March 28 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out" (Joshua 17:12–13).

Devotional

You will recall that when the children of Israel took possession of Canaan, even though they conquered its inhabitants and took supreme possession and government of the country, yet they could not entirely dispossess the former occupants.

Now, what these Canaanites, these heathen idolaters, were to the children of Israel, the natural corruptions of the heart are to the redeemed children of God. After all that God's sovereign mercy has done for the soul, even though the inhabitants of the land have been conquered, the heart has yielded to the power of omnipotent grace, the "strong man, fully armed" (Luke 11:21) has been unseated, and Jesus has taken the throne, nevertheless the "Canaanites" still dwell in the land, and we cannot expel them. These are the natural corruptions of our fallen nature, the evils of a heart that is only partially renewed, the heathenish lusts and passions and infirmities that formerly were the sole occupants of the soil, and still dwell there, and which we shall never, in the present state, entirely dispossess.

But what did the children of Israel do to these Canaanites, whom they could not get out of the cities, but who would dwell in the land? We read in the 13th verse: "Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out." Now this is what the children of God must do with the spiritual "Canaanites" that still dwell within the renewed heart—we cannot drive them out, but we may put them to forced labor. We cannot entirely expel them, yet we may bring them into subjection. We may even make them contribute to the spiritual advance of the soul, and to the glory of God. Yes, even these very indwelling and powerful "Canaanites," these strong corruptions that make war against the renewed soul, may be made to serve the spiritual benefit of a child of God.

Will this not be so if they lead you to put no confidence in yourself? Will this not be so if they lead you to draw largely from the fullness of grace in Jesus? Will this not be so if they lead you to go often to the throne of grace? Will this not be so if they lead you to deal much and closely with the atoning blood? Will this not be so if they lead you to cultivate a watchful, prayerful, tender spirit? Will this not be so if they lead you daily and hourly to rejoice in Christ Jesus, putting no confidence in the flesh?

Thus may your renewed soul—often led to exclaim, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Rom. 7:24)—through a supply of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, and becoming more adept in the art of the holy war, be able to turn the risings of his indwelling sins into occasions of more holy and humble walk with God.

My sins, my sins, my Savior!
They take such hold on me,
I am not able to look up,
save only, Christ, to thee.
In thee is all forgiveness,
in thee abundant grace,
my shadow and my sunshine
the brightness of thy face.

My sins, my sins, my Savior!
Their guilt I never knew
till with thee in the desert
I near thy passion drew;
till with thee in the garden
I heard thy pleading pray'r,
and saw the sweat-drops bloody
that told thy sorrow there.

Therefore my songs, my Savior,
e'en in this time of woe,
shall tell of all thy goodness
to suff'ring man below;
thy goodness and thy favor,
whose presence from above
rejoice those hearts, my Savior,
that live in thee and love.

(John S.B. Monsell, 1863)

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.