Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
When angels proclaimed a Savior was born, it wasn’t received as “good news of great joy” by everyone—and it still isn’t! Find out what’s necessary for the Christmas story to become significant in a person’s life. Listen to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
A Savior, Christ the Lord
Luke 2:8–12 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 41:01 • ID: 2995
Confession and Relief
If we stop seeking to cover up our sin, God is willing to cover it over.
David’s sin of adultery with (or very possibly even rape of) Bathsheba was compounded by his cover-up of it, arranging for her husband, Uriah, to be killed. But the plan seemed to have worked masterfully. David married Bathsheba, and no one was any the wiser. A time of deceit and silence followed. David believed he had it covered. Sin frequently deceives us into thinking that. But what others think of us and what God says of us are often very different.
God knew what others did not. He sent a prophet to the king. Yet Nathan didn’t show up at David’s door to jump straight to bold accusations. He simply told him a story about a rich man with many flocks and herds unjustly taking a poor man’s only lamb, which drew out David’s sympathy for the wronged man and rage over the rich man’s actions. Then Nathan delivered the devastating punchline: “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7).
“The LORD sent Nathan to David.” Those six words are words of amazing grace! Yahweh would not allow His servant David to settle down comfortably in his sin. As unpleasant and difficult as it may have been for the king to face his sin, the reason why God sent the prophet to David was because He loved him. God granted David something he did not deserve, and David responded to Nathan’s words with humility and repentance. Because God intervened and David confessed, the story ended not with despair and guilt but with deliverance and grace (see Psalm 32:5-6). As Derek Kidner writes, “The relief of climbing down, and the grace which meets it … altogether outweigh the cost.”[1]
That is true for us no less than it was for David. We may fear that if we quit our own cover-up games with sin, then our reputations will suffer. But if you are accommodating immorality in your life, it doesn’t matter how well you can conceal it from the watching world. Ultimately, the watching world is irrelevant: God knows your heart. It is on account of God’s faithfulness that He pursues us and won’t let us remain comfortable in our disobedience and rebellion. While we may not have a prophet like Nathan sent to us, we do have God’s word to open in front of us; it is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword … discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight” (Hebrews 4:12-13)—including both the creature writing these words and the one reading them. God exposes our sin that we might bring it to Him to cover it over with the blood of His Son.
What is He pointing out to you right now? Are you seeking to excuse or justify or hide it? It’s time to climb down and stop covering it up. The cost of sin is far outweighed by the benefits of forgiveness.
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?
2 Samuel 11:1–27
David and Bathsheba
1hiIn the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged jRabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on kthe roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this lBathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of mUriah the Hittite?” 4So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (nNow she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
6So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and owash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11Uriah said to David, p“The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and qthe servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and ras your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, sso that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with qthe servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
14In the morning David twrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, uthat he may be struck down, and die.” 16And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21vWho killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”
22So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”
26When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and wshe became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
2 Samuel 12:1–25
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.’ 11Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12For you did it secretly, gbut I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13hDavid said to Nathan, i“I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, j“The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly kscorned the Lord,2 the child who is born to you shall die.” 15Then Nathan went to his house.
David's Child Dies
And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. 16David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David lfasted and went in mand lay all night on the ground. 17And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20Then David arose from the earth nand washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord oand worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, p‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, qbut he will not return to me.”
Solomon's Birth
24Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and rshe bore a son, and he called his name sSolomon. And the Lord loved him 25and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,3 because of the Lord.
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.
Payments from the Master
Call the laborers and pay them their wages.
God is a good Master; He pays His servants while they work and also when their work is done. One of His payments is this: an easy conscience. If you have spoken faithfully of Jesus to one person, when you go to bed at night you feel happy, thinking, "I have today discharged my conscience of that man's blood."
There is a great comfort in doing something for Jesus. What a happiness to place jewels in His crown and allow Him to see of the travail of His soul! There is also great reward in watching the first buddings of conviction in a soul! To say of that girl in the class, "She has a tender heart—I do hope that the Lord is at work in her." To go home and pray over that boy who said something in the afternoon that made you think he must know more of divine truth than you had feared! Oh, the joy of hope!
But as for the joy of success—it is unspeakable! This joy, overwhelming as it is, is a hungry thing—you pine for more of it. To be a soul-winner is the happiest thing in the world. With every soul you bring to Christ, you get a new heaven on earth. But who can conceive of the bliss that awaits us above! How sweet is the sentence, "Enter into the joy of your master!"1 Do you know what the joy of Christ is over a saved sinner? This is the very joy that we are to possess in heaven. Yes, when He ascends the throne, you shall ascend with Him.
When the heavens ring with "Well done, well done," you will have a part in the reward. You have worked with Him; you have suffered with Him; you will now reign with Him. You have sown with Him; you will reap with Him. Your face was covered with sweat like His, and your soul, like His, was grieved for the sins of men; now your face will be bright with heaven's splendor as is His countenance, and now your soul will be filled with heavenly joys just as His soul is.
1) Matthew 25:21, 23
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 December 20
Joash Repairs the Temple
1cJoash1 was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2dAnd Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.
4After this Joash edecided to frestore the house of the Lord. 5And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of gJudah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. 6So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem hthe tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel for ithe tent of testimony?” 7For jthe sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all kthe dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.
8So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. 9And lproclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord hthe tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. 10And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished.2 11And whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. 12And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. 13So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. 14And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it mwere made utensils for the house of the Lord, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord regularly all the days of Jehoiada.
15But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 years old at his death. 16And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.
17Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served othe Asherim and the idols. And pwrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19qYet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. rThese testified against them, but they would not pay attention.
Joash's Treachery
20sThen the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah tthe son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, u‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? vBecause you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” 21But wthey conspired against him, xand by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. 22Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see yand avenge!”3
Joash Assassinated
23At the end of the year zthe army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 24Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, athe Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, vbecause Judah4 had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they bexecuted judgment on Joash.
25When they had departed from him, leaving him cseverely wounded, dhis servants conspired against him because of the blood of ethe son5 of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, fbut they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabite. 27Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him and of gthe rebuilding6 of the house of God are written in the hStory7 of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
The Two Witnesses
1Then I was given ma measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2but do not measure nthe court outside the temple; leave that out, for oit is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for pforty-two months. 3And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for p1,260 days, qclothed in sackcloth.”
4These are rthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5And if anyone would harm them, sfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, tthis is how he is doomed to be killed. 6They have the power uto shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and vto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7And when they have finished their testimony, wthe beast that rises from xthe bottomless pit1 ywill make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically2 is called zSodom and aEgypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and brefuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10and cthose who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and dexchange presents, because these two prophets ehad been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11But after the three and a half days fa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, g“Come up here!” And hthey went up to heaven iin a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13And at that hour there was ja great earthquake, and ka tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and lgave glory to mthe God of heaven.
14nThe second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
The Seventh Trumpet
15Then othe seventh angel blew his trumpet, and pthere were loud voices in heaven, saying, q“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of rhis Christ, and she shall reign forever and ever.” 16And the twenty-four elders twho sit on their thrones before God ufell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
vwho is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and wbegun to reign.
18The nations raged,
but xyour wrath came,
and ythe time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and zthose who fear your name,
both small and great,
and afor destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
19Then bGod's temple in heaven was opened, and cthe ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, an earthquake, and dheavy hail.
A Call for Justice and Mercy
1oIn the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is pChislev. 2Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men qto entreat the favor of the Lord, 3rsaying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and sthe prophets, “Should I weep and tabstain in uthe fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5“Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in uthe fifth month and in vthe seventh, for these wseventy years, xwas it xfor me that you fasted? 6yAnd when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7zWere not these the words that the Lord proclaimed aby the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, bwith her cities around her, and the bSouth and the blowland were inhabited?’”
8And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9“Thus says the Lord of hosts, cRender true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10ddo not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, eor the poor, and flet none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11But gthey refused to pay attention hand turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.1 12iThey made their hearts diamond-hard jlest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent jby his Spirit through kthe former prophets. lTherefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13m“As I2 called, and they would not hear, mso they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14n“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all othe nations that they had not known. pThus the land they left was desolate, qso that no one went to and fro, rand the pleasant land was made desolate.”
I Am the Good Shepherd
1“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5yA stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6This figure of speech Jesus zused with them, but they adid not understand what he was saying to them.
7So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, bI am the door of the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters by me, che will be saved and will go in and out and dfind pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and ekill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11fI am the good shepherd. The good shepherd glays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is ha hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ileaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and jscatters them. 13He flees because khe is a hired hand and lcares nothing for the sheep. 14mI am the good shepherd. nI know my own and omy own know me, 15pjust as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and qI lay down my life for the sheep. 16And rI have other sheep that are not of this fold. sI must bring them also, and tthey will listen to my voice. So there will be uone flock, vone shepherd. 17wFor this reason the Father loves me, xbecause yI lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18zNo one takes it from me, but yI lay it down aof my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and bI have authority to take it up again. cThis charge I have received from my Father.”
19dThere was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20Many of them said, e“He has a demon, and fis insane; why listen to him?” 21Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. gCan a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
I and the Father Are One
22At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, hin the colonnade of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are ithe Christ, jtell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. kThe works that I do lin my Father's name bear witness about me, 26but myou do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27nMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28oI give them eternal life, and pthey will never perish, and qno one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, rwho has given them to me,1 sis greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of tthe Father's hand. 30uI and the Father are one.”
31vThe Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but wfor blasphemy, because you, being a man, xmake yourself God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in yyour Law, z‘I said, you are gods’? 35If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be abroken— 36do you say of him whom bthe Father consecrated and csent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because dI said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37eIf I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38but if I do them, feven though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that gthe Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39hAgain they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
40He went away again across the Jordan to the place iwhere John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but jeverything that John said about this man was true.” 42And kmany believed in him there.
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