Morning, May 31 Go To Evening Reading
“The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron.”
—2 Samuel 15:23
David passed that gloomy brook when flying with his mourning company from his traitor son. The man after God’s heart was not exempt from trouble; nay, his life was full of it. He was both the Lord’s Anointed and the Lord’s Afflicted. Why, then, should we expect to escape? At sorrow’s gates, the noblest of our race have waited with ashes on their heads; wherefore should we complain as though some strange thing had happened unto us?
The King of kings was not favored with a more cheerful or royal road. He passed over the filthy ditch of Kidron, through which the filth of Jerusalem flowed. God had one Son without sin, but not a child without the rod. It is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted in all points like we are. What is our Kidron this morning? Is it a faithless friend, a sad bereavement, a slanderous reproach, a dark foreboding? Is it bodily pain, poverty, persecution, or contempt? The King has passed over all these. Over each of these Kidrons, the King has gone before us. “In all our afflictions, he was afflicted.” The idea of strangeness in our trials must be banished at once and forever, for he, the Head of all saints, knows by experience the grief we think so peculiar. All the citizens of Zion must be free of the Honorable Company of Mourners, of which Prince Immanuel is Head and Captain.
Courage, soldiers of the Cross, the King triumphed after going over Kidron, and so shall you. Notwithstanding the abasement of David, he yet returned in triumph to his city, and David’s Lord arose victorious from the grave; let us then be of good courage, for we also shall win the day. We shall see yet with joy draw water out of the wells of salvation, though now, we have noxious streams of sin and sorrow for a season. To pass by the
Go To Morning Reading Evening, May 31
“Who healeth all thy diseases.”
—Psalm 103:3
Humbling as is the statement, yet the fact is sure that we are all more or less suffering under the disease of sin. What a comfort to know that we have a great Physician who can heal us! Let us think of him for a while tonight. His cures are very speedy—there is life in a look at him; his medicines are radical—he strikes at the disease's center; hence, his cures are sure and certain. He never fails, and the condition never returns. There is no relapse where Christ heals; no fear that his patients should be merely patched up for a season, he makes new men of them: a new heart also does he give them, and a right spirit does he put with them. He is well-skilled in all diseases. Physicians generally have some specialty. Although they may know a little about almost all our pains and ills, there is usually one disease they have studied above all others; but Jesus Christ is thoroughly acquainted with human nature. He is as much at home with one sinner as with another, and he never met with an out-of-the-way case that was difficult for him. He has had extraordinary complications of strange diseases, but he knows how to treat the patient with one glance of his eye. He is the only universal doctor, and his medicine is the only true Catholicon, healing in every instance. Whatever our spiritual malady, we should immediately apply to this Divine Physician. There is no brokenness of heart that Jesus cannot bind up. “His blood cleanseth from all sin.” We have but to think of the myriads who have been delivered from all sorts of diseases through the power and virtue of his touch, and we shall joyfully put ourselves in his hands. We trust him, sin dies; we love him, and grace lives; we wait for him, and grace is strengthened; we see him as he is, and grace is perfected forever.
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
May 31: Fighting Loneliness
1 Chronicles 28:1–29:2; 2 Timothy 4:9–22; Psalm 90:1–17
Loneliness is one of the most painful feelings a person can know. Being alone in a time of pain is even worse. Several recent surveys suggest that lonely people—especially teenagers—subtly reach out through their social networks, desperately looking for someone who cares. In a world where anyone can get attention online, we’ve moved away from authentic community. We continue to crave personal interactions—perhaps more so because we have an electronic witness to the interactions of others. We, as Christians, should see this as an opportunity to reach out to disenfranchised, lonely people and show the love of Christ to others.
Paul’s second letter to Timothy illustrates how feelings of loneliness are amplified by pain. He makes one of the most candid statements in the Bible:
“At my first defense, no one came to my aid, but they all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord helped and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fulfilled and all the Gentiles might hear, and he rescued me from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and save me for his heavenly kingdom, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Tim 4:16–18).
Paul is angry and hurt, but he knows God has been and will continue to be his strength. He acknowledges that he needs and craves community but clearly states that God is foremost in his life. He then reminds Timothy of God’s work in his life and others’—ending with “Amen,” meaning “So be it.” Paul’s reliance on God’s past faithfulness bears a striking resemblance to a statement from Psa 90: “O Lord, you have been our help in all generations. Before the mountains were born and you brought forth the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God” (Psa 90:1–2).
This psalm emphasizes that God always has and will be a “help” to His people. While we can take comfort in that, we should make every effort—as people aspiring to live like Christ—to help others. For Paul found God not only in His provision of spiritual strength but in the kindness of others.
How can you show God’s kindness and faithfulness to lonely people?
John D. Barry
Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Print. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012.
May 31st
God first
Put God First in Trust. Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, … for He knew what was in man. John 2:24–25.
Our Lord trusted no man, yet He was never suspicious, bitter, or despairing about any man because He put God first in trust; He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for any man. If I put my trust in human beings first, I will end up despairing everyone; I will become bitter because I have insisted on man being what no man can be—absolutely right. Never trust anything but the grace of God in yourself or in anyone else.
Put God’s Needs First. Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. Hebrews 10:9.
A man’s obedience is to what he sees to be a need; Our Lord’s obedience is to the will of His Father. The cry today is—‘We must get some work to do; the heathen are dying without God; we must go and tell them of Him.’ We have to see, first of all, that God’s needs in us personally are being met. “Tarry ye until.….” The purpose of this College is to get us rightly related to the needs of God. When God’s requirements in us have been met, He will open the way for us to realize His needs elsewhere.
Put God’s Trust First. And whoso receiveth one such little child in My name, receiveth Me. Matthew 18:5.
God’s trust is that He gives me Himself as a babe. God expects my personal life to be a ‘Bethlehem.’ Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transfigured by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God’s ultimate purpose is to manifest His Son in my mortal flesh.
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
May 31
Without me, ye can do nothing.… I can do all things, through Christ which strengtheneth me.
John 15:5; Phil. 4:13
Apart from Him, we can do nothing. While we are abiding by Him, nothing is impossible. Therefore, the one purpose of our life should be to remain in living and intense union with Christ, guarding against everything that would break it, employing every means of cementing and enlarging it. And just in proportion as we do so, we shall find His strength flowing into us for every possible emergency. We may not feel its presence, but we shall find it present when we draw on it. There is no temptation which we cannot master; no privation which we cannot patiently bear; no difficulty with which we cannot cope; no work which we cannot perform; no confession or testimony which we cannot make if only our souls are living in healthy union with Jesus Christ; for as our day or hour, so shall our strength be.
F. B. Meyer
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
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