Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Safe driving requires frequent glances in the rearview mirror—but staring at what’s behind you is dangerous! Listen to Truth For Life as Alistair Begg uses a similar illustration to teach us how to view the past properly in order to go forward effectively.
From the Sermon
Saying No to Neglect — Part One
Nehemiah 9:38–10:39 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 44:14 • ID: 1742
The Heart That God Accepts
When David’s child, born as a result of his adultery with Bathsheba, was afflicted with sickness, it awakened within the king a spiritual zeal that had been dormant. David began to seek God, and he prayed desperately that God might spare his little boy. He refused to eat, and he no longer lived his life as usual while his child’s life hung in the balance.
David had previously attempted to cover over his sin by trying to pawn off his child on the unsuspecting Uriah, whose wife he had slept with. But when God, in His mercy, confronted David with his sin, the king’s posture completely changed. David sought God because God had first sought David and softened his heart. Such a change could only be brought about by the work of God.
Then came the dreadful news: the child had died. The late theologian Alec Motyer compared repentance to gathering back a stone that has been thrown into a pool: you can get the stone back, but the ripples upon the water will continue to spread.[1] David repented of his abuse and adultery, and God, in His mercy, accepted David’s repentance. But God did not stop the ripples.
Yet God was still able to use this tragedy to form David into the man that he needed to be. David responded in a strange and unexpected way: he arose, cleaned himself up, and went into the house of the Lord. The one who had been hiding from God now went to meet with God. The tragic death of David’s son did not lead David to stay at arm’s length from God. No, it led him into an even deeper relationship with Him.
When he entered the house of the Lord, David would have needed to bring a lamb without blemish as a sacrifice. But that was not the only sacrifice he brought. He also offered the only damaged sacrifice that is acceptable to bring into God’s house: as David later wrote, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).
God did not leave David to cover up his sin, and He did not leave him alone in dealing with the consequences of his sin. God’s treatment of David reveals that He cares deeply about the state of His children’s hearts. He will go to great lengths to bring you back when you wander away from Him. More than anything else, God wants you to have a broken and contrite heart before Him. When He makes you confront your sin, or afflicts you, or doesn’t give you what you desire, don’t assume that it is because He doesn’t love you. It is because He is graciously drawing you closer to Himself.
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?
Nathan Rebukes David
1And the Lord sent xNathan to David. He came to him and said to him, y“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms,1 and it was like a daughter to him. 4Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, z“As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6and he shall restore the lamb afourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, b‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9cWhy have you despised the word of the Lord, dto do what is evil in his sight? eYou have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and fhave taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
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.
The Longing of the Thirsty
For I will pour water on the thirsty land.
When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and gloomy fears. That is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it.
We may as well chain the eagle’s wing to make it fly as doubt in order to increase our grace. It is not the law but the Gospel that saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage but gospel liberty that can restore the fainting believer afterwards.
Slavish fear does not bring the backslider back to God, but the sweet wooings of love attract him to Jesus. This morning are you thirsting for the living God and unhappy because you cannot find him to the delight of your heart? Have you lost the joy of the Lord, and is your prayer, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation”?1
Are you conscious also that you are unproductive, like the dry ground, that you are not bringing forth the fruit that God has a right to expect of you, that you are not as useful in the church or in the world as your heart desires to be?
Then here is exactly the promise that you need: “For I will pour water on the thirsty land.” You will receive the grace you so desperately need, and you will have it in abundance.
Water refreshes the thirsty: You will be refreshed; your desires shall be satisfied. Water revives sleeping vegetable life: Your life will be restored by fresh grace.
Water makes the bud develop and makes the fruit ripen; and so by God’s grace you will be made fruitful in His ways. Whatever good quality there is in divine grace, you will enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you will receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched with it: And as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall you be—the thirsty land shall be springs of water.
1) Psalm 51:12
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 November 6
Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah
1uAs soon as King Hezekiah heard it, the tore his clothes and vcovered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, vcovered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4wIt may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent xto mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for ythe remnant that is left.” 5When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which zthe servants of the king of Assyria have areviled me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that bhe shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him cfall by the sword in his own land.’”
Sennacherib Defies the Lord
8The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against dLibnah, for he heard that the king had left eLachish. 9fNow the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God gin whom you trust deceive you by promising that hJerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12iHave the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, jGozan, kHaran, Rezeph, and the people of lEden who were in Telassar? 13mWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah's Prayer
14Hezekiah received nthe letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. 15And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, oenthroned above the cherubim, pyou are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16qIncline your ear, O Lord, and hear; ropen your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent sto mock the living God. 17Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, tbut the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, uthat all the kingdoms of the earth may know that pyou, O Lord, are God alone.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib's Fall
20Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria vI have heard. 21This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“She despises you, she scorns you—
wthe virgin daughter of Zion;
she xwags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
22“Whom have you ymocked and zreviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against athe Holy One of Israel!
23bBy your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, c‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of dLebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses;
I entered its farthest lodging place,
its most efruitful forest.
24I dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams fof Egypt.’
25“Have you not heard
that gI determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what hnow I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
into heaps of ruins,
26while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become ilike plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted before it is grown.
27“But I know your sitting down
jand your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
28Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will kput my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and lI will turn you back on the way
by which you came.
29“And this shall be mthe sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30nAnd the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion oa band of survivors. pThe zeal of the Lord will do this.
32“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or qcast up a siege mound against it. 33rBy the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 34sFor I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake tand for the sake of my servant David.”
35And that night uthe angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at vNineveh. 37And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, wAdrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
The Supremacy of God's Son
1Long ago, at many times and ain many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but bin these last days che has spoken to us by dhis Son, whom he appointed ethe heir of all things, fthrough whom also he created gthe world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and hthe exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. iAfter making purification for sins, jhe sat down kat the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name lhe has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5For to which of the angels did God ever say,
m“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
n“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
6And again, when he brings othe firstborn into the world, he says,
p“Let all God's angels worship him.”
7Of the angels he says,
q“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8But of the Son he says,
r“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, shas anointed you
with tthe oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10And,
u“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
12like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.1
But you are vthe same,
and your years will have no end.”
13And to which of the angels has he ever said,
w“Sit at my right hand
xuntil I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14Are they not all ministering spirits ysent out to serve for the sake of those who are to zinherit salvation?
1Ephraim feeds on the wind
and pursues zthe east wind all day long;
they multiply yfalsehood and violence;
athey make a covenant with Assyria,
and boil is carried to Egypt.
The Lord's Indictment of Israel and Judah
2cThe Lord has an indictment against Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
he will repay him according to his deeds.
3dIn the womb he took his brother by the heel,
and in his manhood he strove with God.
4He strove with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor.
and there God spoke with us—
5the Lord, the God of hosts,
fthe Lord is his memorial name:
6“So you, gby the help of your God, return,
hhold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.”
7A merchant, in whose hands are ifalse balances,
he loves jto oppress.
8Ephraim has said, “Ah, but kI am rich;
I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors lthey cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
9mI am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you ndwell in tents,
as in the days of the appointed feast.
10oI spoke to the prophets;
it was I who multiplied pvisions,
and through the prophets gave parables.
11qIf there is iniquity in Gilead,
they shall surely come to nothing:
rin Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
stheir altars also are like stone heaps
ton the furrows of the field.
12uJacob fled to the land of Aram;
there Israel vserved for a wife,
and for a wife he guarded sheep.
13By wa prophet xthe Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was guarded.
14yEphraim has given bitter provocation;
so his Lord zwill leave his bloodguilt on him
aand will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.
Psalm 135
Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever
1uPraise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
give praise, O vservants of the Lord,
2who nstand in the house of the Lord,
in wthe courts of the house of our God!
3Praise the Lord, for xthe Lord is good;
sing to his name, yfor it is pleasant!1
4For the Lord has zchosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his aown possession.
5For I know that bthe Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
6cWhatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
7dHe it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who emakes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his fstorehouses.
8He it was who gstruck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and of beast;
9who in your midst, O Egypt,
sent hsigns and wonders
against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10iwho struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings,
11jSihon, king of the Amorites,
and kOg, king of Bashan,
and lall the kingdoms of Canaan,
12and mgave their land as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.
13nYour name, O Lord, endures forever,
oyour renown,2 O Lord, throughout all ages.
14pFor the Lord will vindicate his people
and qhave compassion on his servants.
15rThe idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
17they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them.
19sO house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21Blessed be the Lord tfrom Zion,
he who udwells in Jerusalem!
vPraise the Lord!
Psalm 136
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
1wGive thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
xfor his steadfast love endures forever.
2Give thanks to ythe God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3Give thanks to ythe Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
4to him who alone zdoes great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5to him who aby understanding bmade the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6to him who cspread out the earth dabove the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7to him who emade the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
10to him who fstruck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11and gbrought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12with ha strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13to him who idivided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14jand made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15but koverthrew1 Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16to him who lled his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
17to him mwho struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22a heritage to Israel his nservant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
23It is he who oremembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24and prescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25he who qgives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
26Give thanks to rthe God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
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