April 13 Daily Devotional

God's Grace in Our Afflictions

the Rev. David Freeman

"Blessed is the man whom thou chasenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law"
"Psalm 94:12.

Devotional

It is only in the Word of God that we learn to consider affliction as a blessing. Only the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ transforms the sorest trials into a benefit.

The afflictions of this life are, in the hand of God, instrumental in impressing divine truth upon the heart.

We are all familiar with suffering ourselves or in others, or we shall at some future time endure severe afflictions. Some, it may be, are experiencing the infirmities and pains of a diseased body, others are mourning over the loss of loved ones, and others are living in the dread of trials yet to come. How does God, through these trials, bring us to a better understanding of His will?

By them, under the Divine blessing, a deep feeling of want is produced. The soul feels that it needs Christ above everything in this world. He alone is essential to true happiness. The present affliction has brought to light our lack of that faith which rests solely on Him. We come to desire a faith that shall enable us to leave all in the hands of God. We ask for sufficient grace and say with the disciples, "Lord, increase our faith."

Never in hours of ease do we feel our dependence upon God as we do in times of distress. Perhaps if prosperity continued with us we would never have felt so. Our altars would not have smoked had our pathway been smooth and pleasant.

(to be continued)

"Lift Up Your Heart" is a series of devotionals by the late Rev. David Freeman, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for most of his life. These devotionals, in fact, are part of the early history of our denomination. The first of them was published in The Presbyterian Guardian in 1935; the denomination now known as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church was officially formed in 1936. We believe that "the Word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8; see 1 Peter 1:25). Thus it is no surprise that meditations based on that Word have continued relevance today. Dr. Freeman's devotionals are proof of that fact.

David Freeman was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary (Th.B., 1928; Th.M. , 1930) and of Dropsie Univiersity (Ph.D., 1951). He served as pastor at Grace (later New Covenant) Presbyterian Church (OPC), Philadelphia, PA (1936-1946), Knox Presbyterian Church (OPC), Philadelphia, PA (1949-1962), and Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC), Fall River, MA (1962-1967). He authored many articles and (along with his son, David H. Freeman) is the author of the book A Philosophical Study of Religion, which appeared in 1964. He went to be with the Lord in 1984.

There is one change from the way the daily devotional was handled in the past with John Skilton's Think On These Things: New devotionals for the new series appear on weekdays only (Monday through Saturday. It is suggested that you use your pastor's sermon text(s) as the basis for your mediations on the Lord's Day.

We trust that you will find these devotionals, once again made available seventy years after they first appeared, to be a personal help in your own Christian walk today!