Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

January 22, 2026 - Genesis 19 & Psalm 18:13-24

• Josiah Smith - Compass Bible Church South Valley

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We read Genesis 19 and Psalm 18:13-24 to trace judgment, mercy, and the rescue God gives to people who obey His clear commands. Lot’s fear, the city’s ruin, and David’s confidence reveal how confession and courage keep us steady when enemies close in.

• angels warn Lot and reveal God’s mercy
• the mob exposes the rot of Sodom
• Lot’s fear-driven offer shows how sin distorts judgment
• the fall of the cities and the danger of looking back
• aftermath in the cave and generational fallout
• David’s song of rescue and God’s delight
• righteousness as dependence, not self-made
• confession as a path to steady courage
• endurance through trials with hope in God’s clarity

For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compassbiblesv.org. Keep reading. Keep growing. God’s Word is a lamp to your feet, and a light to your path.

Welcome And Reading Focus

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Reading 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. I'm Tyler Sanborn. Today is Thursday, January 22nd, 2026. Listen intently to God's written word. Genesis nineteen. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet, then you may rise up early and go on your way. They said, No, we will spend the night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly. So they turned aside to him and entered his house, and he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house, and they called out to Lot, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them. Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as ye please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, Stand back, and they said, This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them. Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. Then they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out, groping for the door. Then the men said to Lot, Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place, for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord sent us to destroy it. So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, Up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest ye be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, and the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, Escape for your life, do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley, escape to the hills lest ye be swept away. And Lot said to them, Oh no, my lords, behold, your servant has found favour in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life, but I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there. Is it not a little one? And my life will be saved. He said to them, Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zor. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zor. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and he overthrew those cities, in all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground, but Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord, and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like a smoke of a furnace. So it was that. When God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. Now Lot went up to Zor and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zor, so he lived in the cave with his two daughters, and the firstborn said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come into us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the offspring from our father. So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose. The next day the firstborn said to the younger, Behold, I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father. So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben Ami. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the most high uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire, and he sent out his arrows and scattered them, he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord. At the blast of the breath of your nostrils, he sent from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters, he rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place, he rescued me because he delighted in me. The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanliness of my hands, he rewarded me. For I have kept the way of the Lord, and have not quickly departed from my God, for all his rules were before me, his statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanliness of my hands in his sight. We see uh her looking back, and uh likely we see Lot finding a wife uh in in Sodom and having kids, uh two daughters, and they were about to be to be married uh in in this chapter, Genesis 19, and we see the the effects of of what even longing for a city that is that is wicked, uh a heart that is that is turned to uh to the city that turns back and at the the commands of the angels, uh Lot was commanded not to look back, uh to keep moving forward. And uh this is uh this is an important reminder for us to to take very seriously the commands uh that God gives, whether He He delivers them uh through angels or through His prophets or or through um Through the four Gospels that we read in the New Testament. We are we are always looking for ways that that God is is keeping His promises, that God is explaining very clearly, without confusion, without muddiness, his His commands. And uh that that is a kindness of our God to be clear. We don't have to guess. There's no guesswork, there's no uh groping around for what is the right way. We don't we don't serve a God that plays tricks and games. And uh this is a clear evidence here in Genesis 19 of what happens when when wickedness is just off the rails, when uh when wicked men uh are are just running rampant, and the even the the sinfulness of of Lot as he's fearing man, he's fearing what this angry mob will do, and they they're coming after the the two visitors, and uh instead he offers up his his two daughters who have not been known. They they are unmarried and virgins, and he's he is offering out of his fear, uh just compounding the sinful effect of the fear of man and uh offering up uh his daughters in a way that is just um that's sinful, unkind to them, uh, and and just really wicked. As as I think about my daughters, I have three daughters. I uh to be in a position where my life is threatened and I would offer them up, I I can't say uh I can't say there's there's a world where where I would do that. Um, but we we don't we don't see that here with with Lot. Uh so this is a grave a rewind reminder of what what sin can do uh and and how far it can go. And and we see ultimately one day God will come and judge judge the wicked permanently. And this is this is just a foretaste of uh of the wrath to come when when Christ returns and puts the enemy under his foot. Uh we look to uh the deliverance of David. Uh it's the the common common story of David. He is on the run, his enemies surround, and uh in the day of David's calamity, he is comforted by the Lord. He is David's support. Uh he is referencing in verse 16 the the exodus. We see uh David explaining he drew me out of many waters, and this is a nod to the Exodus, a nod to uh the heritage uh of Israel and and what God has done. He's he's remembering in the moment how God is is preserving him, and he's reflecting and praising God also in the ways that he can look back and uh and remember God's faithfulness, remember uh the way that he has made uh for his people to survive, to prosper as they walk step in step uh with him. Now the the righteousness that we see David uh claiming again is uh again not his not his own. David is not claiming that his righteousness comes in and of himself, but we we remember back to Psalm chapter 5 and verse 8, where David is sharing, uh, lead me, O Lord, uh, in your righteousness because of my enemies, make your way straight before me. And uh, this is just a reminder for us to continue to to like David, like we can, while we are imperfect, uh, strive to adhere to the law of God. And and while we are still yet sinners like like David was, uh, we can we can live a life and work towards um living a life for God that is is without guilt of sin. And part of this comes through confession. Uh we we can strive to honor the Lord, and and when we do sin, it's inevitable. We can go to the Lord uh in faith with hope and and a confidence that He will He will forgive us, and that that can go a long ways for us when we keep short accounts with others, and when we keep a short account with God, when we sin and we fall short of His standard, fall short of His glory, uh He can He can lead us in And that's why David can say uh So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness. This isn't David's, this isn't uh this isn't his um resume, but he he gives the credit to the Lord. And uh we just see how how firm David's uh boldness is when he's talking about the law of the Lord. Uh he's he's clinging to it, he's keeping it near. Uh verse 21 uh says, For I have kept the ways of the Lord. Uh verse 23, I was blameless before him. Uh he is evaluating his own heart, uh, he's evaluating his life in light of the scriptures, in light of the of the law, the Pentateuch, and and David is uh in a way uh just admitting his admitting his weakness. He's admitting that his foes as they surround, uh he's he's with with confidence and humility uh claiming that the Lord was my support, the Lord did it. They were too mighty for me. He's claiming his enemies have the upper hand clearly. This is a strong enemy, people that hated him. And uh, this is an encouragement for us that when we stand for what God's law says, there will be people in our lives, uh people in the community, people, people in this in this country and around the world that that hate us for for who we pledge our allegiance to, who we serve, who we submit to, and that is the Lord Jesus. This is um a good encouragement for us. And I hope that is something for you uh today as you listen. You can know with confidence that that this will happen. This will happen to you, and it's it's for your good. Uh, when we face trials, it's it's a strengthening, it's a tempering process as God is continuing to work in us as he continues to form us into the image of the Son uh Christ. So we we don't have to fear uh a Pharaoh, we don't have to fear uh an angry mob. Uh we we can fear the Lord and and rest that He will comfort us and ultimately He will deliver us to Himself, whether we we suffer uh on this side of eternity, whether we uh lose a job, or whether we um are outcast by our family for what we believe, that we we stand firm and you can stand firm in the confidence that David has here, where his God is his resting place. Um and that is a joy for us to be near the Lord, to be near his word, to be near uh his statute. So I hope you were encouraged today as we revisit a familiar, uh, a familiar historical event in Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his family. We look again to David's life and uh we see the the dangers and the enemies surrounding, but uh if if God is for us, we know there's there's none that can that can uh be against us because our God, our God reigns. So uh thanks for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast. For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass Bible SV.org. Keep reading, keep growing. God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.