September 1
Divine Guidance
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. - Psalms 73:24
The psalmist felt his need of divine guidance. He had just been discovering the foolishness of his own heart, and to prevent himself from being constantly led astray by it, he resolved that God's counsel should be his guide. A sense of our own folly is a great step toward being wise, when it leads us to rely on the wisdom of the Lord. The blind man leans on his friend's arm and reaches his home in safety, and likewise we should give ourselves up implicitly to divine guidance, without doubting, assured that even though we cannot see, it is always safe to trust the All-seeing God. "You will" is a blessed expression of confidence. He was sure that the Lord would not neglect the necessary task.
Here is a word for you, believer; rest in it. Be sure that God will be your counselor and friend; He will guide you; He will direct all your ways. In His written Word you have this assurance fulfilled in part, for Holy Scripture is His "counsel" to you. We are happy to have God's Word as our constant guide! What is the sailor without his compass? And what is the Christian without the Bible? This is the unerring chart, the map in which every shoal is described, and all the channels from the quicksands of destruction to the harbor of salvation mapped and marked by one who knows the way.
O God we bless You, that we may trust You to guide us now, and even to the end! After this guidance through life, the psalmist anticipates a divine reception-"and afterward . . . receive me to glory." What a thought for you, believer! God Himself will receive you in glory-you! Though you are wandering, erring, straying, still He will bring you safe at last to glory! This is your portion; live on it today, and if perplexities should surround you, go in the strength of this text straight to the throne.
Family Bible reading plan
verse 1 1 Samuel 25
verse 2 1 Corinthians 6
From the Resurrection to His Return: Living Faithfully in the Last Days
By D.A. Carson
Commonly, when the Bible speaks about the ‘last days’, it refers to the entire period between Christ’s first coming and His second. The idea is that the coming of Christ is so world transforming, now that the kingdom has already dawned, that the old world is petering out; it is coming to an end. So, according to Scripture, what are the characteristics of these ‘last days’ and how are we to view the world in light of this.
Author D.A. Carson and professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School helps us better understand the world around us in these terms and gives practical instruction for how we are to live our lives surrounding by a culture increasingly resistant to living within the sovereignty of God’s Will.
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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.