April 28

Morning

Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have given me hope. — Ps 119:49 BSB

Whatever your specific need may be, you can find a promise in the Bible that meets it. Are you weak and weary from a rough path? Here’s the promise: “He gives power to the faint.” When you read such a promise, take it back to the Promiser and ask Him to fulfill His Word. Are you seeking Christ and thirsting for closer communion with Him? This promise shines brightly upon you: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Take that promise to the throne of grace continually, and say, “Lord, You have said it—do as You have said.”

Are you weighed down by the burden of sin and guilt? Hear these comforting words: “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions and remembers your sins no more.” You have no merit of your own to plead for forgiveness, but you can plead God’s written promise, and He will honor it.

Are you afraid that you won’t be able to endure to the end? Do you fear that after believing yourself to be a child of God, you might still fall away? If so, take this gracious promise to the throne: “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, My covenant of love will not be removed from you.”

If you’ve lost the sense of the Savior’s presence and are seeking Him with a sorrowful heart, remember these promises: “Return to Me, and I will return to you.” “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion, I will gather you.” Strengthen your faith with God’s own Word. Whatever your fears or needs, bring His promises to the throne of grace, and confidently say, “Remember Your word to Your servant, for You have given me hope.”

Evening

But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. — Ezek 3:7 BSB

Is there no exception? No, not one. Even the favored nation of Israel is described in this way. If the best are so guilty, what must the worst be like? My heart, reflect on how you share in this universal accusation, and be prepared to accept the shame that is rightfully yours, no matter how guilty you may be.

The first charge is impudence, a lack of holy shame, a boldness in committing evil. Before I was converted, I could sin without feeling any remorse. I could hear about my guilt and remain unmoved. I could confess my sins but feel no deep sorrow over them. For a sinner to enter God’s house, pretend to pray, and offer praise without sincerity shows a brazen attitude of the worst kind! Sadly, even after my conversion, I’ve doubted my Lord to His face, grumbled unashamedly in His presence, worshiped Him half-heartedly, and sinned without true repentance. If my conscience weren’t hardened like stone, I would have much more holy fear and much deeper sorrow. Woe is me, for I am one of the impudent house of Israel!

The second charge is hard-heartedness, and I can’t claim innocence here either. I once had a heart of stone, and though God has graciously given me a new heart, much of my former stubbornness remains. I am not as deeply moved by Christ’s suffering and death as I ought to be. I am not broken by the sinfulness of this world, the wickedness of the times, the discipline of my heavenly Father, or my own failures as I should be. Oh, that my heart would melt at the thought of my Savior’s sufferings and death! I long to be rid of this cold, lifeless heart within me—this body of death. Blessed be the name of the Lord, the disease isn’t incurable! The precious blood of Jesus is the universal remedy, and it will soften even my hardened heart until it melts like wax before the fire.