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July 14 Daily Devotional

An Unfinished Sentence

Frans Bakker

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. —Psalm 27:13

Bible Reading

Psaom 27

Devotional

If David had not believed that the Lord would deliver him, he would have perished. He does not even want to put into words the terror of the thought. He simply does not finish his sentence. Without the hope of God’s goodness for him, he would have fainted. He says, “Unless I had believed.” There the sentence stops.

David speaks of trust in the Lord in the midst of afflictions. Psalter 72 renders these words of Psalm 27 as follows: “Fainthearted would I be, didst Thou not promise Lord, I shall Thy goodness see.” Pictured here is trust in spite of affliction and in the midst of affliction. And trust is strongest, not when an affliction is past, but when it is present. It is easy to trust in the Lord when there is no affliction. But true faith trusts in the Lord during affliction, even when no deliverance is apparent. It is, of course, very necessary to trust in the Lord at all times, and the Lord is worthy of it, but to exercise faith in our greatest needs shows us who the Lord is and who He remains to be for His child.

No tongue is able to express who God is and what He does in our lives. He is greater than all our needs. He even overcomes death. Then, as we are thinking about God’s greatness, we cannot finish the sentence either. Salvation is much too great to confine to words. God’s salvation is more than healing. It is greater than daily deliverances. The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living is never-ending.

“Unless I had believed.” David does not claim any value or merit in his faith. This text is not about faith itself, but about faith finding a resting place in God. Faith has no intrinsic value. Faith, in and of itself, is nothing. What is a child of God in himself? In one of David’s weak moments, he thought he would perish by the hands of his enemies. His faith was not strong. May this give you hope when you look at your own weak faith. David’s faith was not always strong and yet he was delivered.

Faith does not rest in self. Faith rests in God, in the arms of Christ. Faith finds everything outside of self and in God; and this is what gives happiness. The tongue can never express it. Thus, to be silent is better than to speak.

  • Unless I had believed, when my strength failed and all hope escaped me.
  • Unless I had believed, that God is greater than the greatest sorrow.
  • Unless I had believed, that the suffering Savior entered into my suffering.
  • Unless I had believed, that God holds on to me, though I have no strength left to pray.
  • Unless I had believed, that God is directing all things in my life towards eternity.
  • Unless I had believed, that all things must work together for my salvation.
  • Unless I had believed, that God remains the faithful One.

Then what? Oh, it is better to leave this sentence unfinished and to be silent.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.

 

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