Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
People like to joke about laziness—but find out why it’s ultimately tragic and needs to be diligently resisted in all aspects of our lives, including relationships. Study along with Truth For Life as Alistair Begg draws wisdom from the book of Proverbs.
From the Sermon
The Second Reaction
How do you react when something displeases you?
It is understandable that when the people of Israel asked for a king, the prophet Samuel was displeased. After all, there was a personal slight in the request. Samuel had judged the people well, demonstrating leadership at its finest. He had preached repentance, and the people had repented. He had prayed for them, and the Philistine forces had been vanquished without any weapons being lifted in defense or to attack (1 Samuel 7:5-10). Finally, a stone of remembrance had been set up to signify God’s goodness to Israel for time immemorial (v 12-13). Samuel had done his best—and his best had been good.
But the years had passed since those victories. Samuel had grown old, and the leaders of Israel had decided it was time for a change. They were ready to push Samuel out and move on.
Samuel’s immediate and understandable reaction was to be unhappy and angry. But he didn’t dwell there. Instead, his second reaction was to pray. Samuel’s disapproval led him to talk to God about all that was happening and to seek His counsel and His intervention.
We see a similar first and second reaction in the book of Nehemiah. When Nehemiah heard the news that had come out of Jerusalem concerning the destruction and chaos that was taking place there, he sat down and wept. But then, for many days, he prayed to God and fasted (Nehemiah 1:1-4). His first reaction was to weep; his second reaction was to pray.
The actions of Samuel and Nehemiah set us a challenging example. When something displeases you and your first reaction to a situation is anger, sorrow, or disappointment, what’s your second reaction? Perhaps you tend to tell everybody how let down you have been, or you brood in self-pity or lash out. But here’s the challenge: while it is understandable to weep or to feel displeased, we are not to stay like that, and we are to make sure that our second reaction is to pray. Like Samuel, when something has caused you displeasure, let your second reaction be to talk to God about all that is happening, seeking His perspective and His help in the situations before you.
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?
Report from Jerusalem
1The words of aNehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month of bChislev, cin the twentieth year, as I was in dSusa the citadel, 2that eHanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and fshame. gThe wall of Jerusalem is broken down, hand its gates are destroyed by fire.”
Nehemiah's Prayer
4As soon as I heard these words I isat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the jGod of heaven. 5And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, kthe great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6llet your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, mconfessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even nI and my father's house have sinned. 7oWe have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules pthat you commanded your servant Moses. 8Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, qI will scatter you among the peoples, 9rbut if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, sthough your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them tto the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10uThey are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11O Lord, llet your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Now I was vcupbearer to the king.
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.
An Explanation of Trials
You are my refuge in the day of disaster.
The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. It is true that God’s Word says, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace”;1 and it is a great truth that faith is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above. But life confirms that if the experience of the righteous is “like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day,”2 sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer’s sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light.
There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the early stages of their Christian life; they have walked along the “green pastures” by the side of the “still waters.” But suddenly they find that the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the promised land they have to endure the wilderness; in place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, “Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen.” Do not say that if you are walking in darkness. The best of God’s saints must drink the bitter potion; the dearest of His children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his heart in constant tune.
Perhaps the Lord gave you in the beginning a smooth and unclouded path because you were weak and timid. He moderated the wind on account of your weakness, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God’s full-grown children. We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten branches of self-reliance, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.
1) Proverbs 3:17
2) Proverbs 4:18
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 April 29
The Nazirite Vow
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of ea Nazirite,1 fto separate himself to the Lord, 3he gshall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4All the days of his separation2 he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5“All the days of his vow of separation, no hrazor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. iHe shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
6“All the days that he separates himself to the Lord jhe shall not go near a dead body. 7kNot even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.
9“And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then lhe shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10mOn the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day 12and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old nfor a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13“And this is the law for the Nazirite, owhen the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish pas a sin offering, and one ram without blemish qas a peace offering, 15and a basket of unleavened bread, rloaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their sgrain offering and their tdrink offerings. 16And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer uhis sin offering and his burnt offering, 17and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. 18And the Nazirite vshall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19And the priest shall take the wshoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and xshall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, 20and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. yThey are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21“This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”
Aaron's Blessing
22The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus zyou shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24The Lord abless you and bkeep you;
25the Lord cmake his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26the Lord dlift up his countenance3 upon you and give you peace.
27e“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Psalm 40
My Help and My Deliverer
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1I uwaited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and vheard my cry.
2He drew me up from wthe pit of destruction,
out of xthe miry bog,
and yset my feet upon a rock,
zmaking my steps secure.
3He put aa new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will bsee and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
4Blessed is the man who cmakes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who dgo astray after a lie!
5You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your ewondrous deeds and your fthoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are gmore than can be told.
6hIn sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open iear.1
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written jof me:
8kI delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is lwithin my heart.”
9I have told the glad news of deliverance2
in mthe great congregation;
behold, I have not nrestrained my lips,
oas you know, O Lord.
10I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your psteadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12For evils have qencompassed me
beyond number;
my riniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot ssee;
they are tmore than the hairs of my head;
my heart ufails me.
13vBe pleased, O Lord, to wdeliver me!
O Lord, xmake haste to help me!
14yLet those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be zturned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15Let those be appalled because of their shame
who asay to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
bsay continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17As for me, I am cpoor and needy,
but dthe Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
Psalm 41
O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!1
fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.2
4As for me, I said, “O Lord, hbe gracious to me;
iheal me,3 for I have sinned against you!”
5My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6And when one comes to see me, jhe utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.4
8They say, “A deadly thing is poured out5 on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9Even my kclose friend in whom I trusted,
who late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11By this I know that myou delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12But nyou have upheld me because of omy integrity,
and pset me in your presence qforever.
13rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty
He
1Behold, myou are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
nYour eyes are doves
obehind your veil.
pYour hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down qthe slopes of Gilead.
2Your rteeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3Your lips are like sa scarlet thread,
and your mouth is tlovely.
Your ucheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
obehind your veil.
4Your vneck is like the tower of David,
on it xhang a thousand shields,
all of ythem shields of warriors.
5Your ztwo breasts are like two afawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that bgraze among the lilies.
6cUntil the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of dmyrrh
and the hill of dfrankincense.
7eYou are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no fflaw in you.
8gCome with me from hLebanon, my ibride;
come with me from hLebanon.
Depart2 from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of jSenir and kHermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9You have captivated my heart, my lsister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one mjewel of your necklace.
10How beautiful is your love, my lsister, my bride!
How much nbetter is your love than wine,
and othe fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11Your plips drip nectar, my bride;
qhoney and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is rlike the fragrance of hLebanon.
12A garden locked is my lsister, my bride,
a spring locked, sa fountain tsealed.
13Your shoots are uan orchard of pomegranates
with all vchoicest fruits,
14nard and saffron, ycalamus and ycinnamon,
with all trees of zfrankincense,
with all ychoice spices—
15a garden fountain, a well of cliving water,
and flowing streams from hLebanon.
16Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my dgarden,
let its spices flow.
Together in the Garden of Love
She
eLet my beloved come to his fgarden,
and eat its vchoicest fruits.
1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem nto have failed to reach it. 2For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because othey were not united by faith with those who listened.1 3For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
p“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: q“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5And again in this passage he said,
r“They shall not enter my rest.”
6Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news sfailed to enter because of disobedience, 7again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
t“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8For if Joshua had given them rest, God2 would not have spoken of another day later on. 9So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10for whoever has entered God's rest has also urested from his works as God did from his.
11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so vthat no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12For wthe word of God is living and xactive, ysharper than any ztwo-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and adiscerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And bno creature is hidden from his sight, but all are cnaked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus the Great High Priest
14Since then we have da great high priest ewho has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, flet us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest gwho is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been dtempted as we are, hyet without sin. 16iLet us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
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