Alistair Begg Devotional - Truth For Life

Get guidance on Bible study from C.S. Lewis - Free Course!
<< Truth For Life Daily, with Alistair Begg

Truth for Life - July 16, 2016

July 16

God's Generosity

You will arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come. For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust. - Psalms 102:13-14

A selfish man in trouble is exceedingly hard to comfort, because the springs of his comfort are entirely within himself, and when he is sad all his springs are dry. But a large-hearted man full of Christian generosity has other springs from which to supply himself with comfort beside those that lie within. He can go to his God first of all and there find abundant help; and he can discover arguments for consolation in things relating to the world at large, to his country, and, above all, to the Church. David in this Psalm was exceedingly sorrowful; he wrote, "I am like an owl of the waste places; I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop."1 The only way in which he could comfort himself was in the reflection that God would arise and have mercy upon Zion. Though he was sad, yet Zion should prosper; however low his own estate, yet Zion would arise.

Christian man, learn to comfort yourself in God's gracious dealing toward the Church. That which is so dear to your Master, should it not also be supremely precious to you? Although your path be dark, can you not cheer your heart with the triumphs of His cross and the spread of His truth? Our own personal troubles are forgotten while we look not only upon what God has done and is doing for Zion, but on the glorious things He will yet do for His Church.

Try this approach, O believer, whenever you are sad of heart and in heaviness of spirit: Forget yourself and your little concerns, and seek the welfare and prosperity of Zion. When you kneel in prayer to God, limit not your petition to the narrow circle of your own life, tried though it be, but send out your longing prayers for the church's prosperity. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,"2 and your own soul shall be refreshed.

1 Psalm 102:6-7
2 Psalm 122:6

Family Bible reading plan

verse 1 Jeremiah 12

verse 2 Matthew 26

This Way To Life: Discovering Life to the Full

When something is important, it’s worth the time and effort to compile the all the necessary facts. In This Way to Life: Discovering Life to the Full, author Derek Prime sets out to provide the essential facts about Christianity. Jesus Christ said, 'I am the way and the truth and the life.’ For anyone eager to discover what this truly means and subsequently to live life to the full in Christ Jesus, This Way to Life will guide you to an understanding of God’s grace and salvation in Christ alone.

Click here to learn more about Truth For Life 

From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.



More Truth For Life Daily, with Alistair Begg Articles