Day 241 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 132:9–18

⁹May Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and Your saints shout for joy. ¹⁰For the sake of Your servant David, do not reject Your anointed one. ¹¹The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne. ¹²If your sons keep My covenant and the testimony I will teach them, then their sons will also sit on your throne forever and ever.” ¹³For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home: ¹⁴“This is My resting place forever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have desired this home. ¹⁵I will bless her with abundant provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread. ¹⁶I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will sing out in joy. ¹⁷There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one. ¹⁸I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown upon him will gleam.”

New Testament·1 Corinthians 1:19–2:16

¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²²Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. ²⁶Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast in His presence. ³⁰It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

2When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. ⁶Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” ¹⁰But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. ¹⁴The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. ¹⁶“For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Old Testament·Job 7–8

¹“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? ²Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages. ³So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me. ⁴When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. ⁵My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering. ⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. ⁷Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness. ⁸The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more. ⁹As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. ¹⁰He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more. ¹¹Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. ¹²Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard? ¹³When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, ¹⁴then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, ¹⁵so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. ¹⁶I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. ¹⁷What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, ¹⁸that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment? ¹⁹Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle? ²⁰If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You? ²¹Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”

8Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: ²“How long will you go on saying such things? The words of your mouth are a blustering wind. ³Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? ⁴When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion. ⁵But if you would earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy, ⁶if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate. ⁷Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish. ⁸Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers. ⁹For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow. ¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak from their understanding? ¹¹Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Do reeds flourish without water? ¹²While the shoots are still uncut, they dry up quicker than grass. ¹³Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish. ¹⁴His confidence is fragile; his security is in a spider’s web. ¹⁵He leans on his web, but it gives way; he holds fast, but it does not endure. ¹⁶He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden. ¹⁷His roots wrap around the rock heap; he looks for a home among the stones. ¹⁸If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’ ¹⁹Surely this is the joy of his way; yet others will spring from the dust. ²⁰Behold, God does not reject the blameless, nor will He strengthen the hand of evildoers. ²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with a shout of joy. ²²Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”