Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / June 12, 2026 - Numbers 23 & Psalm 119:81-88

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June 12, 2026 - Numbers 23 & Psalm 119:81-88 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bybreading Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word lighting the way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Josiah Smith, joined by Tyler Sanborn.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Today is Friday, June 12th, 2026.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Here's a quick summary of Numbers 23.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Numbers 23 details Balaam's two oracles, where God places words into the mouth of Balaam, not to speak against Israel or to curse them, but to actually reinforce the idea and the truth that God is blessing them as a nation.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, there's even an allusion to the Abrahamic promise and covenant that was made all the way back in Genesis.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: But rather than cursing, as he was hired to do, he basically says, I cannot, because of God's protection, because of God's provision for them as a nation.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so it details these two oracles that again showcase the sovereignty of God.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 119, verses 81 through 88.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: My soul longs for your salvation.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: I hope in your word.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: My eyes long for your promise.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I ask, When will you comfort me?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: How long must your servant endure?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: When will you judge those who persecute me?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: The insolent have dug pitfalls for me.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: They do not live according to your law.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: All your commandments are sure.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: They persecute me with falsehood.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Help me.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: They have almost made an end of me on earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: In your steadfast love, give me life that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it is day two being in California.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: And again, we're here for the National Equipped Conference being put on by the Compass Church Planting Association, where the focus and the vision and the priority is to plant, strengthen, and multiply local churches all across America by God's grace.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: And today we had a couple of meetings.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: We're actually in the pre-conference phase where we're just meeting together with the other kind of staff of all the other compasses, and even our wives are getting together with all the other wives of all the other compasses.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's been just a great time, Tyler, of encouragement.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: We've we spent some time in prayer.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: We had a dinner tonight, and there was a lot of laughter and um a lot of just even questions that were kind of funny, learning just different fun facts about one another through kind of a like quiz type game, which was fun.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the things that really I was encouraged by was earlier when we were meeting together, just as the different staffs of each compass church, we kind of were asking the question, what kind of church do we want to be?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Or even more specifically than that, what kind of churches do we want to plant?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: So if you think about that question from the perspective of Compass South Valley, uh, what kind of church do we want to be?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: What kind of church are we seeking to be?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of ways that we could answer that.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I think the the two primary things that we discussed that I that I really resonated with and that were something that I was kind of hoping for.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: And even right now, I as the as a lead pastor, I am praying for is tenacious doctrinal fidelity and obvious missional clarity.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Now, as we think about our church and what kind of church that we want to be, I would say those two things should rise to the top that we want to have a tenacious doctrinal fidelity, meaning that we want to teach what God's word says.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's one of our distinctives, right?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Where the Bible is central and we showcase expository preaching.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: We want the Bible's message to be amplified.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want Josiah's message or Tyler's message or any other leader that would come after us.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: We want the Bible's message to be amplified, and that's why the Bible is central.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: So tenacious doctrinal fidelity.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: And in a world where the evangelical landscape continues to be fractured and there's much division, there's much compromise, there's this seemingly endless drift uh towards even liberal theology and against conservative theology and just basic biblical truth.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: But we want to have tenacious doctrinal fidelity, but we also want obvious missional clarity.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: And this is so true uh of even what we're seeking to do.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: We want to make disciples and we want to reach the lost.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: We want to be evangelistic, we want to share the message of Christ, and we want to urgently implore others and thinking what Paul talks about in Corinthians, God making his appeal through us, that we would plead with people to be reconciled with God.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: So as you think about that question, what kind of church do we want to be?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that these two things are precious to you, that they would they would be things that you would resonate with, that you would say, I want our church to have a tenacious commitment to doctrinal fidelity and that there would be an obvious missional clarity, that we are about the Great Commission.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: And even really a third thing is that we have a distinctive cultural identity.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: And those, of course, are articulated in our eight distinctives that I mentioned just a few, that the Bible is central.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: We showcase expository preaching, we seek to maintain a high view of God, uh, we work to proclaim a biblical gospel, and on it goes.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: We have a distinct cultural identity that, of course, is rooted in our doctrinal fidelity to the scriptures.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so, really, just an encouraging time, a focusing, a sharpening time that we want to be that kind of church.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not just an identity, that's not a focus, that's not a priority just for our church.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Every compass Bible church that exists in the world right now, thankfully by God's grace, has these shared commitments to a tenacious doctrinal fidelity, an obvious missional clarity, and again, a distinctive cultural identity.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so that was just very encouraging, recognizing that we have brothers and sisters in arms that share those commitments, that are working towards the same goals.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something that I want for our church that we would say again, that these things are true for us.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we're pursuing, this is what we're about.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: So, Tyler, when we were meeting and talking about those things, I was greatly energized, greatly encouraged, and found myself again wanting to pursue these things with with greater and greater faithfulness.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what were some things for you, just as we met together, either that stuck out to you or uh you were encouraged by in our time?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a handful of things that I was encouraged by was just the reality of uh of people failing who are in full-time ministry, failing to endure.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you're mentioning uh the different pitfalls that people, even theologically, that they might drift out out onto that would be away from doctrine, away from sound teaching and what the word says uh within the the scriptures.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: So enduring and just the steadfastness of um doing the little things well, um, remaining steadfast, remaining faithful to your local church, remaining prayerful, remaining in the word every day.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and that was a great encouragement.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: As I look uh in a room that is full of senior pastors and staff pastors, I uh got to be encouraged by a handful of uh older and younger pastors who have been, I guess, in the game, if you want to say that uh in that way, who have been in full-time ministry as shepherds, feeding God's sheep in the local church, doing it well, doing it uh with endurance uh for for some uh decades for some, uh less less than less than a decade.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: But as I step into my my role and I continue to aspire to become a pastor myself, I was encouraged to see like this this is a something that is for the young and for the for the the pastors who have been in the game for a while.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the little things matter.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And and something that is challenging and encouraging to me is uh one of the points that was made was 80% of the work that goes on as uh as an overseer, as a shepherd, a pastor, 80% of it is is unseen.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: And just the uh the fidelity to just working, working hard, being faithful, managing your time well, and uh just all the behind the scenes uh details of uh caring for God's church.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we we think oftentimes that looks like the pastor on Sunday morning preaching the word.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that yes, that is a great, a great role and responsibility.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's great weight to that, a great stewardship to that.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: But uh the counseling meetings, the encouragements, the details, the planning, uh, the uh the care that goes on, the hospital visits, there's there's so much that goes on.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: The the entire scope of of the role of the pastor goes goes um begins.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I guess there's a a premacy at the pulpit.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the qualifications, able to teach, but also just a shepherd's heart to care for the sheep.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that that comes with a a a really broad job description.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much that goes into that as I'm learning uh what that really is, um, as I'm following your lead, PJ, and just the the ways that God's people need to be fed in a variety of ways.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: I I was encouraged to know that uh there are a cohort of pastors in the compass network of churches that have been faithfully grinding this out.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I could look to look to you guys as I aspire and and think, man, this this is a group of guys that is willing to encourage me, to challenge me, to call me out when I'm out of bounds, to to pray for me faithfully.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, that was a huge encouragement.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I would ask if if you're listening to this, that you would just pray for us.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Pray for just a fruitful time with uh other these other compass churches, that there would be great connections made, great encouragement that is found, and then pray for the conference that again officially starts tomorrow evening, uh that this topic on prayer uh would be transformational, that that people's prayer life would be different because of our time together, and that that would have a compounding effect in the churches that everyone is a part of, and uh just even our individual walks with Christ.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Please pray for us.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Pray for just a fruitful time and uh pray that uh Tyler and I can just be useful here, that we can be an encouragement to those that we interact with.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, we would greatly appreciate your prayers.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now, as we briefly kind of transition to our text, I just want to point out again here in Numbers 23.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully you just see God's clear sovereignty on display.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: Balak has his plans, he he has his desires, he uh even sort of schemes to have Balaam pronounce this curse and try to have this victory conquest.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: And yet when he you know when he brings them to the mountain, what happens?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Balaam basically says, I can't see anything other than what the Lord allows me to.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so then he goes, Okay, well, what if we go over to to this different mountain, Mount Pisgah?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: And every time I think of that, I actually I think of the the Blue Ridge Mountains, Pisgah National Forest.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: I was a backpacking instructor there, so I spent a lot of time in the Piscah National Forest, very different geography, but nevertheless, it makes me think of that.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so they go to a different mountain.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, Well, maybe maybe this will work over here.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: And he says the same thing.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: He reiterates that I can't say anything.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they're they're not just some nation, they're they're a nation that was formed, set aside, uh, put together, fashioned by God Himself.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so God's sovereignty is just highlighted greatly here in Numbers 23.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: And it's again sort of a strange passage, but a passage that we can't walk away without just uh hopefully a clear sense of God's uh commitment to his promises, God's commitment to his people, and hopefully just a great sense of encouragement that God uses uh sometimes the most unlikely people and the most unlikely of circumstances to accomplish his will and to work all things together for good to those who love him.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully you can see that thread of sovereignty here in numbers 23.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and as we look over to the psalm, uh PJ, I'm just so encouraged uh in verse 84.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh this is the psalmist calling out to God in duress in uh in a time where there seems to be a need or desire to be outside of the situation.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: How long must your servant endure?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: When will you judge those who persecute me?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um I'm thinking about uh the times in ministry that other pastors have just shared uh and encouraged me that even in the hardest times in in ministry, God is providing uh leadership, God is providing direction and vision through his word.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And even through the most difficult uh trials and challenges in in ministry, whether you're um uh a life group leader, whether you're uh a ministry leader, whether you're just just starting to serve, there's gonna be challenges along the way as you seek to follow Christ.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: And um God is faithful to be with you uh along the way, and God is going to sustain you as you fix your eyes on Him.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: There's no there's no trial uh too big that God cannot uh give you the endurance to uh to persist and endure through.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And um, as we look to the ultimate end of our our trials, the ultimate end of our enduring here on earth, uh, we have a great savior, uh, and we have we have uh a great hope that we can fix our eyes and our our soul to.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um we have a salvation in the word of God, uh, the word that became flesh, the word who um who is the light of the world, God with us, and in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ, our soul, our our souls long for him.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and though we may we go through this life through seasons of of trials, wave after wave.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're uh a few miles from the ocean here in this hotel.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I've just been thinking about the waves.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: We were walking out on the pier the other day with a uh Sadie and I with a couple of the uh pastors and um from different churches, and we were just watching the waves and just thinking about the different trials.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the psalmist um speaks of many different trials throughout this this long uh chapter in Psalm 119, and uh God is God is in control, God is in control of every single wave that makes its way to shore, and God is going to see you through it as you place your hope and your trust and you depend on him.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and just I want to encourage you, don't miss the forest for the trees here as we work through Psalm 119.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, obviously, we're only doing about eight verses a day, section by section, so it's shorter.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but there's a ton of meat here in these few verses.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I just want you to really slow down, truly meditate on what it is that you're reading here in Psalm 119, and just prayerfully work through these short verses.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I pray that the the longings that we see here, even in verse 81, my soul longs for your salvation would be your longings, that the desires for a greater understanding into the precepts of God, the uh even a sense of life in your steadfast love.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Give me life that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth, that these things, these requests, these desires, these prayers would become your request, your desires and your prayers.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: So slow down.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure you don't rush through this, that you really soak in.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why we are going at the pace that we are.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: This is such a rich psalm.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: I want to make sure that we truly are um seeing what God has for us here in these verses, and that we are seeking to grow in our love for God and our love uh for his word.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bible reading podcast.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass Bible SV.org.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.