Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Daniel’s final prophecy paints a bleak picture for believers in the last days. So how can we faithfully endure without having all our questions answered? On Truth For Life, Alistair Begg examines two responses as he wraps up a study in the book of Daniel.
From the Sermon
A Matter of Concern
Jonah considered himself a victim. He was convinced that he was right in believing that Nineveh should receive judgment and that God was wrong to have rescued the city. He was also convinced that God was wrong in allowing the shade-bearing plant to shrivel, leaving him to suffer in the heat.
In response, God did not engage with the prophet according to his sorrowful objection but instead raised an important question: “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” (Jonah 4:9). God was arguing from the lesser to the greater: if Jonah could be so phenomenally concerned about a plant that had come and gone in the space of 24 hours, didn’t He, the living God, have a right to be concerned about the people of Nineveh? God was calling Jonah to review his scale of priorities.
God’s question to Jonah is a question for us as well. Is there anything in our lives that we are more concerned about than seeing unbelieving people become committed followers of Jesus Christ? If we’re alert to our own hearts, we may realize that in regard to our time, finances, gifts, and freedoms, “Is there anything?” quickly becomes “How many things?” Those who observe us may think we’re far more concerned about matters of our own comfort than we are about the many souls who have never heard the gospel.
What was Jonah’s response to God’s question? We don’t know. The book of Jonah finishes with this divine question. But the most important question is not about how Jonah responded. The emphasis of the entire book is upon the compassion of God Himself. The most important question is this: How do we, the readers of the book, perceive God’s grace? Will His example establish in us a pattern of concern for others that longs for them to turn from sin and trust in Him? Will our hearts be more like Jonah’s or like the Lord’s?
It is time to stop setting any worldly concerns ahead of reaching the lost souls in our communities for Christ. We have the joy of knowing God’s compassion in our lives through Jesus. And the only fitting response to this great privilege is to give of ourselves so that others would come to know Him as well. What do you most care about? asks God. Your home? Your possessions? Your tech gadgets? Or the people in your street who do not know Jesus?
How is God calling me to think differently?
How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?
What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?
The Great Commission
16Now the eleven disciples fwent to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw him they gworshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, h“All authority iin heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19jGo therefore and kmake disciples of lall nations, jbaptizing them min2 nthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them oto observe all that pI have commanded you. And behold, qI am with you always, to rthe end of the age.”
Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.
Willing to Suffer?
And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
A golden truth is couched in the fact that the Savior pushed the myrrhed wine-cup from His lips. On the heights of heaven the Son of God stood of old, and as He looked down upon our globe He measured the long descent to the utmost depths of human misery. He considered the sum total of all the agonies that expiation would require and didn't shrink. He solemnly determined that to offer a sufficient atoning sacrifice He must go the whole way, from the highest to the lowest, from the throne of highest glory to the cross of deepest woe. This myrrhed cup, with its anesthetic influence, would have prevented Him from experiencing the utter limit of misery, and therefore He refused it.
He would not stop short of all He had undertaken to suffer for His people. How many of us have cried for comfort in our grief to keep us from injury! Reader, did you never pray to be relieved of hard service or suffering with a petulant and willful eagerness? In a moment providence has taken from you the desire of your eyes. Say, Christian, if you were told, “If you want, your loved one will live, but God will be dishonored,” could you have put away the temptation and said, “Your will be done”?
It is good to be able to say, “My Lord, if for other reasons I do not need to suffer, yet if I can honor You more by suffering, and if the loss of my earthly goods will bring You glory, then let it be. I refuse the comfort if it stands in the way of Your honor.” Let us learn to walk in the footsteps of our Lord, cheerfully enduring trial for His sake, promptly and willingly putting away the thought of self and comfort when it would interfere with our completing the work that He has given us to do. Great grace is needed, but great grace is provided.
Devotional material is taken from Morning and Evening, written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. Used by Truth For Life with written permission.
Daily Bible Reading for August 19
Saul Defeats the Ammonites
1oThen Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged pJabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, q“Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 2But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, rthat I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus sbring disgrace on all Israel.” 3The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” 4When the messengers came to tGibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, uand all the people wept aloud.
5Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. 6vAnd the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 7He took a yoke of oxen wand cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, x“Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out yas one man. 8When he mustered them at zBezek, athe people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 9And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have bsalvation.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. 10Therefore the men of Jabesh said, c“Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” 11dAnd the next day Saul put the people ein three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
The Kingdom Is Renewed
12Then the people said to Samuel, f“Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ gBring the men, that we may put them to death.” 13But Saul said, h“Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today ithe Lord has worked jsalvation in Israel.” 14Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” 15So all the people went to kGilgal, and there they made Saul king lbefore the Lord in Gilgal. There mthey sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
God's Sovereign Choice
1aI am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For bI could wish that I myself were caccursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,1 my kinsmen daccording to the flesh. 4They are eIsraelites, and to them belong fthe adoption, gthe glory, hthe covenants, ithe giving of the law, jthe worship, and kthe promises. 5To them belong lthe patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, mwho is God over all, nblessed forever. Amen.
6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7and not all are children of Abraham obecause they are his offspring, but p“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but qthe children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9For this is what the promise said: r“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10And not only so, but salso when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of thim who calls— 12she was told, u“The older will serve the younger.” 13As it is written, v“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14What shall we say then? wIs there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15For he says to Moses, x“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16So then it depends not on human will or exertion,2 but on God, who has mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, y“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For zwho can resist his will?” 20But who are you, O man, ato answer back to God? bWill what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21cHas the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump done vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience evessels of wrath fprepared for destruction, 23in order to make known gthe riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he hhas prepared beforehand for glory— 24even us whom he ihas called, jnot from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25As indeed he says in Hosea,
k“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26l“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called m‘sons of the living God.’”
27And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: n“Though the number of the sons of Israel3 be as the sand of the sea, oonly a remnant of them will be saved, 28for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29And as Isaiah predicted,
pq“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
rwe would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”
Israel's Unbelief
30What shall we say, then? sThat Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, ta righteousness that is by faith; 31but that Israel uwho pursued a law that would lead to righteousness4 vdid not succeed in reaching that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the wstumbling stone, 33as it is written,
x“Behold, I am laying in Zion ya stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
Judgment on Moab
1xConcerning Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Woe to yNebo, for it is laid waste!
zKiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame aand broken down;
2the renown of Moab is no more.
In bHeshbon they planned disaster against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off cfrom being a nation!’
You also, O dMadmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.
3“A voice! A cry from eHoronaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4Moab is destroyed;
her little ones have made a cry.
5eFor at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping;1
for eat the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the distressed cry2 of destruction.
6Flee! Save yourselves!
You will be like fa juniper in the desert!
7For, gbecause you trusted in your works and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
and hChemosh ishall go into exile
with jhis priests and his officials.
8kThe destroyer shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and lthe plain shall be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9“Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.
10m“Cursed is he who does nthe work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.
11“Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has osettled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his3 jars in pieces. 13Then pMoab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as qthe house of Israel was ashamed of rBethel, their confidence.
14“How do you say, ‘We are heroes
and mighty men of war’?
15The destroyer of sMoab and his cities has come up,
and the choicest of his young men have tgone down to slaughter,
declares uthe King, uwhose name is the Lord of hosts.
16The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17vGrieve for him, all you who are around him,
and all who know his name;
say, w‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff.’
18x“Come down from your glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant of yDibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19zStand by the way zand watch,
O inhabitant of aAroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has happened?’
20Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
vwail and cry!
Tell it beside bthe Arnon,
that sMoab is laid waste.
21“Judgment has come upon cthe tableland, upon Holon, and dJahzah, and Mephaath, 22and yDibon, and eNebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23and fKiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and gBeth-meon, 24and hKerioth, and iBozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25jThe horn of Moab is cut off, and khis arm is broken, declares the Lord.
26l“Make him drunk, mbecause he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall lwallow in his vomit, nand he too shall be held in derision. 27oWas not Israel a derision to you? pWas he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him qyou wagged your head?
28r“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be slike the dove that nests
in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29tWe have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
uhis boasts are false,
his deeds are false.
31vTherefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the men of wKir-hareseth I mourn.
32More than for xJazer I weep for you,
aYour branches passed over the sea,
reached to the Sea of xJazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
the destroyer has fallen.
33bGladness and joy have been taken away
from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
the shouting is not the shout of joy.
34c“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to dHoronaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. 35And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in ethe high place and makes offerings to his god. 36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of fKir-hareseth. gTherefore the riches they gained have perished.
37h“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. iOn all the hands are gashes, and jaround the waist is sackcloth. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like ka vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. 39How it is broken! How they wail! lHow Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab mhas become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”
40For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, none shall fly swiftly like an eagle
oand spread his wings against Moab;
41pthe cities shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
qThe heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
like the heart of ra woman in her birth pains;
42Moab shall be sdestroyed and be no longer a people,
because the magnified himself against the Lord.
43uTerror, pit, and snare
are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!
declares the Lord.
44He who flees from the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
vFor I will bring these things upon Moab,
the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
45“In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed wthe forehead of Moab,
the crown of wthe sons of tumult.
46xWoe to you, O Moab!
The people of yChemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47zYet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
Teach Me Your Paths
1 Of David.
1To you, O Lord, I olift up my soul.
2O my God, in you I ptrust;
qlet me not be put to shame;
rlet not my enemies exult over me.
3Indeed, snone who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are twantonly utreacherous.
4vMake me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5Lead me in your wtruth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6Remember your xmercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
yfor they have been from of old.
7Remember not zthe sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your asteadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8bGood and upright is the Lord;
therefore he cinstructs sinners in the way.
9He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10All the paths of the Lord are dsteadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11For your ename's sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is fgreat.
12Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him cwill he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13His soul shall gabide in well-being,
and his hoffspring ishall inherit the land.
14jThe friendship2 of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15My keyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will lpluck my feet out of the net.
16mTurn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18nConsider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
19Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
oLet me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22pRedeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.
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