want us to go and pull them out?’ 

But he said, ‘No; because as you pull out the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 

Let them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First gather the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

He gave them another parable [to consider], saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 

and of all the seeds [planted in the region] it is the smallest, but when it has grown it is the largest of the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air find shelter in its branches.”

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables, and He said nothing to them without [using] a parable. 

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:

“I will open My mouth in parables;

I will utter things [unknown and unattainable] that have been hidden [from mankind] since the foundation of the world.”

Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him saying, “Explain [clearly] to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 

He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 

and the field is the world; and [as for] the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one; 

and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 

So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend [those things by which people are led into sin], and all who practice evil [leading others into sin], 

and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger]. 

Then the righteous [those who seek the will of God] will shine forth [radiating the new life] like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.

Hidden Treasure

“The kingdom of heaven is like a [very precious] treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field [securing the treasure for himself].

 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 

and upon finding a single pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet which was lowered into the sea, and gathered fish of every kind, 

and when it was full, they dragged it up on the beach; and they sat down and sorted out the good fish into baskets, but the worthless ones they threw away. 

So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 

and throw the wicked into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].

“Have you understood all these things [in the lessons of the parables]?” They said to Jesus, “Yes.” 

He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things that are new and fresh and things that are old and familiar.”

When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there. 

And after coming to [Nazareth] His hometown, He began teaching them in their synagogue, and they were astonished, and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers [what is the source of His authority]? 

Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 

And His sisters, are they not [living here] among us? Where then did this Man get all this [wisdom and power]?” 

And they took offense at Him [refusing to believe in Him]. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 

And He did not do many miracles there [in Nazareth] because of their unbelief.