Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
The book of Ruth tells the story of a widow whose dire circumstances influenced her choices and actions. But God is sovereign over everything—so why did her decisions matter? Explore the answer along with us on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Mercy, Blessings, and Character
Ruth 2:1–23 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 40:12 • ID: 0106
Dry Land Awaits
Here is a word for the struggling believer, to the backslidden believer, to those of us who find ourselves in the depths because of our disobedience.
The emphasis of the book of Jonah is not on Jonah’s predicaments so much as it is on God’s provision. God used extraordinary measures to save Jonah from his sin and disobedience. The prophet acknowledges that it was God who “cast [him] into the deep, into the heart of the seas” (Jonah 2:3) Yes, it was the sailors who had tossed Jonah overboard, but Jonah recognized that what took place was under God’s sovereign hand, and that the sailors acted as His instruments. God had pursued him and had him thrown into the raging waters in order that he would come to a place where he could say, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me.”
Furthermore, in the belly of the great fish, the prophet felt the sting of being separated from God, of being “driven away from [His] sight” (Jonah 2:4). For Jonah, the physical terror of almost drowning in the ocean and being swallowed by a fish paled in comparison to being forever estranged from his heavenly Father. Jonah knew God’s love; he knew what it was to be in God’s presence. He was able to understand what it would mean to be separated from God, even though—and this is the perversity of sin—he himself had chosen to separate himself from God.
What a word for us! It is God who, when we are wandering away from Him, comes to us in the storms and valleys, who alters our circumstances to catch our attention, who allows us to feel isolated and separated all in order that we might say, “This is not where I belong. This is not what God wants for me. I cannot get myself out of this predicament. But He is able.”
Today, you might be dealing with a deep sense of failure and regret. You have been running. You have disobeyed the clear voice of God and attempted to hide. But your story doesn’t have to end there. In His grace and kindness, God is determined to save you and to complete the work in your life which He has begun (Philippians 1:6). In the Christian life, there is always a need to repent but never any reason to despair.
When Jonah ended up on dry land, it was not because he deserved to. It was because of God’s grace. Likewise, it is God alone who comes to us in our sin and disobedience in order that He might cleanse, save, and restore us to His purposes. Can you see the dry land today?
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?
Jonah's Prayer
1Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2saying,
x“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
yout of the belly of Sheol I cried,
zand you heard my voice.
3aFor you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
ball your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4cThen I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
dyet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
5eThe waters closed in over me fto take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
7When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
gand my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8hThose who pay regard to vain idols
iforsake their hope of steadfast love.
9jBut I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
kSalvation belongs to the Lord!”
10And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
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.
Eternal Comfort
Eternal comfort.
Comfort. There is music in the word: Like David's harp, it charms away the evil spirit of melancholy. It was a distinguished honor to Barnabas to be called “the son of encouragement”;1 it is one of the illustrious names of one greater than Barnabas, for the Lord Jesus is the comfort of Israel. “Eternal comfort”! This is the best of all, for the everlasting nature of comfort is its crown and glory.
What is this “eternal comfort”? It includes a sense of pardoned sin. A Christian man has received in his heart the witness of the Spirit that his iniquities are put away like a cloud, and his transgressions like a thick cloud. If sin is pardoned, is that not an eternal comfort? Next, the Lord gives His people an abiding sense of being accepted in Christ. The Christian knows that God looks upon him as standing in union with Jesus. Union with the risen Lord is a comfort of the most abiding order; it is, in fact, everlasting. Let sickness prostrate us—haven't we seen hundreds of believers as happy in the weakness of disease as they would have been in the enjoyment of blooming health?
If death's arrows pierce us to the heart, our comfort does not die, for we have often heard the songs of saints as they rejoiced because the living love of God was shed abroad in their hearts in dying moments. Yes, a sense of acceptance in the Beloved is an eternal comfort. Moreover, the Christian is convinced of his security. God has promised to save those who trust in Christ: The Christian does trust in Christ, and he believes that God will be as good as His word and will save him. He feels that he is safe by virtue of his being bound up with the person and work of Jesus. Herein is comfort such as can be found nowhere else and in no one else!
1) Acts 4:36
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 August 11
The Birth of Samuel
1There was a certain man of aRamathaim-zophim of bthe hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, can Ephrathite. 2He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3Now this man used to go up dyear by year from his city eto worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts fat Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, ghe would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.1 6And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? hAm I not more to you than ten sons?”
9After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of ithe temple of the Lord. 10She was jdeeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11And she kvowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed llook on the affliction of your servant and mremember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, nand no razor shall touch his head.”
12As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but oI have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16Do not regard your servant as pa worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17Then Eli answered, q“Go in peace, and the God of Israel rgrant your petition that you have made to him.” 18And she said, s“Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman twent her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
19They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at uRamah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord vremembered her. 20And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”2
Samuel Given to the Lord
21The man Elkanah and all his house wwent up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord xand dwell there forever.” 23yElkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; zonly, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24And when she had weaned him, ashe took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,3 an ephah4 of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to bthe house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. 25Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26And she said, “Oh, my lord! cAs you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27For this child I prayed, dand the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
eAnd he worshiped the Lord there.
Greeting
1Paul, aa servant1 of Christ Jesus, bcalled to be an apostle, cset apart for the gospel of God, 2which dhe promised beforehand ethrough his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, fwho was descended from David2 gaccording to the flesh 4and hwas declared to be the Son of God iin power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom jwe have received grace and kapostleship lto bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name mamong all the nations, 6including you who are ncalled to belong to Jesus Christ,
7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
oGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Longing to Go to Rome
8First, pI thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, qbecause your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9rFor God is my witness, swhom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, tthat without ceasing I mention you 10always in my prayers, asking that somehow uby God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11For vI long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12that is, that we may be mutually encouraged wby each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,3 that xI have often intended to come to you (but ythus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some zharvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14aI am under obligation both to Greeks and to bbarbarians,4 both to the wise and to the foolish. 15So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
16For dI am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ethe power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ffirst and also to gthe Greek. 17For in it hthe righteousness of God is revealed ifrom faith for faith,5 jas it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”6
God's Wrath on Unrighteousness
18For kthe wrath of God lis revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be mknown about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, nhave been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,7 in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they obecame futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22pClaiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and qexchanged the glory of rthe immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24Therefore sGod gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to tthe dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for ua lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, vwho is blessed forever! Amen.
26For this reason wGod gave them up to xdishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, ymen committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, zGod gave them up to aa debased mind to do bwhat ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know cGod's righteous decree that those who practice such things ddeserve to die, they not only do them but egive approval to those who practice them.
The Fall of Jerusalem
1nIn the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. 2In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. 3Then all othe officials of the king of Babylon came pand sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer of Samgar, Nebu-sar-sekim qthe Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. 4When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward rthe Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in sthe plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at tRiblah, in the land of Hamath; uand he passed sentence on him. 6The king of Babylon vslaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at tRiblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon vslaughtered all the nobles of Judah. 7wHe put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. 8xThe Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people, yand broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Then zNebuzaradan, the acaptain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, bthose who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, cleft in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
The Lord Delivers Jeremiah
11Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, 12d“Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.” 13So eNebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, eand all the chief officers of the king of Babylon 14sent and took Jeremiah from fthe court of the guard. They entrusted him to gGedaliah the son of hAhikam, son of iShaphan, that he should take him home. So jhe lived among the people.
15The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah kwhile he was shut up in the court of the guard: 16“Go, and say to lEbed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: mBehold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and nnot for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. 17But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men oof whom you are afraid. 18For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your plife as a prize of war, qbecause you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.’”
Psalm 13
How Long, O Lord?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1vHow long, O Lord? Will you wforget me forever?
How long will you xhide your face from me?
2How long must I take ycounsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3zConsider and answer me, O Lord my God;
alight up my eyes, lest bI sleep the sleep of death,
4clest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am dshaken.
5But I have etrusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall frejoice in your salvation.
6I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 14
The Fool Says, There Is No God
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1gThe hfool says in his heart, i“There is no God.”
They are jcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;
kthere is none who does good.
2The Lord llooks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,1
who mseek after God.
3They have all turned aside; together they have become ncorrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4Have they no oknowledge, all the evildoers
who peat up my people as they eat bread
and qdo not call upon the Lord?
5There they are in great terror,
for God is with rthe generation of the righteous.
6You would shame the plans of the poor,
7Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord trestores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
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