February 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5).

Devotional

Oh, what words are these! Who can harm you now? What can befall you? When and where can you be alone, if your Lord is with you? He is with you on the ocean. He is with you on the land. He is with you in your exile. He is with you at home.

Friends may forsake you. Loved ones may die. Circumstances may change. But "the Lord is with me" may still be your consolation and your boast.

And, oh, to realize the presence of the Lord—to walk with him in the gripping awareness of his loving eye never removed, of his solemn presence never withdrawn, of his encircling arm never untwined—you can welcome the solitude, welcome the loneliness, welcome the sorrow when you are cheered, and sweetened, and sanctified by such a realization as this! The Lord "will never leave you nor forsake you."

The tender love a father has
for all his children dear,
such love the Lord bestows on them
who worship him in fear.

The Lord remembers we are dust,
and all our frailty knows;
man's days are like the tender grass,
and as the flower he grows.

The flower is withered by the wind
that smites with blighting breath;
so man is quickly swept away
before the blast of death.

Unchanging is the love of God,
from age to age the same,
displayed to all who do his will
and reverence his Name.

Those who his gracious cov'nant keep
the Lord will ever bless;
their children's children shall rejoice
to see his righteousness.

(From Psa. 103:13–18, 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 2025.