November 14 (Lamentations 1; Psalm 119:49–56; 2 Corinthians 9–10)

Summary

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Episode Overview

Date: November 14, 2025
Podcast: Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry
Host: Crossway
Readings: Lamentations 1; Psalm 119:49–56; 2 Corinthians 9–10

In this daily Bible reading episode, listeners journey through passages of grief and exile in Lamentations, find comfort and hope in Psalm 119, and hear Paul’s exhortation to cheerful giving and spiritual warfare in 2 Corinthians. Each passage is presented without commentary, providing space for reflection on themes of suffering, faithfulness, generosity, and true spiritual authority.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Lamentations 1: The Sorrow of Jerusalem

[00:00–04:05]

• Desolation and Grief:
  The passage vividly depicts Jerusalem as a lonely, grieving widow whose children (citizens) have gone into exile. Every aspect—priests, virgins, leaders—shares in the city’s suffering and loss.
• Sin and Consequence:
  The devastation is repeatedly attributed to the city’s sin:
  • “Her foes have become the head, her enemies prosper because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions.”
    [01:43]
  • “Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became filthy.”
    [02:23]
• Absence of Comfort:
  The narrator laments the utter lack of comforters, repeating the phrase: “there is none to comfort her.”
• Divine Justice and Appeal:
  The lament recognizes God’s righteousness in judgment—
  • “The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word.”
    [03:11–03:12]
    Even in sorrow, the speaker appeals to God’s justice, asking that enemies experience justice as well.

2. Psalm 119:49–56: Remembering God’s Promises

[04:05–04:32]

• Hope in Affliction:
  The psalmist clings to God’s word as a source of hope and comfort:
  • “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.” [04:05–04:07]
• Faithfulness Amid Ridicule:
  Despite being derided by the insolent, the speaker remains steadfast:
  • “But I do not turn away from your law.” [04:11]
• God’s Statutes as Song:
  Scripture becomes a song in the journey—“Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.” [04:20]

3. 2 Corinthians 9–10: Generosity and Spiritual Integrity

[04:35–END]

a. Encouragement to Give Generously

• Cheerful Giving:
  Paul encourages a spirit of generosity, with a memorable principle:
  • “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart...for God loves a cheerful giver.” [04:42–05:03]
• God as Provider:
  Assurance that “God is able to make all grace abound to you...so you may abound in every good work.” [05:07–05:12]

b. Spiritual Warfare and Authority

• True Power is Spiritual, Not Fleshly:
  Paul addresses criticism of his authority and reminds the church:
  • “The weapons of our warfare are not of flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
    [06:14–06:21]
• Humility vs. Bold Speech:
  Paul reflects on being perceived as weak in person but strong in his letters:
  • “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” [07:08–07:14]
  • Paul assures them his actions and words are consistent.

c. The Motivation for Ministry

• Boasting in the Lord Alone:
  Rather than comparing or commending himself, Paul points to God:
  • “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” [07:53–08:03]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word.”
  [03:11–03:12]
  A sobering recognition of God’s justice and personal responsibility.

• “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.”
  [04:05–04:07]
  The sustaining power of Scripture in hardship.

• “For God loves a cheerful giver.”
  [05:02]
  A succinct biblical mandate for generosity.

• “The weapons of our warfare are not of flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
  [06:14]
  An iconic statement on spiritual warfare.

• “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
  [07:53]
  The heart of Paul’s teaching on humility and dependence on God for approval.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Lamentations 1: [00:00–04:05] – Jerusalem’s lament and theological reflection on suffering.
• Psalm 119:49–56: [04:05–04:32] – Finding hope and comfort in God’s Word.
• 2 Corinthians 9: [04:35–06:14] – Exhortation to generosity, cheerful giving.
• 2 Corinthians 10: [06:14–END (~08:03)] – Christian authority, spiritual warfare, and boasting in the Lord.

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This episode offers a meditative journey through darkness, comfort, exhortation, and encouragement, linking ancient experiences of loss and faith to practical Christian living and spiritual resilience today.

Transcript

[Reader]

A reading from the Book of Lamentations. How lonely sits the city that was full of people. How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations. She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the night with tears on her cheeks. Among all her lovers she has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude. She dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place. Her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival. All her gates are desolate, her priests grown, her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly. Her foes have become the head, her enemies prosper because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone away, captives before the foe. From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture. They fled without strength before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the foe and. And there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her. They mocked at her downfall. Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became filthy. All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness. She herself groans and turns her face away. Her uncleanness was in her skirts. She took no thought of her future. Therefore her fall is terrible. She has no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction. For the enemy has triumphed. The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary. Those whom you forbade to enter your congregation. All her people groan as they search for bread. They trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised. Is it nothing to you all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. From on high. He sent fire into my bones. He made it descend. He spread a net for my feet. He turned me back. He has left me stunned, faint. All the day long my transgressions were bound into a yoke by his hand. They were fastened together, they were set upon my neck. He caused my strength to fail. The Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand. The Lord rejected all my mighty men in my midst. He summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden, as in a winepress, the virgin daughter of Judah. For these things I weep. My eyes flow with tears, for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit. My children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed. Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her. The Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes. Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them. The Lord is in the right, for.

[Paul]

I have rebelled against his word.

[Reader]

But hear all you peoples and see my suffering. My young women and my young men have gone into captivity, A call to my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and elders perished in the city while they sought food to revive their strength. Look, O Lord, for I am in distress. My stomach churns, my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves, in.

[Paul]

The house it is like death.

[Reader]

They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced. Now let them be as I am. Let all their evildoing come before you and deal with them as you have dealt with me, because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many and my heart is faint. A reading from the Book of Psalms. Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.

[Paul]

This is my comfort in my affliction.

[Reader]

And that your promise gives me life. The insolent utterly deride me.

[Paul]

But I do not turn away from your law when I think of your rules. From of old I take comfort, O Lord. Hot indignation seizes me because of the.

[Reader]

Wicked who forsake your law.

[Paul]

Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.

[Reader]

I remember your name in the night.

[Paul]

O Lord, and keep your law. This blessing has fallen to me that I have kept your precepts.

[Reader]

A reading from the book of 2 Corinthians.

[Paul]

Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated, to say nothing of you for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. The point is, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart to, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, he has distributed freely, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. I, Paul, myself entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. I, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away, I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience. When your obedience is complete, look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for destroying you. I will not be ashamed. I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. For they say, his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account. Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves, but when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us to reach even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves as though we did not reach you for we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others, but our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.