March 29 (Deuteronomy 1; Psalm 81; Acts 4)

Summary

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Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry

Episode: March 29 (Deuteronomy 1; Psalm 81; Acts 4)
Date: March 29, 2026
Host: Crossway

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Episode Overview

This episode of Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry guides listeners through chapters from Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Acts. The readings highlight pivotal moments in Israel’s history, capture the heart of God’s calls to His people, and showcase the bold witness of the early church. Themes include faithfulness and rebellion, God’s provision and warning, and the courage given by the Holy Spirit.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Deuteronomy 1: Israel at the Threshold

• Moses Recounts Israel’s Journey (00:05–06:11)
  • Moses addresses all of Israel, recalling God’s call to advance into the Promised Land.
    • God’s promise: “See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession…” (00:38)
    • The people’s multiplication: “Behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven.” (01:01)
  • Establishment of leaders to carry the burdens of judgment and leadership.
  • Moses emphasizes just and impartial judgment:

    “You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike.” (01:27)

  • Rebellion and fear prevent Israel from entering the land, despite the spies confirming its goodness.
    • The people’s doubt:

      “Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt to give us into the hand of the Amorites…” (02:45)

  • Moses reassures them of God’s presence and power:

    “Do not be in dread or afraid...The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you…” (03:24)

  • Despite all God’s efforts, the people do not believe, leading to God’s judgment—all but Caleb and Joshua are barred from entering the land.

2. Psalm 81: Call to Worship and Listen

• God’s Call and Israel’s Stubbornness (06:11–07:28)
  • Exhortation to worship:

    “Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.” (06:11)

  • Remembrance of God’s deliverance from Egypt and His continual provision.
  • God laments Israel’s refusal to listen:

    “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts…” (07:04)

  • God’s longing for His people’s obedience:

    “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies…” (07:08)

  • Assurance of blessing for faithfulness:

    "But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." (07:23)

3. Acts 4: Boldness of the Apostles

• Peter and John Before the Council (07:29–09:58)

  • The apostles are arrested for preaching Jesus’ resurrection; yet, many come to faith.
  • Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaims:

    “By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him, this man is standing before you well.” (08:16) “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” (08:35) “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (08:41)

  • The council recognizes their boldness and that they “had been with Jesus,” but cannot deny the miracle.
  • Despite threats, the apostles refuse to be silenced:

    “For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (09:20)

• The Early Church’s Prayer and Unity (09:58–11:13)

  • Released, the apostles pray for continued boldness amid persecution, aligning their situation with Scripture:

    “Sovereign Lord...grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness…” (10:09 & 10:33)

  • The place is shaken; the believers are filled with the Holy Spirit and speak God’s word boldly.
  • Early church life is marked by radical generosity and unity:

    “No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” (10:52) “Great grace was upon them all...it was distributed to each as any had need.” (11:03)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Moses:
  • “You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's.” (01:35)
  • “Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you.” (03:24)
• God’s voice in Psalm 81:
  • “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people did not listen to my voice.” (06:55)
  • “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!” (07:08)
• Peter before the council:
  • “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (08:41)
  • “For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (09:20)
• Early Church:
  • “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (10:46)
  • “Great grace was upon them all.” (11:00)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Deuteronomy 1 reading: 00:05 – 06:11
• Psalm 81 reading: 06:11 – 07:28
• Acts 4 reading: 07:29 – 11:13

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Episode Tone & Language

The tone mixes the gravity of historical narrative, the lament and longing of God for His people, and the electrifying boldness of the Holy Spirit through the apostles. The faithfulness and fallibility of humanity, combined with God’s persistent faithfulness and call to repentance and courage, resonate throughout.

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Summary Conclusion

This episode guides listeners through foundational stories that elevate themes of trust, disobedience, divine blessing, Spirit-driven courage, and sacrificial community. Each reading offers a fresh opportunity for reflection on God’s faithfulness and the response He desires from His people. Whether through Moses' retelling, the psalmist's plea, or the apostles' Holy Spirit-empowered witness, this episode reminds believers to listen for God’s voice, trust His provision, and courageously live out the gospel.

Transcript

[Narrator]

A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.

[Reader]

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness and the Arabah opposite Suph, Between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and dizahab. It is 11 days journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. In the 40th year, on the first day of the 11th month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them. After he had defeated Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived in Eshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Adriai beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab. Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, the Lord our God said to us in Horeb, you have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb, and by the sea coast, the land of the Canaanites and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them. At that time I said to you, I am not able to bear you by myself. The Lord your God has multiplied you. And behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. May the Lord, the God of your fathers make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you as he has promised you. How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? Choose for your tribes, wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads. And you answered me. The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do so I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you. Commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens and officers throughout your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time. Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. In the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. Then we set out from Horeb. And went through all that great and terrifying wilderness. That you saw. On the way to the hill country of the Amorites. As the Lord our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh Barnea. And I said to you. You have come to the hill country of the Amorites. And which the Lord our God is giving us. See, the Lord your God has set the land before you go up. Take possession as the Lord the God of your fathers has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Then all of you came near me and said. Let us send men before us. That they may explore the land for us. And bring us word again of the way by which we must go up. And the cities into which we shall come. The things seemed good to me. And I took 12 men from you. One man from each tribe. And? And they turned and went up into the hill country. And came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out. And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land. And brought it down to us. And brought us word again and said, it is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us. Yet you would not go up. But rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. And you murmured in your tents and said. Because the Lord hated us. He has brought us out of the land of Egypt. To give us into the hand of the Amorites. To destroy us. Where are we going? Up. Our brothers have made our hearts melt. Saying, the people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakin there. Then I said to you. Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you. Will himself fight for you. Just as he did for you in Egypt. Before your eyes. And in the wilderness. Where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you. As a man carries his son. All the way that you went. Until you came to this place.

[Narrator]

Yet in spite of this word.

[Reader]

You did not believe the Lord your God. Who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in fire by night and in the cloud by day. To show you by what way you should go. And the Lord heard your words and was angered. And he swore. Not one of these men of this evil generation. Shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers. Except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. And to him and to his children. I will Give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord, even with me. The Lord was angry on your account and said, you also shall not go in there. Joshua, the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and. And your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. Then you answered me, we have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us. And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. And the Lord said to me, say to them, do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies. So I spoke to you, and you would not listen. But you rebelled against the command of the Lord and presumptuously went up into the hill country. Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir as far as Harmah. And you returned and wept before the Lord. But the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. So you remained at Kadesh many days. The days that you remained there. A reading from the Book of Psalms to the choirmaster, according to the giddh of Asaph.

[Narrator]

Sing aloud to God our strength, shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob. He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known. I relieved your shoulder of the burden. Your hands were freed from the basket in distress you called, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters at Meribah Selah. Hear, O my people, while I admonish you. O Israel, if you would but listen to me. There shall be no strange God among you. You shall not bow down to a foreign God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people did not listen to my voice.

[Reader]

Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their

[Narrator]

stubborn hearts to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways. I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat and with honey from the rock.

[Reader]

I would satisfy you

[Narrator]

a reading from

[Reader]

the book of Acts.

[Narrator]

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the Word believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas, the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high priestly family. And. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, by what power or by what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,

[Reader]

said to them, rulers of the people

[Narrator]

and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by him, this man is standing before you. Well, this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

[Reader]

But when they had commanded them to

[Narrator]

leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, what shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God. You must judge. For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people. For all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old.

[Reader]

When they were released, they went to

[Narrator]

their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal. And signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and and soul. And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own. But they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet.