November 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" (Numbers 23:19).

Devotional

God has done the utmost which his infinite wisdom dictated to lay the most solid ground for confidence. He has made all the promises of the covenant of grace absolute and unconditional. If faith were simply to trust this, what strong consolation would flow into the soul!

Take, for example, that exceeding great and precious promise, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" (Ps. 50:15). What a sparkling jewel this is! What a brilliant gem! How many a weeping eye has caught the luster and has forgotten its misery as dew that evaporates! Others, perhaps, gazing intently upon it, have said, "This promise exactly suits my case, but is it for me? Is it for one as vile as me, who by my own folly and sin have brought all this trouble on myself? May a person such as me call upon God and expect to be answered?" What is this unbelieving reasoning, but to render this divine and most exhilarating promise of no effect (as to any practical influence upon your mind)? But the promise stands in God's Word absolute and unconditional. There is not one syllable in it upon which the most unworthy child of sorrow can reasonably base an objection. Is it now a "day of trouble" with you? God makes no exception as to how, or by whom, or from where your trouble came. It is enough that it is a time of trouble with you, that you are in sorrow, in difficulty, in trial. God says to you, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you." Therefore, resign your unbelief, embrace the promise, and behold Jesus showing himself through its open lattice.

Take yet another glorious promise, "whoever comes to me I will never cast out" (John 6:37). "This is just the promise that my poor, guilty, anxious heart needs," exclaims a trembling, sin-distressed soul; "but with all my sin, and wretchedness, and poverty, do I dare take up my rest in Christ? What! May I, who for so long have been such an enemy against God, such a despiser of Christ, such a neglecter of my soul, such a scoffer at salvation, approach with a trembling yet assured hope that Christ will receive me, save me, and not cast me out?" Yes! You may. The promise is absolute and unconditional, and, magnificent and precious as it is, it is yours. " 'Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.' Satan shall not persuade me, sin shall not prevail with me, my own heart shall not constrain me, yes, nothing shall induce me, to cast out that poor sinner who comes to me, believes my Word, falls upon my grace, and hides himself in my pierced bosom. I will never cast him out."

"Great is thy faithfulness"

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.