August 17 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Hosea 14:1–7

Devotional

Without God’s sustaining grace God’s people would succumb to the heat of sin and affliction. But the Lord knows this far better than they do. He knows what to expect of His people. He knows very well that the sap of their life is used up again every day and that it would be death unless God intervened with His sustaining grace. That is why He said, “I will be as the dew unto Israel.”

We are not to think that God is obliged to be the dew because of who His people are. Their daily transgressions cause them to be worthy of death every day. But the Lord will sustain His people because of the work of the Savior, who had to succumb and die under the heat of God’s wrath. Without Christ there would be no dew, no sustaining grace, and no life. His promise is firm and immovable.

“I will be as the dew unto Israel.” The Lord will be dew for dying ones, for those who are stumbling, and for those who are falling. He will be dew for those who are worn out and weary.

The dew skips nothing. It is present everywhere. The dew makes everything wet, even the little plants that grow low and are close to the ground. Yes, actually these little ones receive the most dew. That is how God is for His church. That is the work of His Spirit. This Spirit works softly and silently. One cannot notice how the dew falls, but it is there. That is how the Spirit works.

Where dew has fallen, one must be very careful, because when the crops are just slightly touched, these drops of dew fall off easily. One small infliction is able to spoil this heavenly dew. So, when the Lord says that He is as the dew, then this also means that He will be as tender as the dew.

“I will be as the dew unto Israel.” The dew is necessary again every day. It has to continue, because the scorching heat continues every day as well. May God’s words give you a deep desire in your heart for Him as you read in Psalm 63:1, “O God, thou art my God; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” There in your heart the dew starts to do its work.

 

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.