As long as we’re doing song lyrics, this is my favorite hymn:
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
2
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
3
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.—Psalm 4:8
What keeps you awake at night? Lately I’ve been losing sleep, tossing and turning on my bed, trying to work out a solution to an issue.
Eventually I begin fretting about not getting enough rest to handle the challenges of the next day!
Sound familiar? Troubled relationships, an uncertain future, whatever it is—we all give in to worry at one point or another.
King David was clearly in distress when he penned Psalm 4. People were ruining his reputation with groundless accusations (v. 2). And some were questioning his competency to rule (v. 6). David probably felt angry for being treated so unfairly. Surely he could have spent nights stewing about it. Yet we read these remarkable words: “In peace I will lie down and sleep” (v. 8).
Charles Spurgeon explains verse 8 beautifully: “In thus lying down, . . . [David] resigned himself into the hands of another; he did so completely, for in the absence of all care, he slept; there was here a perfect trust.” What inspired this trust? From the start, David was confident that God would answer his prayers (v. 3). And he was sure that since God had chosen to love him, He would lovingly meet his needs.
May God help us to rest in His power and presence when worries threaten. In His sovereign and loving arms, we can “lie down and sleep.” —Poh Fang Chia
Dear Father, thank You for hearing me when I call. I surrender my worries to You and rest in Your power and presence.
We can entrust our cares to a wholly trustworthy God.
INSIGHT: David’s confident assurance of God’s care was the source of his ability to rest, and this theme of rest winds its way throughout the psalms. In Psalm 46:10 the psalmist says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The phrase be still can be translated “relax.” It’s as if God is counseling the psalmist, “I’ve got this. Take it easy.” In the shepherd’s psalm, David reminds us, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters” (Psalm 23:2). What a wonderful picture of rest—and the source of that rest is the God in whom we confidently trust. This enabled one psalmist to share: “Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you” (Psalm 116:7). Our ability to rest is directly related to our confidence in the Father’s love, care, and concern for us. So in times of anxiety and stress the child of God can look to the Father and know He’s got this. We can be at rest!
What can you entrust to God’s care? Bill Crowder
Daily Devotionals
by Peter Kennedy:
Devotional - Suffering Refines Our Faith
Posted by Peter Kennedy on Monday May 21, 2018 under Devotions In Letters Of Peter
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” – 1 Peter 5:10
Pastor Josef Tson was arrested and imprisoned several times in Romania during the 1970s and charged with being a Christian minister. Each time he underwent several weeks of intense interrogation, beatings and mind games before finally being exiled from the country in 1981.
It was in this climate that he began to understand the "theology of martyrdom," which later became the subject of his book, “Suffering, Martyrdom and Rewards in Heaven.” From a practical standpoint, Tson said his imprisonment helped him form a clearer view of the biblical response to persecution.
“When the secret police officer threatened to kill me, to shoot me, I smiled and I said, 'Sir, don't you understand that when you kill me you send me to glory? You cannot threaten me with glory.’ The more suffering, the more troubles, the greater the glory. So, why say, 'Stop this trouble’? Because the more [suffering], the greater the glory up there.”
During one particularly harrowing session of interrogation, Tson told his inquisitors that spilling his blood would only serve to water the growth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Part of the theology of suffering, he learned, was that tribulation is never an accident but is part of God’s sovereign plan for building His church.
“I told the interrogator, ‘You should know your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying,’” Tson said.
“‘Now here is how it works, sir: You know that my sermons are on tape all over the country. When you shoot me or crush me, whichever way you choose, [you] only sprinkle my sermons with my blood. Everybody who has a tape of one of my sermons will pick it up and say, ‘I had better listen again. This man died for what he preached.’ Sir, my sermons will speak 10 times louder after you kill me and because you kill me. In fact, I will conquer this country for God because you killed me. Go on and do it.’
“Dying for the Lord is not an accident. It’s not a tragedy. It’s part of the job. It’s part of the ministry. And it’s the greatest way of preaching.”
Tson has been president of the Romanian Missionary Society since 1982 and is pastor of the Baptist Church in Brasov, Romania.
Suffering is never pleasant, but it refines us and draws us closer to Christ. Today in prayer, pray for those who are suffering that their faith in Jesus may increase.
"Suffering can never ultimately be meaningless, because God himself has shared it." - Philip Yancey
God’s Word: “Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” – Romans 8:17
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2018, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS LETTERS OF PETER
From Our Daily Bread:
“Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.—Psalm 62:8
My father died at 58 years of age. Ever since then, I pause on the date he died to remember Dad and reflect on his influence in my life. When I realized I had lived more of life without my dad than with him, I began pondering the brevity of my own life.
On reflection, we may wrestle with both an event in time and the feelings it stirs within us. Though we measure time with clocks and calendars, we remember times because of events. In the moments of life that trigger our deepest emotions, we can experience joy, loss, blessing, pain, success, failure.
The Scriptures encourage us: “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8). This confident statement did not occur in a time of ease. David wrote these words while surrounded by enemies (vv. 3-4). Still, he waited quietly before God (vv. 1, 5) reminding us that God’s unfailing love (v. 12) is greater than any of the times of struggle we may face.
In every event, we have this confidence: Our God stands with us, and He is more than adequate to carry us through all of life’s moments. When the times of life threaten to overwhelm us, His help will be right on time. —Bill Crowder
We’re grateful that You are always and will always be faithful to us, Father.
Listen to the Discover the Word series, “Remembering Who God Is” at discovertheword.org/series/remembering-who-god-is/.
Our God is ready to be with us in all the times of life.
INSIGHT: Slowing down to consider what Psalm 62 tells us (or at least implies) about the situation that prompted the psalmist to write it can deepen our understanding of God. It helps us internalize the psalm’s teaching in a way that transforms us rather than simply informs us. These are not the blissful words of reflection from an untroubled soul. David writes from the tired depths of someone maligned and assaulted.
Saying that hope comes from the Lord is simple when hope is a luxury. To say that you will not be shaken when even your friends are secretly cursing you (v. 4) is an expression of trust before, during, and after all other hopes have failed.
How can you express hope in God? J.R. Hudberg”
Daily Devotionals
by Peter Kennedy:
Devotional - Seeking Pleasure Is Meaningless
Posted by Peter Kennedy on Monday Jun 4, 2018 under DEVOTIONS IN ECCLESIASTES & SONG OF SONGS
"I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless." - Ecclesiastes 2:1
Edie Mayer Goetz was the daughter of MGM founder Louis B. Mayer. She married Hollywood producer William Gotz and together bought a storied estate. Their mansion was "the best address in town," hosting dinners and extravagant parties for Hollywood's rich and famous. It was considered the center of the Hollywood social scene. For three decades Edie threw parties that included stars Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland, Rosalind Russell, Bill Wilder, and Frank Sinatra.
Those fortunate enough to score an invitation to one of the couple’s lavish parties were reportedly shown pre-release films in the private screening room.
Oscar-winning director Billy Wilder once said: "The highest accolade for someone coming into this town was to be invited to the Goetzes—they had the best food, the best people, and the best things on walls," referring to the couple’s incredible art collection.
But after William Goetz died in 1969, Edie stopped giving lavish parties.
She lamented to her husband’s secretary Sonya Gilbert, that her "life was over now that he's gone, I’m finished.”
Seeking pleasure does not bring fulfillment; that can only come through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Today in prayer, thank Christ that in Him we can find contentment in all circumstances.
"I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy." - C.S. Lewis
God's Word: "He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich." - Proverbs 21:17
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2018, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS IN ECCLESIASTES & SONG OF SONGS
