A Daily Devotional

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The Good Shepherd

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)

The 23rd Psalm is perhaps the best-loved chapter in the Bible, with its beautiful picture of Christ as the Shepherd. This chapter finds its New Testament exposition in John 10:1-30, where Christ identifies Himself as “the good shepherd” who “giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

These two chapters (Psalm 23; John 10) are probably the two greatest chapters in the Bible on the security of the believer in Christ. This theme seems woven by divine inspiration into the very structure of the passages. For example, there are six verses in the poetic structure of the psalm, each containing a different testimony concerning the providing and protecting Shepherd. In similar fashion, there are six times the word “shepherd” is used in John 10, each referring again to the work of our Good Shepherd. There are also six references in the other books of the New Testament where Christ is referred to as a shepherd.

The intensely personal aspect of the 23rd Psalm is evidenced by David’s use of the first-person pronouns (“I,” “me,” “my,” etc.) no less than 17 times in its six verses, all expressing his absolute trust in the Lord. Similarly, the word “sheep” is used 17 times in John 10, with the grand theme again stressing the security of the sheep. The number “17” repeatedly seems to crop up in Bible passages related to our security in the Lord. As one example, the famous passage ending the eighth chapter of Romans lists exactly 17 things that can never “separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:35-39).

In any case, this marvelous psalm of security concludes (as it began) with a great promise and testimony, which can be paraphrased as follows: “Surely [Christ’s] goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me as long as I live, and then I will dwell in God’s great heavenly family through all the ages of eternity!” HMM

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Clothing

“And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” (Revelation 1:13)

In the beginning, at the creation of Eve from Adam’s side, “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). There was no need for shame at their lack of clothing for neither had any consciousness of sin or moral guilt. They were truly “one flesh” (v. 24), aware that their physiological differences had been divinely created to bring about God’s purposes for His creation. Any embarrassment would have been quite unnatural.

But soon sin entered; they rejected God’s purposes and plan for their lives. Satan promised they would acquire wisdom, but what was their first taste of wisdom? “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7). Their shame must have been multiplied many times over as they heard God pronounce the dreadful Curse on all of creation as a result of their sin. And then two animals (probably sheep) were slain, sacrificed to “make coats of skins” (v. 21) for their covering.

Many years later, another Lamb was slain for sin, stripped of His clothing and hanged on a cruel cross, bearing unthinkable shame. “I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture” (Psalm 22:17-18). Today, having conquered sin and death, He reigns in heaven, “clothed with a garment down to the foot” (text verse). In His death, He arranged for us some day to be “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white” (Revelation 19:, having “washed [our] robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). JDM

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Problems, Problems, Problems

“And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.” (Psalm 55:6)

The 55th Psalm is a psalm of “complaint” (v. 2) by David and gives an insight into his thought process as he tried to deal with the great problems and burdens that were overwhelming him. His first instinct was to run away from them, flying like a dove far off into the wilderness.

The prophet Jonah (whose name means “dove”) tried that strategy years later, only to encounter even worse problems (Jonah 1:3, 15). One does not solve problems by fleeing from them.

Then David decided to berate those who were causing him trouble and to complain about them to the Lord. “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17). The words “pray, and cry aloud” here actually mean “complain and mourn.” “Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues” (v. 9). “Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell” (v. 15). His burdens were all the heavier because those he had trusted as friends and colleagues were now using deceit and guile against him (vv. 11-14), and the injustice of it all was almost more than he could endure. But complaints and imprecations were also unsatisfying: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19).

Finally, the Lord gave him an answer, and David found the rest for which he had been so fretfully searching. Here it is: “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22). The last phrase of the psalm is “but I will trust in thee” (v. 23).

The way to deal with burdens and problems is not to flee from them or to fret about them but to turn them over to the Lord: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7). HMM

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God's Story

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand.” (1 Corinthians 15:1)

The word “gospel” comes from the Anglo-Saxon “god-spel,” meaning “God-story.” The Greek word is euaggelion, from which we get our word “evangel,” and it means literally “a good message” or “good messenger.” The prefix eu or ev means “good,” and aggelion means “messenger.” Thus, the gospel is the great story of God that is to be preached as by an angel dispatched from God. The word normally is used in the sense of “good news” or “glad tidings,” but this good message is specifically God’s story, sent to lost men from a loving, caring, and saving God.

As our text says, it is a message to be “declared” by its messenger, then “received” (literally “once and for all”) by its hearers. It is the message “by which also ye are saved” (v. 2) and “wherein ye stand.” Then, verses 3 and 4 declare the very heart of what is to be received and believed—the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It is a dynamic gospel—“the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16) for every true believer.

It is a “glorious gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:4) through which Christ “hath brought life and immortality to light” (2 Timothy 1:10). It is the “gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15) and brings “the fullness of the blessing” (Romans 15:29).

Its duration is “everlasting” (Revelation 14:6), and its foundation is the primeval making of “heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:7) by Christ Himself (Colossians 1:16). The apostle Paul gravely warns against “any other gospel” than this gospel that he had preached (Galatians 1:8-9). This gospel, this glad story of God’s grace in creation and salvation, is to be preached “to every creature” (Mark 16:15). HMM

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Peacemakers

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

In this seventh (out of nine) of the Beatitudes with which Christ began His Sermon on the Mount occurs the first mention in the New Testament of the important word “peace.”

But how can one be a peacemaker? Note that Christ did not say: “Blessed are the pacifists.” There are many today who talk about peace, but how does one make peace?

The answer lies in the example of Christ Himself. He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and He “made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself” (Colossians 1:20).

The real problem is that there can be no lasting peace between man and man as long as there is enmity between man and God. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

With that problem settled, we are now in a position to become true peacemakers, for we also can lead others to God through Jesus Christ. He “hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we...pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

As ambassadors for Christ, we are true ambassadors for peace. The best possible contribution we can make toward world peace, racial peace, industrial peace, family peace, or personal peace is to help people become reconciled to God through faith in the peace-making work of Christ on the cross. “These things I have spoken unto you,” says the Lord Jesus, “that in me ye might have peace” (John 16:33). HMM

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For Me to Live Is Christ

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

There are many motivating reasons for serving the Lord. One, of course, is His many merciful blessings on our behalf. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).

Then there is the incentive of rewards: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12). There are also many rewards even in this present life for dedicated Christian service: “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).

The great need of the lost is also a tremendous motivation for Christian service. This was the burden of Paul: “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more” (1 Corinthians 9:19).

But surely the greatest of all motives is the constraining love of Christ—not our love for Him, which is poor and weak at best, but His love for us. This is the constraining compulsion that makes us live and love and witness for Him. Because He loved us so much, we no longer live for ourselves but unto Him who died for us.

As our text notes, if Christ died for all, that can only mean that “all were dead,” or more literally, “all died.” Therefore, if we live, it is because we have been “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20), the terrible price of the never-equaled suffering and the uniquely cruel death of the sinless Son of man. “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). HMM

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Teach and Preach Continually

“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” (Acts 5:42)

The Great Commission was given to every Christian and implied a daily ministry of witness by life and word. The early Christians took it seriously, as our text implies. Even when they began to be persecuted for it, this merely led to a wider proclamation of the gospel. “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

The command of Christ was to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), and this required every Christian to be involved every day. The “gospel” includes the entire scope of the person and work and teachings of Jesus Christ, so both preaching and teaching are involved. Furthermore, Christ did not say “send” but “go!” Although it is vital that missionaries be sent and supported as they go to “the regions beyond,” each believer must go to those he can reach as ability and opportunity allow. “Jerusalem...Judaea...Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8) were all to be reached not consecutively but simultaneously, and this would require both personal and financial participation by every Christian.

The message was to “teach and preach Jesus Christ” in all His fullness. Their witnessing was to be “unto me” (Acts 1:8). It was to be both in public and in private—“in the temple, and in every house.” They were to pray to “the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2) and also to train “faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

And the result of this intense first-century dedication to the Great Commission was that “the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly” (Acts 6:7). However, the work has never been completed and the command is still in effect. HMM

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Our Weapons

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.” (2 Corinthians 10:3)

This verse introduces a famous apologetic charge to the saints. The key to the whole passage is the qualifier “we do not war after the flesh.”

We must conduct war with non-flesh weapons, since “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Fleshly wisdom (2 Corinthians 1:12) often is nothing more than a “snare of the devil” (2 Timothy 2:26) and may well spoil us if we are not very careful (Colossians 2:8).

The objective, of course, is to bring every intellectual argument captive to the truth of Scripture. This is done by pulling down strongholds and “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This warfare, if not done according to the flesh (2 Corinthians 1:17), is “mighty through God” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

Nowhere in these verses is there permission or an implied need to learn the thoughts of the enemy before we can bring them into captivity. Biblical data insist that the flesh has “no good thing” (Romans 7:18) and cannot understand the things of God. The weapons we have are not fleshly (i.e., natural thinking, natural emotion, human reasoning, etc.). Our weapons (Ephesians 6) are the “sword of the Spirit” (offensive) and the “shield of faith” (defensive), and we’re protected by the full armor of God—praying always. It is not possible to learn all the subtle arguments of the enemy. What is possible, however, is a knowledge of the truth through having the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) that will make us sufficient for “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). HMM III

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Things We Can't Do Without

“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12)

There are many things in this world that we can easily get along without, but some are absolutely essential. First of all, we need Christ. Otherwise we are like the Gentiles described in our text—“without Christ...having no hope, and without God in the world.”

Second, if we were ever to be saved, Christ must shed His blood for our sins, for “without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). In order for His death to be effective for our salvation, He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Before Christ’s work actually becomes effective in our personal salvation, it must be believed and received by faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). This faith must be true faith, which transforms the life, for “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). Works do not bring salvation, but saving faith brings “things that accompany salvation” (Hebrews 6:9).

Among those things that accompany salvation is holiness, “without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Another is the privilege of chastisement! Our heavenly Father must deal with His errant children in loving discipline. Otherwise, “if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye...not sons” (Hebrews 12:8).

There are thus seven things we cannot do without. We cannot do without Christ, without the shedding of His blood, without His sinlessness, without faith in Him, without works for Him, without holiness unto Him, and without chastisement by Him. He said, “Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). But with Him, we have everything. HMM

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A Little Folly

“Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” (Ecclesiastes 10:1)

This verse may well be the source of our modern phrase “a fly in the ointment,” which refers to an unforeseen drawback to something—or someone—otherwise highly esteemed. Illustrations of this abound in Scripture. For example, recall the apostle Peter. He became the outspoken leader of the early church. However, his fellow apostle Paul found a fly of hypocrisy stinking up some of Peter’s leadership, and Paul confronted him. “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed” (Galatians 2:11). This episode and today’s verse show that any of us can commit a little folly…or hopefully avoid it.

Solomon himself, the author of today’s verse and a wise king, sabotaged his great reputation. “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 11:4). The Hebrew word salem, translated “perfect,” means complete or whole. Sadly, in Solomon’s last days he was unholy and un-whole.

But many through the millennia have finished strong, including Peter. Other examples are Enoch, Abraham, Ezra, and Anna. “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24). Protect the ointment of your character from any dive-bombing flies

How? Learn to recognize folly from afar. This way, when a selfish desire entertains a foolish choice, there is already a habit of saying “no” to the flesh and “yes” to the Father. BDT

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Wonderful Words of Life

“Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.” (Psalm 119:129)

Modern liberals may ridicule Bible-believing Christians as bibliolaters, but the fact is that it is not possible to place the Bible on too high a pedestal. “Thy testimonies are wonderful,” the psalmist says, for “his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor” (Isaiah 9:6), whose testimonies they are.

Consider just how wonderful the Scriptures are. They were written in the heart of God even before the creation. “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). Then, “at sundry times and in divers manners,” this eternal Word of God was conveyed to men, as God “spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1). Finally, it was complete, and the last of the prophets concluded it with an all-embracing warning: “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life” (Revelation 22:18-19). Critics who tamper with the words of the Bible are on dangerous ground. The psalmist said: “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” (Psalm 119:160). Jesus said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

Eternal in the past; inviolable in the present; forever in the future! All we shall ever need for our guidance is to be found in God’s wonderful testimonies: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable....That the man of God may be perfect” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

It is not possible to have too high a view of Scripture, “for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2). HMM

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Being Thankful for Grace

“Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” (Romans 5:20)

This is the day that Americans set aside to reflect on the blessings of God that have been showered on us in the previous year. Other holidays can be skewed into a non-Christian meaning, but not Thanksgiving. Historically, it was a time to give thanks to God for the bountiful harvest. Experientially, while there are those to whom we should give thanks for particular favors, there is only One to whom we can give thanks for the blessings of life. Nothing else makes sense.

Christians, of course, have much more for which to give thanks than the non-believer, or at least they have the eyes to see and the heart to recognize God’s blessings. Indeed, Paul instructs us that “in every thing [we should] give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18); the tense of the verb implies a habitual, continual thanksgiving.

But specifically, we should be thankful for His grace, which, as explained in our text, completely overwhelmed our sin and instead brought salvation and freedom from guilt. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

Note that in our text the word “abound” appears three times. Both the offense and sin exist in abundance. But the abundance of grace comes from a different Greek word that means literally “to exist in superabundance.” But there is more. It is further modified by the prefix “much more,” implying a grace that is beyond superabundance.

On this special day of thanksgiving, let us not fail to include in those things for which we are thankful the overwhelmingly superabundant grace of God. JDM

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Our Listening God

“O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” (Psalm 65:2)

There come times in each life when loneliness overshadows like a cloud, and no one is there to listen and provide counsel. Or perhaps there is some problem so personal and intimate that it seems unfitting or too embarrassing to share with anyone else.

But God will listen! No need is so small, no place too remote, no burden too heavy that He who is the “God of all grace” and “the God of all comfort” (1 Peter 5:10; 2 Corinthians 1:3) will not listen and care. “The LORD will hear when I call unto him” (Psalm 4:3).

Young people sometimes complain that their parents won’t listen to them; wives may say their husbands don’t listen; sometimes it seems that no one will listen to our questions or ideas about anything. But “the LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth” (Psalm 145:18). Therefore, “pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah” (Psalm 62:8).

But how can He listen? After all, God is far away upon His throne. The risen Savior ascended far above all heavens to sit down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. How can the Father hear when we whisper a prayer in our hearts that no human could hear?

God is indeed up there, but He is also right here! Jesus said: “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you” (John 16:7). Our God is a triune God, and He can be both in heaven and in our room and even, as the Holy Spirit, within our very hearts. Of course, “if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18). But for those who confess and forsake their sins, “his ears are open unto their prayers” (1 Peter 3:12). HMM

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Five Commands

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)

In our text and the succeeding two verses, five commands are given to the believer striving to live a godly life. Let us look briefly at each one.

Gird up the loins of your mind. Using the long, flowing robes worn by most people in Greek societies as a word picture, Peter commands us to gird up our minds just as such a robe needed to be gathered up in preparation for strenuous activity. We need to discipline our minds for action.

Be sober. A drunken person has a disoriented mind, lacks self-control, and is not alert to his surroundings. We are commanded to maintain a calm and thoughtful state of mind, in full control of all our actions.

Hope to the end, or “patiently fix your hope.” We must recognize that He is in control and patiently wait for Him. The focus of our expectation is His grace, which we presently experience but which will be fully granted us at His return.

Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance (v. 14). This phrase is translated “be not conformed” in Romans 12:2 and commands us not to adopt the world’s lifestyle and thought patterns, especially our “former lusts” that enslaved us before our conversion.

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy (v. 15). God is first and foremost a holy God, and we are called to “fashion” ourselves after Him. Complete holiness is out of our reach this side of glory, but it should be our goal.

All five are commands indeed, but commands three and five are in an emphatic position in the Greek, and these two hold the key to success in the others. Only by patiently fixing our hope on Him and His grace can we successfully strive for His holiness. JDM

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White as Snow

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.” (Daniel 7:9)

In this amazing vision of the everlasting God on His fiery judgment throne we find one of the six occurrences in the Bible of the fascinating phrase “white as snow.” As the symbol of holiness, pure white finds its clearest natural expression in the beautiful snow when it has freshly covered the ground.

Twice the phrase is used to describe the cleansing of a guilty sinner by the grace of God. David, after confessing his own sin, prayed: “Have mercy upon me, O God....Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin....wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:1-2, 7). Then God promises through His prophet: “Come now, and let us reason together,...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). The cleansing blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, is the only substance that can turn blood-red scarlet into snowy white.

When Christ ascended the Mount of Transfiguration, “his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow” (Mark 9:3), which confirmed to the three disciples that He was the Son of God, even as the voice from heaven had said (Matthew 17:5). At the empty tomb following His resurrection, “the angel of the Lord” also had “raiment white as snow” (Matthew 28:3). Finally, when John saw Christ in His glorified body, he testified that “his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow” (Revelation 1:14).

It is marvelous that the raiment of the angel of God, the transfigured Christ, and the “Ancient of days,” as well as the head of Christ in His glory, are all described with the same phrase as the soul of one whose sins are forgiven! HMM