August 6: Nehemiah 1; Psalm 33; Mark 11

Nehemiah 1

Report from Jerusalem

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

Nehemiah's Prayer

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Now I was cupbearer to the king.

(ESV)

Psalm 33

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

33   Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
    Praise befits the upright.
  Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
  Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
  For the word of the LORD is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
  He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
  By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
  He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
    he puts the deeps in storehouses.
  Let all the earth fear the LORD;
    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
  For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.
  The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
  The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
    the plans of his heart to all generations.
  Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
  The LORD looks down from heaven;
    he sees all the children of man;
  from where he sits enthroned he looks out
    on all the inhabitants of the earth,
  he who fashions the hearts of them all
    and observes all their deeds.
  The king is not saved by his great army;
    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
  The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
    and by its great might it cannot rescue.
  Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
  that he may deliver their soul from death
    and keep them alive in famine.
  Our soul waits for the LORD;
    he is our help and our shield.
  For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
  Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

(ESV)

Mark 11

The Triumphal Entry

11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus¹ sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’”And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they² went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received³ it, and it will be yours.And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”⁴

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

(ESV)