July 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"Therefore thus says the LORD God, 'Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation' " (Isa. 28:16).

Devotional

Jesus is fitly compared to a "stone" for strength and durability. He is the "Savior, and a great one," "mighty to save," "one who is mighty" (Isa. 19:20 KJV; 63:1; Ps. 89:19). If God were to announce the fact of Jesus' Deity in a voice of thunder from the eternal throne, can we suppose that he would utter it in terms more decided and explicit than those which fell upon the ear of the exiled evangelist from the lips of Christ himself? "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rev. 22:13).

And what a needed truth this is! Nothing but an almighty ransom can save us from going down to the pit. Jesus is our ransom, and Jesus is the Almighty.

The Redeemer is not only a stone, but also a "tested stone." The grand experiment has been made—the great test has been applied, and to answer all the ends for which the Lord God laid it in Zion, it has proved completely adequate. Never was a foundation tried as this. In the eternal purpose of redemption, Omnipotence tried it. In the Divine mind there existed no lurking suspicion, no embarrassing uncertainty as to the result. The Triune God knew all that this foundation was to last, and well he knew, too, that it was capable of sustaining all.

The consequences were stupendous. His own glory and the honor of his government were involved. The salvation of his elect was to be secured. Death, with all its horrors, was to be abolished. Life, with all its immortal, untold glories, was to be revealed. Hell was to be closed, and heaven opened, to all believers. With such momentous realities pending, with such mighty and glorious results at stake, the Eternal mind, in its purpose of grace and glory, would lay for a sure foundation a "tried stone."

O blessed Emmanuel! How brilliantly your glory shines from beneath the veil! You are that "tested stone"! Tested by the Father when he laid upon you all his people's sins and transgressions, bruised you, and put you to grief. Tested by the Law when it exacted and received from you your utmost obedience to its precepts. Tested by Divine justice when it kindled around you its fiercest flame, yet did not consume you. Tested by the church, built upon you so securely that the gates of hell shall never prevail against her. Tested by poor sinners, who have brought their burdens of guilt to your blood, and have found pardon and peace. Tested by believers, who have taken their trials to your sympathy, their sorrows to your love, their wounds to your healing, their weakness to your strength, their emptiness to your fullness, their petitions to your ear, and have never, never been disappointed. Oh yes, you are that "tested stone" to whom I can come moment by moment.

My heart doth overflow,
a goodly theme is mine;
my eager tongue with joyful song
doth praise the King Divine.
Supremely fair thou art,
thy lips with grace o'erflow;
his richest blessings evermore
doth God on thee bestow.

(Ps. 45:1–10, The Psalter, 1912)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.