Hymn of the Day
(tune: Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners, p.49)
Unto us a Son is giv’n,
Unto us a Child is born;
That our sins might be forgiven,
He, our God appears this morn,
Son of David, Son of Mary,
Son of God in human flesh!
Myst’ry of the incarnation,
Lies asleep in swaddling dress.
On His shoulders lies the Government,
Of the House of Jesse’s stem,
He shall build it up with judgment,
All shall be upheld by Him.
Of its increase, of its increase,
Never shall there be an end!
For the zeal of God Almighty,
Shall His every work attend.
By what names shall all His people,
Call on Him before His throne?
Though their cries may be so feeble,
Yet the One they call is strong!
Call His name “The Wondrous Couns’ler,”
“Mighty God,” “The Prince of Peace;”
He “The Everlasting Father,”
Let His praises never cease!
Today’s Hymns
Be Thou My Vision - #334 Come Thou Fount - #17
Praise Him, Praise Him! - #442
Special Dates
Wanda Koedam – 2
John Vlastuin – 7
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The man from whom the demons had gone out
begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,
"Return home and tell how much God has done for you."
So the man went away and told all over town
how much Jesus had done for him.
-Luke 8.38, 39
It is understandable that the demon-possessed man would want to follow Christ after the Lord had relieved him of such a horrible existence. But the Lord, instead, told him to go home and tell his neighbors what great things God had done for him. The Lord does not call on us to isolate ourselves from the world to serve Him, like monks and such. Nor does he require of us that we achieve a high level of theological understanding in order to glorify Him among those who are a part of our lives. We need only tell them what great things God has done for us. Theological presentations invite arguments; real, personal testimony of the experience of God’s grace is irrefutable.
However, this does point out that we cannot glorify Him in this world unless He has, indeed, done something for us. Graceless people are reduced to nothing more than theological argumentation, for, when it come to God’s works in their behalf, they have nothing to tell! -Joe
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So David and all the people who were with him
arose and crossed over the Jordan.
By morning light not one of them was left
who had not gone over the Jordan.
~2 Samuel 17:22
So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away,
and David rescued his two wives.
And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great,
sons or daughters, spoil or anything
which they had taken from them;
David recovered all.
~1 Samuel 30:18-19
Of all those that David brings with him, none are lost. This mirrors the report of David’s victory in 1 Samuel 30 over the Amalekites when he recovers all that they had taken captive (I Sam. 30:18-19). In that case and this, the king lost nothing. In this David is a type of another anointed King, the King of Kings. He came to this earth to save His people, to pay their sin debt, and He accomplished their salvation by the sacrifice of Himself. Everyone for whom He died was redeemed and is eternally safe in the bosom of the Father. Those for whom He died will never be lost. He recovered all, and when they cross Jordan, there will no one be lacking. -from Tim James’ commentary on 1 Samuel
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For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive;
and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart:
and I will glorify thy name forevermore.
For great is thy mercy toward me:
and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell."
~Psalm 86:5, 12-13
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Brethren, if I should compare the natural state of man, I would picture an immense graveyard filled with yawning graves and dying men. All around are lofty walls and massive iron gates. At the gate stands MERCY. An angel attracted by the awful sight exclaims, 'Mercy, why do you not enter that awful place and apply to these pitiful creatures your restoring balm?' Mercy replies, 'I dare not enter, for Justice bars the way.' By the side of Mercy stands the Son of God, who cries, 'Justice, what are your demands?' Justice replies, 'I demand a full obedience for their holiness, degradation for their exaltation, shame for their honor, and suffering and death for their lives.' The Son of God, as the Surety for sinners, accepted the terms; and at Calvary the heavenly host of redeemed souls cried, 'Worthy is the Lamb, for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation'. -Christmas Evans
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As God hath two dwelling-places, Heaven and a contrite heart, so hath the devil — Hell and a proud heart. -Thomas Watson
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Even after a work of grace has passed upon the heart in regeneration, such is the power of surviving depravity, that not one perhaps in twenty of God's people, can, humanly speaking, be trusted with prosperity. Let every afflicted believer, therefore, rejoice in that he is made low. God deals out our comforts and our sorrows, with exact, unerring hand, in number, weight, and measure. Hence, we have not, either of joy or adversity, a grain too little or too much. If less tribulation would suffice, less would be given. We are bad enough, with all our troubles: what then should we be, if we were exercised with none? -Augustus Toplady