Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Psalm 131:1-2
My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.
CH Spurgeon, the great Victorian Baptist preacher, commented that this is “one of the shortest psalms to read but one of the longest to learn”. Learning to be humble is so tough that anyone who claims to have achieved it has a very long way to go! Humility is a wonderful and exciting quality in a person because the truly humble person knows where they stand before God. They recognise His greatness and power and understand that they are privileged to be His servant. They don’t exaggerate their own importance and are eager to see everything that is best in those around them.
I don’t believe King David was suggesting that the humble person avoids difficult issues. Far from it, the humble person is more likely to take on the big challenges. It is the arrogant person who falls flat on their face when they take on great challenges in their own strength and fail. David says that he has become like a weaned child. At the time, children were weaned at about the age of three. It’s as if David was saying that he was like a toddler in his relationship with God. He wasn’t a baby any longer, but he was still continually and humbly dependent on God. And that’s the life God wants for each one of us.
Question
From whom have you learned most about humility?
Prayer
Loving God, teach me what it means to be humble and to live like a weaned child. Amen

Psalm 130:3-4
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
One day in 1738, John Wesley reluctantly attended a Christian meeting In Aldersgate Street, London. He was feeling thoroughly depressed, but during the meeting someone read from Martin Luther’s Preface to the letter of St Paul to the Romans and Wesley felt that his heart was “strangely warmed”. He saw this as the moment when he truly trusted in Christ alone. What is less well known is that, later that same day, Wesley went to St Paul’s Cathedral where he was deeply moved by this particular psalm. It perfectly expressed his experience of salvation through the forgiveness of his sins.
The psalmist speaks of the completeness of God’s forgiveness. He doesn’t keep a record of our sins. They are wiped out. When someone has done you wrong, the hardest part is often to forget what has happened, but that’s what God does. He chooses to erase our sins completely from His memory.
The psalmist knew that his life was totally distorted by sin. He couldn’t think of standing in God’s presence. But now the door was open to a new life in which he could confidently stand before God and serve Him. This message of forgiveness comes into sharpest focus in the New Testament because it was precisely why Jesus died upon the cross. Through Jesus taking the full weight of our sin upon Himself, He is able to offer us new life.
Question
How do you respond to the fact that God is willing to forgive and forget all your sins?
Prayer
Loving God, thank you for Your willingness to set me free from my sins. Amen

Acts 28:30-31
For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ – with all boldness and without hindrance!
Paul’s journey to Rome was an amazing adventure. It was long and difficult, and during it, he and his companions survived a shipwreck. We would love to know far more details but now, in these final verses of Acts, we find Paul settled into a house in Rome. We are informed that he was guarded by a soldier, so he was being kept under what we would normally call house arrest. However, he was clearly given considerable freedom and was able to continue his ministry. There was no keeping Paul down!
The book of Acts began with a small, frightened and confused group of Jesus followers waiting in Jerusalem. Jesus gave them instructions to take the good news to the ends of the earth, which seemed impossible at the time. The 28 chapters of this amazing book tell us how it became a reality. Now, at last, we find Paul in the great city of Rome, at the heart of the Roman empire.
This should be a great encouragement to us all. There were many times of enormous difficulty and discouragement along the way, but God was at work and His word was fulfilled. As we face our own struggles and problems, we can be confident that God’s Holy Spirit will strengthen us and direct us.
Question
What encouragement do you take personally from the book of Acts?
Prayer
Lord God, in my weakness fill me with the power and wisdom of Your Holy Spirit today. Amen

Acts 24:24-25
Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”
Here we meet Paul on the Mediterranean coast in Caesarea, the regional centre of Roman authority. After the plot to kill Paul in Jerusalem, the apostle was brought before Governor Felix. What I love about our verses today is that they are a beautiful illustration of the fact that, whatever his circumstances, Paul just kept witnessing. You couldn’t stop him! One moment he was happy to share his testimony with an angry crowd and the next we find him sitting down with the most powerful man in the land and his wife, telling them the good news.
Felix didn’t have a great record. He was Governor of Judaea for eight years and had a reputation for cruelty and a love of bribes. It is said that he was hoping to get a bribe from Paul, so frequently asked to speak with the apostle. We have no idea what impact Paul’s testimony had on Felix and his wife, but that isn’t the issue. What is significant is that Paul seized his opportunity. We must leave with God the outcome of our witnessing. What matters is that we are continually seeking opportunities to speak of who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
Question
Will you pray for an opportunity to share your faith today?
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for every opportunity that You give me for sharing the good news about Jesus. Amen

Acts 23:11
The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
Paul was going through an incredibly difficult time. His arrival in Jerusalem had sparked a riot and the Roman authorities struggled to know what to do with him. They didn’t know how to handle religious disputes, so they tried to hand the matter over to the Jewish council. However, when Paul appeared before them, the meeting soon descended into chaos. The Roman commander who was watching the proceedings thought that Paul was in danger of being torn apart, so he ordered his soldiers to take him back into protective custody. By this time, they had discovered that Paul was a Roman citizen, which meant they had to be very careful in how they treated him.
In the midst of this confusing and dangerous situation, God spoke to Paul confirming that his witness would continue and would even take him to Rome itself. Paul could have no idea how that word was going to be fulfilled, but in that moment, he didn’t need to know. All he needed was the encouragement that he was doing God’s will, and the knowledge God would be with him.
I would love to tell you that your future is going to be problem-free, but God doesn’t promise us that. What He does promise is that He will be with us and that He has vital work for us to do. That should be a massive encouragement for us and should enable us to face the future with confidence and peace.
Question
Do you look to the future with confidence?
Prayer
Loving Father, thank you that my future is completely secure in Your hands. Amen