January 9 Daily Devotional

Devotional:

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Men, when they are compelled to feel that God is angry with them, often indulge in complaints full of impiety, rather than find fault with themselves and their own sins. It is to be particularly noticed that David does not simply ascribe to God the afflictions under which he is now suffering, but acknowledges them to be the just recompense of his sins. He does not take God to task as if he had been an enemy, treating him with cruelty without any just cause; but yielding to him the right of rebuking and chastening. He desires and prays only that bounds may be set to the punishment inflicted on him. By this he declares God to be a just Judge, in taking vengeance on the sins of men. As often, then, as we are pressed down by adversity, let us learn, from the example of David, to have recourse to this remedy, that we may be brought into a state of peace with God; for it is not to be expected that it can be well or prosperous with us if we are not interested in his favour. Whence it follows, that we shall never be without a load of evils, until he forgives our sins.

How long, O LORD, how long? God, in his compassion towards us, permits us to pray to him to make haste to succour us; but when we have freely complained of his long delay, that our prayers or sorrow on this account may not pass beyond bounds, we must submit our case entirely to his will, and not wish him to make greater haste than shall seem good to him.

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy. The grace of God is the only light of life to the godly; and, as soon as he has manifested some token of his anger, they are not only greatly afraid, but also, as it were, plunged into the darkness of death; while, on the other hand, as soon as they discover anew that God is merciful to them, they are immediately restored to life. There is nothing in the whole world, whatever it may be, and whatever opposition it may make to us, which we may not despise, if we are fully persuaded of our being beloved by God; and by this also we understand what his fatherly love can do for us.

Welcome to a one-year devotional by John Calvin (1509-1564) on the Psalms. We are indebted to P & R Publishing for permission to use this copyrighted material from John Calvin: A Heart Aflame on the OPC Web site. In addition to viewing the daily devotional reading here, you may like to purchase a copy of the book A Heart Aflame from P & R Publishing or your local bookstore.

John Calvin, A Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms, is copyright © 1999 by P & R Publishing Company, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—except for brief quotations for the purpose of review or comment, without the prior permission of the publisher, P & R Publishing Company, P.O. Box 817, Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865-0817.

Unless marked by an asterisk, italic Scripture excerpts preceding Calvin's exposition are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House, all rights reserved. Phrases of Scripture within Calvin's exposition are based on an unidentified older translation, or in rare instances modified to conform to the NIV excerpts preceding Calvin's exposition.

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