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Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan
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!
Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan
January 31, 2026 - Genesis 27 & Psalm 23
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We read Psalm 23 for comfort and clarity, then face the relational chaos of Genesis 27 to see how God’s faithfulness holds when people fail. A fallen leader, the beginnings of a new church plant, and a divided family push us to follow the Shepherd rather than force outcomes.
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 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 Josiah Smith joined by Tyler Sanborn. Today is Saturday, January 31st, 2026. Here's a quick summary of Genesis 27. Now Isaac was getting old. It says in the text that his eyes were growing dim. So he had a hard time seeing, and he wanted to, in the last moment of his life, give the blessing that he intended for his older son Esau. Now he sent Esau out to go hunt for some game so that he could make some delicious food and have that be a part of the process that Isaac would use to bless him and to give him the blessing that he intended. Now, Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau, overheard this plan by Isaac, and she concocted a plan of her own with her favorite son Jacob and told him that he needs to quickly get to animals from the field. He needs to be a part of preparing this meal to steal effectively the blessing from Esau. And so that's what he does after some trepidation. He was afraid of being caught. He puts on animal skin on his arms, on the back of his neck, and he goes in there. Isaac suspects something is up. He asks some questions. Jacob deceives him and lies. And ultimately, Isaac ends up pronouncing the blessing on Jacob instead of Esau. Now Esau comes back after a long time of hunting. He has prepared a delicious meal. And to his father's horror, they both realize that Jacob stole the blessing. And so Esau, in just in anger and being upset about all of this, he commits essentially to murdering his brother. He says in verse 41, the days of mourning for my father are approaching, or his death, in other words, then I will kill my brother Jacob. And of course, Rebecca, who seems to be always in the right place at the right time with some itching ears, overhears this and warns Jacob, and in fact sends him away so that he would not be harmed by his brother Esau.
SPEAKER_01:Listen intently to God's written word, Psalm twenty-three. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Pastor Josiah, if David was a modern recording artist, the the title for his triple platinum most wildly successful hit would be Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd. And uh we've, as you've noted, we've been reading a book as a staff, um, The Lord of Psalm 23, and it's been such an encouragement to me. I uh I've been really finding myself wanting to read Psalm 23 over and over again on a daily basis to help remind myself of who it is that is leading us, who it is that is with me, who it is that is inviting me and and calling me to lie down. He makes me lie down in green pastures and beside the still waters. There is peace, there is rest to be found in the leading of the savior. And I'm just so encouraged. What more can we say? We can go on and on about Psalm 2023, and um, I'm hoping to hear what what you have to say about this.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, Psalm 23 has been, I think, undoubtedly, one of the most comfort-bringing psalms in all of the church's history. I mean, just listen to the opening words. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I remember years ago in a in a different ministry context, our church was going through a difficult time, and I shared this at our staff meeting when we were discussing Psalm 23 as we we opened that study together. But there was an elder in our church who unfortunately it was uncovered that he had been essentially disqualified, not even essentially, I mean effectively disqualified uh because of adultery on his wife and uh just a really heartbreaking time. I remember in ministry. And at that time, I was leading a youth group that met on Sunday nights. And so I just felt like I I needed to say something kind of in the moment and to go to a text that would speak to just where we were, and in a very real way, Tyler. One of our shepherds had failed us, one of our shepherds had disqualified himself, brought reproach upon the name of Christ, and hurt many in the process. And so I remember very vividly uh that night I am talking about that kind of as my introduction to the sermon, and I opened up to Psalm 23 and I read the words, The Lord is my shepherd, and I was overwhelmed with emotions and I actually had to stop. Uh, my my voice was shaking, uh my lips were quivering. I was just overwhelmed uh with the juxtaposition of one of my earthly shepherds, one of my earthly elders and pastors, uh, he had failed me. Uh, but the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And I just remember that being such a comfort to me in the middle of a heartbreaking season of ministry. And I know whether it's an elder falling or just living in a world where pain is not unfamiliar to anyone listening right now to this podcast, let these words just minister to your heart. The Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want. And there's so many promises in Psalm 23 that are intended to just provide strength to our soul. That's even verses two and three. He leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. And so you said, like you just find yourself wanting to read Psalm 23 over and over again. I the mental picture in my head is that this psalm is is like a a refreshing drink of water uh that you just need constantly, daily, right? We need water every day to survive. And Psalm 23 serves as that kind of just refreshment and that sort of sustenance where we get a picture of who our God is. Uh He's not a God that is just uh He's not distant, He He doesn't uh dwell from afar with his arms crossed and a furled brow. Uh, he condescends, uh, he dwells with us. That's the whole uh story of Christmas, the incarnation. Emmanuel, God is with us. He gets down into the muck and the mire in the mud, he becomes our shepherd, uh and he provides for us, he leads us, he cares for us, he restores our soul. And what a what a great encouragement that that this is uh to us. Now, now, Tyler, as we've studied this, what have been some things uh that have really just been an encouragement to your heart that we've been learning from from Psalm 23?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, to speak to that and what I've been encouraged by, what have been how I've been connecting this psalm and how I'm applying it, um where I see it connecting uh in my life is uh is most vividly, most recently, uh during life group, um we we had some people share some really heavy things and the the underlying theme, the common denominator, is that I knew that this is good. I knew that this was drawing me closer to the shepherd. I knew that that God's mercy was with me. I knew that his goodness was with me. Yeah, and I I see God's plan in it, even though at the time some some sisters and brothers have have been through some extremely difficult times, times of loss, times of of struggle. The valley of the shadow of death. Death death will call for every single one of us at at one point or another in the future. Uh unless Christ returns and calls us home, we we will live, we will be born, we will live, and we will die. And there is a there is a unknown to us, an unknown timer, um, as we we enter, we enter into life, but at the same time, we enter into death. And the Lord knows our days, the Lord knows how long we have here, and to hear from my life group that they saw something that was utterly terrible happening in their life, they they saw the goodness behind it, they saw how the shepherd was with them, leading them, guiding them, and restoring their soul. What an encouragement.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I think in the unique season that we find ourselves in as a church, Compass Babel Church South Valley, we've had two uh pre-launch services. This weekend will be our third. We just need to be acutely aware that we need to look to the shepherd, right? We're we're planting a church, but we're not trying to reinvent the wheel. Uh we're not trying to uh be trendy or chase after fads. We we want to we want to look to the shepherd. And even the language here, he leads me. The the implication is he's in front and we're behind. He's going before us, and we're following him. So think about that. Even the context of our church, we want to follow the shepherd. We want to follow Christ Jesus. We we want to let him lead, we want to let him set the pace, we want to let him be the one that protects, him be the one that provides. He's the one that's gonna restore our souls. And that's Tyler and I's commitment as well. And we've talked about this, Tyler. We we are just we're frail men uh seeking to do a job too big for us in planting this church and seeking to lead this church. And so we we want to be just chief leaders in looking to the shepherd, looking to the one who ultimately will never fail. We we I have in my own life and in my own ministry have been in part of the heartache of leaders failing, of under-shepherds failing. Uh, but Christ, the good shepherd, has never failed. And he's always leading the way. He leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. That's for my protection, for my safety, for my good. And uh, we could talk all day about Psalm 23. Uh, the book that we're reading talks a lot about the Exodus imagery that we find in this. That is a fascinating discussion that we unfortunately don't have time for on this podcast. But uh, as just a resource recommendation, since we're we keep referring to it, uh, The Lord of Psalm 23 is a great book. It's a green book uh with kind of a gold outline cover that I would recommend for you to study uh more deeply Psalm 23. It has been just such a great encouragement to us as a staff. We read one chapter a week on Tuesdays during our staff lunch slash meeting. And uh I have just been so encouraged. Uh, and we always pair it with a reading of Psalm 23. And so spending, you know, 20 minutes or so, however long we we talk about it, discussing and reflecting, and then just finishing, we always read the text together, has been such a uh such a an encouragement to my soul. And um, I know that Psalm 23 is just uh such a sweet psalm for so many. Again, I said, like I said, I think truly has undoubtedly been one of the most precious psalms uh throughout the church's history that people have clung to, these promises and these truths about the kind of God that we serve. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He will provide my every need. He's gonna do it according to his wisdom and his timing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sakes. What a beautiful psalm! And we hope that today you reflect on this psalm and that you are encouraged by the truths that we uh see and are revealed of our God from this psalm. As we transition to Genesis 27, a very different flavor from Psalm 23. There's a lot going on in Genesis 27. I mean, there's there's a lot.
SPEAKER_01:Psalm 23 shows us the way that that the Savior, the Good Shepherd, leads. And Genesis 27 shows how a fallen man will lead their children into deception, into deceit, into manipulation.
SPEAKER_00:There's a lot going on. So much. And there's some tension that we got to wrestle with because if you remember when Rebecca was pregnant and the twins, Jacob and Esau, were in the womb. Do you remember the promise that God made? Yeah, the older shall serve the younger. That's countercultural, right? Yes, that is counter-cultural cultural during this time, especially. The firstborn was the one that would receive the inheritance, which you know, Jacob already stole for a bullstew. But uh that there was this this promise and this prophecy by God that the older, which is Esau, would serve the younger. And so there is some sense in which the end result of this was declared from the beginning. The end result of Jacob receiving the blessing had already been determined by God. So the tension in that, Tyler, is the way in which it came about. A lot of deception, a lot of lying. Uh, there was some, you could say, um, malintent in the hearts of Rebecca and Isaac or uh Jacob, and there's just some things there that that we need to sit in. And there's no perfect answer for how all that works, but it certainly highlights the sovereignty of God that the end results had already been declared, right? The older will serve the younger. Uh that that in no way excuses the lying, and in no way is is justifying that. But it is something that I think there the the author of Genesis, Moses, I think he's writing it in this way, obviously it happened this way, but is presenting things in this way, in this order, to build that tension in our hearts and to kind of make us go, well, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01:Like, what's going on here? Dad has a favorite, mom has a favorite, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Family division.
SPEAKER_01:In order to get what you want, you're trying to go behind, not address things directly.
SPEAKER_00:Rebecca is, you could say, on on one level, Rebecca is doing what she's pursuing what she knows God promised, right? But she's doing it in some very questionable ways, right?
SPEAKER_01:In a slippery way, and in her in her uh confidence and her assurance that she's giving to her her son um Jacob, verse 13. She's a she's comforting him. Don't worry, son. Don't worry. Are you sure, Mom? Don't worry.
SPEAKER_00:I got this, don't worry. You can hear it when he's about to go into the tent. Mom, are you sure? You'll be fine.
SPEAKER_01:Let the curse, verse 13, let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice and go bring them to me. He's there is there is a kind of product that comes from this. Her desire, as you noted, Pastor Josiah, in a roundabout way, she wants she can see the blessing. The the older shall serve the younger, and she's thinking, how can I accomplish this? How can my favorite son receive what is promised to him by God? And as a result, there's tension, there, there's murderous thoughts that come into Esau, and as a result, Rebecca sends him sends him away to protect him, but ultimately never to see him again.
SPEAKER_00:Well, think about the the character development with Rebecca. When we meet her, how do we how do we find her? Like, what's the character that we see when we first meet her? Uh when the the servant of Abraham goes to find her at the well. She's this sweet servant who just goes out of her way. Hey, let me help you. Let me get you the water for your camels. Let me let me just commit to marrying a guy I've never met. Like we, we see there's like it seems like, okay, woman of character, uh, a servant. There's some humility on her part, and here we are, a few chapters later, and she is uh conniving and she's scheming. And and really, we we see some parallels, honestly, with Rebecca and Sarah. Because you remember, God promises Abraham and Sarah a son, and Sarah goes, you know what? I'm going to force the promise. Hey, Hagar, come here. I got an idea. Abraham, go go sleep with your servant, Hagar, get her pregnant. That's how you'll get a son. Just kidding. I didn't want that. Now I'm jealous. Send her away. I mean, it feels very similar, right? It's that same sense of deja vu where Rebecca's like, God promised. An offspring gets sent out. An offspring gets sent out, people get hurt in the process. Uh, but what what I kept coming back to in this again is that God is sovereign over all of these things. He he had already declared the end from the beginning in this situation, and he said it directly when uh they were in the womb. So um how do we how do we make sense of that? Well, the the gospel implication in my mind uh goes back to what what Paul talks about in Romans 5, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And so I I think if you overlay that with this chapter of Rebecca and Um Jacob and their lying and their deceit, and just the the blessing that ends up coming out on the other side of that, despite their obvious sin, I think what you see is while they were still sinners, there was grace and blessing that God was still bestowing upon them. And that's the kind of God we're getting these snapshots of the kind of God that we serve. And they're there again, they're forward-pointing, they're foreshadowing that gospel implication. It wasn't, it wasn't when we had it all figured out, it wasn't when we were doing our best to figure out to serve God. It was while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And I think this is such a clear example of that in Genesis 27, where things are a mess and people are lying. Someone wants to murder another person. This is kind of calling back to Cain and Abel. And it's like all of the things, all the threads that we've traced, like with Abraham and Sarah. She's not my wife, she's my sister. Uh, with the murder of Cain and Abel, it's all kind of coming together in this story. We're we're back to the garden, basically, where sin and death enter into the world. But it's a it's a constant reminder of the grace of God that's on display. And because he continues to bless, he continues to be faithful to his promise, even though the people involved are being conniving, they're tricksters. Jacob, uh, his name literally means heel grabber, like he's trying to trip up uh Esau. So he stole his birthright. That's the land and the money and the apportioned, all that that's supposed to go to the firstborn. He stole that from Esau. Now he still has the blessing. That's more of the covenantal sign of things, uh, where God says to Abraham, I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who curse you. Isaac passes that down to Jacob. But of course, God is sovereign over all of those things. So there's a tension, right, Tyler, where we're like, why would God bless when there's sin involved? And while we were still sinners, yeah, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_01:And what a great reminder for us, Pastor Josiah, to really stop and think about our motives, stop and think about what our hearts truly want. And sometimes we can mislabel things. I can I can think to a couple times when I was growing up playing sports, is I wanted, I wanted out on the external, I said, I want I want a bigger platform so I can glorify God. But deep within the true motive was I want to exalt myself, I want to lift myself up, and I want the attention, I want the benefits that come from this lifestyle of professional sports. That was my dream. And I think we all need to take take a good look at Rebecca, take a look at this this compounding effect of sin and and understand our sin has consequences, and when we choose to sin and and cover sin with other sin, it it becomes a big problem. It increases the hurt, it increases the separation. Families can be divided, disrupted, destroyed as a result. So we really need to look inside and and assess is this is this motive that I have, is this for the Lord or is this for myself?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I would say that um what we see in scripture is the biblical authors uh almost go out of their way to accent the characters failures. And especially in Genesis, there's that theme Oh, Abraham. Is a man of faith, oh, but she's my sister. Oh, Abraham's a man of faith, oh, but I'm gonna impregnate Hagar. Uh, like there is this almost uh consistent, hey, these people are sinners, they fall short. And against that backdrop, uh, what the authors of scripture are actually doing is they're accenting and highlighting the steadfast love and the faithfulness of God, despite the failures of his people. And what good news that that is, and what clear gospel connections that we can make there. It's not our righteousness, it's not us doing it all the right way, it's the righteousness of Christ. And Genesis 27 points us in that direction and reveals that truth to us through this story. Well, 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.