Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Since biblical times, the rich have often been given special privileges and preferential treatment—even in the church. But what counts as true wealth, and how should we respond to it? Alistair Begg explores the answers to these questions on Truth For Life.
From the Sermon
Overflowing With Generosity
God’s people give thankfully in response to His grace.
Or at least, we should do. But often our reasons for giving are very different ones. Many see giving as something they must do or ought to do, perhaps because of their social position or the perceptions of others. Some give in response to a measure of guilt, attempting to make amends for their bad deeds. Others give out of fear, thinking, “I’d better give, or God won’t want to bless me.”
But the principle of giving which runs throughout the Bible is very different.
In the wilderness, as the Israelites prepared to construct the tabernacle for the Lord, Moses began a collection for the work. His request wasn’t heavy-handed or manipulative; he simply told the people that the Lord was willing to receive from all who were willing to give, and every generous heart brought an offering. They not only gave from what they had, but they also gave on the basis of who they were and the abilities that God had given them, from building and cloth-making to craftsmanship and artistry.
Many gave, and they gave overwhelmingly. As a result, Moses had to issue a second directive, sending word throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary” (Exodus 36:6). They knew that God had given them everything they had. Fueled by the immensity of God’s goodness, they overflowed in generosity—to the extent that Moses had to tell them to stop!
The Lord needs nothing, yet He is willing to receive from those who, by His grace, are the beneficiaries of His many gifts. God doesn’t administer His grace in percentages; He lavishes it—and out of the abundance of His heart, in Jesus, He has given to His people one blessing after another. When we, the recipients of His grace, give of our time, money, talents, or anything else abundantly and thankfully, God is glorified.
God’s desire for generous hearts never wanes. He has a plan for saving people through the work of His Son, and He yearns for followers who are willing to join in gospel work through giving. It is grace, and grace alone, that moves a person to give both sacrificially and cheerfully. If your giving—of your time, your talents, or your money—is limited or grudging, reflect on the grace of God in lavishing so much upon you, not least in the Lord Jesus. Be stirred by His grace, and you’ll find you abound with thankfulness that overflows in generosity, bringing glory and praise to God.
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?
Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany
1Six days before ithe Passover, jJesus therefore came to Bethany, kwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2So they gave a dinner for him there. lMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3mMary therefore took a pound1 of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii2 and ngiven to the poor?” 6He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and nhaving charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it3 for the day of my burial. 8For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
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.
Truth in All Things
Trust in him at all times.
Faith is the rule of both temporal as well as spiritual life; we ought to have faith in God for our earthly affairs as well as for our heavenly business. It is only as we learn to trust in God for the supply of our daily needs that we will live above the world. We are not to be idle; that would show we did not trust in God, who is always working, but in the devil, who is the father of laziness. We are not to be hasty or rash; that would be to trust chance rather than the living God, who is a God of economy and order. Acting sensibly and honestly, we must rely simply and entirely on the Lord all the time.
Let me commend to you a life of trust in God in secular things. Trusting in God, you will not be compelled to mourn as a result of using sinful means to grow rich. Serve God with integrity, and if you are unsuccessful, at least sin will not lie upon your conscience. Trusting God, you will be free from self-contradiction. The one who trusts in craftiness, sails this way today and that way tomorrow, like a sailboat tossed about by the fickle wind; but the one who trusts in the Lord is like a powerful boat cutting through the waves, defying the wind, and making one bright silvery straightforward track to her desired haven. Be courageous as you act on principle; do not bow to the varying customs of worldly wisdom.
Walk on the path of integrity with confidence, and show that you are invincibly strong in the strength that confidence in God alone confers. In this way you will be delivered from anxious care; you will be untroubled by evil tidings, and your heart will be fixed, trusting in the Lord. How pleasant to float along on the stream of providence! There is no more blessed way of living than a life of dependence upon a covenant-keeping God. We do not need to worry because He cares for us; we do not need to carry burdens because He invites us to cast them upon Him.
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 September 1
The Death of Samuel
1uNow Samuel died. And all Israel assembled vand mourned for him, and they buried him win his house at xRamah.
David and Abigail
Then David rose and went down to ythe wilderness of Paran. 2And there was a man in zMaon whose business was in aCarmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. bHe was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; che was a Calebite. 4David heard in the wilderness that Nabal bwas shearing his sheep. 5So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. 6And thus you shall greet him: d‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, eand they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. 8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come fon a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
9When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10And Nabal answered David's servants, g“Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? hThere are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11Shall I take imy bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to jmen who come from I do not know where?” 12So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And kabout four hundred men went up after David, kwhile two hundred lremained with the baggage.
14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. 15Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, nand we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 16They were oa wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, pfor harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such qa worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”
18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs1 of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 21Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, rso that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has sreturned me evil for good. 22tGod do so to the enemies of David2 and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
23When Abigail saw David, she hurried uand got down from the donkey vand fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24She fell at his feet and said, w“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25Let not my lord regard qthis worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal3 is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26Now then, my lord, xas the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because ythe Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from zsaving with your own hand, now then alet your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27And now let this bpresent that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord ca sure house, because my lord dis fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies ehe shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince4 over Israel, 31my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord zworking salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
32And David said to Abigail, f“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, ywho have kept me this day from bloodguilt zand from working salvation with my own hand! 34For as surely gas the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ywho has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, h“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
36And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, ihe was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart jwas merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing kat all until the morning light. 37In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38And about ten days later lthe Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, f“Blessed be the Lord who has mavenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, nand has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. oThe Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and pspoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41And she rose qand bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
43David also took Ahinoam of rJezreel, sand both of them became his wives. 44Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
Lawsuits Against Believers
1When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous rinstead of the saints? 2Or do you not know that sthe saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4So if you have such cases, twhy do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5uI say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. vWhy not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even wyour own brothers!1
9Or do you not know that the unrighteous2 will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: xneither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,3 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And ysuch were some of you. But zyou were washed, ayou were sanctified, byou were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Flee Sexual Immorality
12c“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13d“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one eand the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ffor the Lord, and gthe Lord for the body. 14And hGod raised the Lord and iwill also raise us up jby his power. 15Do you not know that kyour bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Or do you not know that he who is joined4 to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, l“The two will become one flesh.” 17But he who is joined to the Lord mbecomes one spirit with him. 18nFlee from sexual immorality. Every other sin5 a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person osins against his own body. 19Or pdo you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? qYou are not your own, 20rfor you were bought with a price. sSo glorify God in your body.
The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
1“And you, rson of man, stake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2tAnd put siegeworks against it, uand build a siege wall against it, vand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, wand plant battering rams against it all around. 3And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; xand set your face toward it, yand let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is za sign for the house of Israel.
4“Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment1 of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ayou shall bear their punishment. 5For I assign to you a number of days, b390 days, cequal to the number of the years of their punishment. aSo long shall you bear dthe punishment of the house of Israel. 6And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ebear fthe punishment of the house of Judah. gForty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7hAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, iwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8And behold, jI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed kthe days of your siege.
9“And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,2 and put them into a single vessel and make your lbread from them. mDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, n390 days, you shall eat it. 10And your food that you eat shall be oby weight, ptwenty shekels3 a day; from day to day4 you shall eat it. 11And water you shall drink oby measure, the sixth part of a hin;5 from day to day you shall drink. 12And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it qin their sight on human dung.” 13And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat rtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14Then I said, s“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.6 tFrom my youth up till now I have never eaten uwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has vtainted meat come into my mouth.” 15Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16Moreover, he said to me, w“Son of man, behold, xI will break the supply7 of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread oby weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water oby measure and in dismay. 17I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ylook at one another in dismay, and zrot away because of their punishment.
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.
Get the Program, Devotional, and Bible Reading Plan delivered daily right to your inbox.