“For he knows the secrets of the heart.”

Psalm 44:21b

In a world of appearances and masks, this verse comes to expose us. When measured against outward actions, most people would say they are good, kind, generous, and cooperative. We live in a world that praises human effort, expression, and experience as pure and good. 

The Bible is not so optimistic about human nature. What man sees as good, God often sees as a dirty rag trying to wipe away the dirt of the inner self: it doesn’t work. Here this verse reminds us of the truth that God is not fooled. He knows the secrets of the heart.

I always ask people this question: “If you had a television screen on your forehead that showed every single thought that went through your head during the day, what would people think of you?” Most people would never go outside again. If we are honest, the inner thoughts are often dark, sinister, lustful, selfish, destructive, jealous, envious, arrogant, and rude. When stacked against the “secrets of the hearts,” no one is good.

This is the consistent message of the Bible: no one is good enough before God because sin has utterly distorted our entire lives. And we aren’t passive victims in this reality; we are the rebellious perpetrators. We all have waged war as God’s enemies, actively seeking to usurp his throne and make ourselves our own, tiny little “g” gods.

Search your heart today. Allow the Holy Spirit to crack open what you think is unseen. I assure you, when you are exposed to the Word of God, which cuts like a sword, “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13). 

This is a frightening spotlight to be under. We all know inwardly we deserve justice for our wrongdoings. God is holy. In His presence sin cannot stand. Under His piercing holiness we can either squirm, attempting to hole up our sins, or we can run to the light, exposing the masquerade  we’ve built around others. The former is hardening your heart to God’s truth; the latter is repentance.

The good news is that, while God is just, he is also so gracious. This has been proven in the phrase: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rm 5:8). The apostle goes on to say “if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Rm 5:10). What comforting words! God has sent Christ to be the full, sufficient, blood-bought payment for the “secrets of your heart”! In light of this grace, run to him. Do not be afraid to hide any longer. If we “confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). Jesus Christ now stands as the One who takes every secret of your heart and nails it to the cross. 

Beloved, this frees you today. Will you hide from God’s work in you to expose the darkness that remains? Will you believe the lie that you are better off than you think? Or will you turn to the gracious and holy God who desires to cleanse you from the secrets within, bringing everything to the surface? Like David, will you pray: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! / Try me and know my thoughts! / And see if there be any grievous way in me, / and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps 139:23-24). This is the only way to freedom.

“For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me?”

Psalm 43:2a

This is an interesting verse. Like a pendulum, the psalmist swings from one extreme to the other in a flash of a second. He declares the truth: “God, you are my refuge.” Then he questions that truth: “why have you rejected me?” We have much to learn from this short line of poetry.

Similar to yesterday’s devotion, we find in this verse the natural human response to despair: questioning God’s character. More than that, however, we find an inkling of what faith may look like in the midst of despair. 

Biblical faith is never idyllic in its response to life. Constantly in the psalms we see the people of God traversing difficult, depressing, and distressing situations. Yet the response is the same: they sing about it to God. They lament to God. They ask questions to God. One word you see most often in the psalms is the universal human question: “why?”

Beloved, we must always remember this: bring your questions to God. There will be times in life where you inwardly know, with all your soul, that what God says is true—but you cannot muster the faith to believe it. Like the psalmist we can say in the same breath: “God, I know your Word is true, but why do I not believe it?” or “God, I know you say you are with me, but right now I don’t feel that.” Both are exercises of faith. Take what you know to be true about God, then take your feelings, and bring them both to God in raw, heartfelt prayer. 

The problem with our doubts will ultimately lie in bitterness and pride. If we do not deal with them, they will consume us and make us cynical towards our good Lord. Like Job, we may feel justified with our questions and eventually think we deserve to put God “on trial” for what has happened in our lives. I urge you: do not let it come to this point. Bring your doubt to God right now.

When you do, you may not receive the answer you would like to hear, but it is the answer you need. To Job he responded: “where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (Job 38:4). In the groaning of suffering or confusion, the Lord’s sovereign control and wisdom over every detail of life is a bitter, yet medicinal pill to swallow. His power shows he can handle your questions. Do you think he lacks wisdom? Do you think he is unable to answer or see ahead? We become so tunnel-visioned in our doubts when we think we know more than the Creator.

While this may be a bitter pill—there is sweet honey afterward. The same Creator has come as the Christ. He is “Emmanuel,” God with us. He is the tender and good Shepherd who laid his life down for his sheep. He wept at the tomb with his friends when Lazarus died. He is not immune to the sufferings of the world: no, he has come into them. What has changed with your situation? He is with you always. Your God is compassionate and slow to anger. He can handle your doubts as the powerful Creator, but also as the gentle Counselor. 

In light of his unceasing power over the world and his personal care for your life, bring your doubts to him. Wrestle with him in prayer and in the Word. Reach out to a godly friend who can point you to the truths of God. Do not let your doubts spread like bitter weeds in the garden where God is pruning you. Let the heavenly Vinedresser tend to your soul. Though it may hurt in a moment, the fruit will be more beautiful than ever imagined, and joy will come in the morning.

“…they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’”

Psalm 42:3 & 10

Where in your life have you heard the taunt: “where is your God?” In the difficulty of your marriage? In the weariness of raising children? In the dysfunction of a workplace? In a troubling diagnosis? In the searing ache of grief and loss? In a personal sin struggle you can’t seem to get out of? Answer this question: where in your life are you tempted to believe that God is not with you?

The psalmist was in a dark place. He was “cast down” (v.5). He felt as if God had forgotten him (v.9). He had been weeping “day and night” because of his struggle (v.3). We do not know exactly what his situation was, but the result was similar to ours: he was tempted to believe that God was not present in his life. 

In the difficulties of life, most of us live with what Paul Tripp calls a “gospel-gap” in our thinking.¹ For one reason or another, we believe God has saved us in the past (conversion) and will save us in the future (heaven); but when difficulty arises in the present, our first instinct is to believe he has forsaken us! This “gap” comes out in the questions: “God, where are you?” “What are you doing?” Like the psalmist, we hear the taunts of our enemy, situations, or weaknesses: Ha! See! God is not with you. He would never allow you to go through something like this. He’s left you all alone with this mess!

We are creatures prone to despair. How have you given in to these lies? Where do you subtly allow pessimism to discount God’s grace working in the difficulties of life? The temptation is to equate difficulty with God forsaking us, and comfortability with God’s approval. We think, “if life is going good, God is with me.” Yet as soon as something is difficult, we groan: “God, where are you?”

We must rid ourselves of this thinking. In its place, we must run to the gospel that provides grace for the present moment. By faith, we must close the gospel-gap we have created with our doubts. Think of this: if God has saved you in the past from all your sin (and you are sure of it!), then why wouldn’t he also be working in the present? Romans 8:32 summarizes this truth: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Believer, if God has saved you from your sins—an eternal matter!—why would He forsake you in your circumstances—mere temporal matters? He proved His love and faithfulness by giving you His Son; don’t turn back now and believe He has left because of a trial!

Fellow Christian, close this gospel gap today. Respond to these doubts with Jesus’ promise: “behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). For there, yes, even in the most broken places of life, He is working all things for your ultimate good: to be made more like Himself. You may not see exactly why things are this way, but trust in His goodness today. 

He is with you always. Never once has He left.

¹Lane, Timothy S. & Paul David Tripp. How People Change. New Growth Press. 2008.

“Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”

Psalm 41:9

You may have had someone close to you betray you or hurt you. The Bible is not oblivious to life in a fallen world. It is honest with the sin within us, within other people, within society, and within the world. 

Here, David has been betrayed by a “close friend.” We do not know who this was, only that David once had sweet fellowship with him. We can probably assume this was someone who was close to David before he was king, yet due to the circumstances surrounding either Saul or Absalom, betrayed David for political position. David took this betrayal seriously; it wounded him and caused severe grief and anxiety in his life.

But notice how David expresses his pain: he brings it to the Lord in petition. What you find in the Psalms is the principle Paul pens in Romans 12:19: “never avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God…” You may have serious wounds from others’ betrayal, infidelity, harshness, or disrespect towards you. You may wonder “how could they ever do that? I thought they loved me?” How do you deal with such painful wounds? Are you bitter in heart? Do you carry residual anger within you? Is it all you can think about?

These responses seem justifiable. You are hurt. You deserve vengeance and justice. Yet what does this bring in the end? A “root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble” (Heb 12:15). The weeds of unforgiveness and vengeance in your heart only spread to make the rest of your life miserable. 

When the pain of others’ actions is unbearable, we must remember something: our Lord has felt these things too. This verse from David is directly cited in John 13: Jesus just washed his disciples feet. He knows his hour has come. He was to stumble upon a brutal road to wear a crown of thorns and hang pierced on a cross. Yet what did his friends do in that most agonizing hour? Most fled the scene. One denied even knowing him to save his reputation. Another, one who shared bread with Jesus and whose feet had just been washed by him, betrayed him for a petty load of pennies. When all his friends were gone, Jesus was left to the crowd, who jeered and cheered: “Crucify! Crucify! Crucify!” 

Yet what did our Lord utter upon the cross as he poured out his life? Hear these gracious words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). Here, the Son of God, the only One who had the right to bring vengeance upon his adversaries, gave his life to forgive them—and you. 

Do not forget that you were one of those in the crowd. You were one of the disciples who fled. You have betrayed Jesus by your life and by your denial of him before others. We all were once sheep led astray. Yet even in this wrongdoing, Jesus has turned it into salvation. He has forgiven those who did not deserve it.

If Christ has forgiven you so great a debt, though it be toilsome and difficult, you too are to forgive those who have wounded you. Cry out to the Lord for help in this matter. Bring your complaint and approach his mercy seat. Do not be like that ungrateful servant, who, after being released from an insurmountable offense, turned around to condemn his servant for a lesser one. As Jesus said elsewhere: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36) and “he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Lk 7:47). Consider how the Lord has been so merciful and forgiving of you, and let that love drive you day by day to forgive even the worst of hurts others place on you. They may not “deserve” it, but, for the sake of your soul, do not allow that wound to envelop and poison the rest of your life.

“I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation…”

Psalm 40:10a

When we think of the Psalms, scarcely does the word evangelism ever come to our minds. But that is exactly what David has to teach us today. He says “I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart.” What does this mean?

First, it means that David has experienced the Lord’s deliverance in his life. Another word for deliverance here is righteousness. Righteousness means having a right and pure standing before God. David knows his sin: he confesses later in this psalm that his “iniquities have overtaken” him (v.12). So how can David, a sinner, be righteous before a holy God? The answer must come from the outside. This is why David says “I have not hidden your deliverance.” The word your is the key. It is the Lord’s righteousness which David has experienced. Not his own.

Christian, if you have looked upon Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, the Word says that you now have His righteousness. “For our sake” God made Jesus “to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). This is good news! Your standing before God does not depend upon your personal performance or piety. This is what the Pharisees thought made them pure. Although we should seek to live holy lives out of sheer gratitude for our Savior, it is only by His spotless life traded on our behalf that we can now be called righteous. We now have the deliverance of Christ within our hearts. Have you experienced this?

Second, David has evangelized the Lord’s deliverance in his life. Look at what he says, (and I dare say we often miss this): “I have not hidden your deliverance…I have spoken of…your salvation.” Because David has experienced the joys of God’s deliverance, he now desires to evangelize others with it. If we are honest, most of us disobey this verse because we hide this salvation within our hearts. We fear rejection. But this goes contrary to what our Lord says in Matthew 5: people do not “light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house” (Mt. 5:15).

There is a clear principle of human nature at work here: “we communicate what we cherish.” This is certainly true. We love football, so we speak of last Sunday’s game. We love our family, so we speak of their lives to others. We love our children, so we share what they are doing as they grow up. The principle is clear: you will eventually share what you hold most dear to your heart.

Do you cherish Jesus? Are you humbly brought to your knees because of His steadfast love poured over you? Do you realize that the God of the universe has “proved” his love by sending Christ, while you were “yet a sinner” (Rm 5:8)? Do you know that He will never forsake you, but you are now joined to Christ forever? Is not this news worth shouting? Oh friend, cherish your Savior! Pray to Him and worship His name right now under your breath. 

But don’t stop there. Do not hide the light in your heart. The world ever so needs it. The gift of Jesus is the best news you could ever share with someone. Have you experienced the love and grace of the Savior? Why would you not want your friends to have that too? 

Remember today: you will communicate what you cherish. 

Do you cherish Jesus?

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!”

Psalm 39:4

Humans are natural meaning-makers. We desire that our lives count for something. But the question must always be asked: what is the end? What becomes of me, my work, my possessions, my achievements, my health, my security, my comfort—in the end? This verse places us in the ring of reality: there will be an end to our days on the earth. Nothing is guaranteed.

Some may call such thinking morbid, but it’s not. It is simply reality. Each person will have their day when life as they know it passes from their eyes. Some are caught by surprise when it ends early: a terrible tragedy, a natural disaster, a terminal diagnosis. We grieve at the news of a life ended early. We know it was never supposed to be this way. And indeed it was not. Right now, death has its reign of terror over humanity.

In the beginning, God created us to have life in him. Because of Adam’s sin, that life was tarnished and handed over to the slow decay of death. We inherit this sin and give ourselves over to the process of death. In the end, no earthly possession will matter. We will pass on but it will remain, being placed in the hands of another. At the hearth of death everything we worked for will be left behind as we return to dust. What hope, then, is there?

When all seems lost and pointless, the gospel addresses the heart of this tragic situation. Jesus, who is Himself life, steps into this world of death, suffers death, rises from death, and forever defeats death. The good news is that the grave does not have the final word. As the sinless, spotless Son of God, Jesus should have never suffered the penalty of sin. But because of His great love for us, He chose to. The result is that, as we die to ourselves, we rise with Him into new life. His resurrection becomes our new, spiritual life. 

Yet the gospel continues. The promise is of a coming King who will return and make all things new. There will be a place with no more tears, pain, disease, or decay. For those who believe in Christ, eternity will be a reality far beyond our comprehension. On the other end, for those who remain dead in their sins, eternal death is the verdict. 

What does all this mean? It means that, yes, while all of us face a final day on this earth, and while all of us are as fleeting as the wind, for those who hope in Jesus, there awaits an eternal inheritance with the Father, Son & Holy Spirit which never spoils or fades. The clear application is this: “I will take nothing with me when I pass through the threshold of death into eternity. Therefore, only what is done for Christ remains.”

In view of your fleeting days on earth yet in hope of eternity, how do you need to change the way you live? Whose kingdom are you building: your own, which will fall; or Jesus’, which will stand forever? In the centuries to come, they will forget your name. But what if your life is lived in such a way that, like a budding oak tree hidden in the soil, will one day grow into the eternal fruit of thousands of believers who shout the name of Jesus? They may never see the root, but they will see the fruit. Are you content with that? What if your life is lived for the Name which will never be forgotten? Indeed, there will only be One Name shouted for all eternity, and it will not be yours. Why not give yourself for the glory of His Name with the days that remain? What pursuit, I ask, is greater than this?

“Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked”

Psalm 37:16

Here is a principle which the world does not understand, and, dare I say, is a snare for many Christians. The temptation is to equate an abundance of material possessions with prosperity, security, and happiness. This is known as materialism. “The more I own, the less I groan.” “The more I have, the less I’m sad.” These playful quips mark the core of this belief. If in your mind you ever think, “if only I had ________,” then likely you are falling prey to the fallacy of materialism. 

The problem with such thinking is that all possessions are temporal. The happiness they bring can only last a little while, if even that. When at you first buy a new piece of furniture, you are enamored with it. “Oh how this matches so well. It’s perfect!” Then slowly, you seem to forget that it is “new” anymore. In fact, you now complain you have to clean the pet hairs off it every week. Why? Because it was never meant to fill the eternal gap in your soul for something (or Someone) eternal. You thought it could, but it didn’t match up to your expectations.

This is why David (who is now old when writing this psalm) declares “better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.” He learned what his son Solomon did not: that material possessions do not equal security or satisfaction. Solomon had over 700 wives, unlimited wealth, and unceasing power. Any man’s greatest fleshly fantasy was realized in his life. Yet what did it make him realize in the end? “All is vanity and striving after the wind”! (Ecc 1:14). What a sad road to walk only to discover the end is nothing. This is why we hear of celebrities with depression and NFL players leaving the game due to mental concerns. Material possessions do not equal satisfaction. 

Christian, do not fall into this snare today. Take this principle to heart: “better is the little” that you have in Christ. You may not have much in your neighbor’s eyes, but all you need is in Christ. Indeed, from the perspective of the world, what you have in Jesus is “little,” but do not be fooled! From an eternal perspective, that “little” is in reality “enough.” Has Jesus forgiven all your sins? My fellow saint, that is enough. Has the Father given you His Holy Spirit to guide, comfort, and counsel you all your days? My friend, that is enough. Has Christ called you His brother, welcoming you into the family of God through the privilege of adoption? My brothers and sisters, that is enough. Does the Father see every hair on your head and know every need before you ask Him? By His sovereignty, that is enough. I could go on, but what you have in Jesus is enough.

Oh believer, how I wish today you would close your eyes to the trap of thinking “if I just had ________.” You have everything you need in Jesus Christ today. You have eternity. You have an inheritance that will never spoil or fade. And until now, has He not given you everything you have needed? It may not have been what you thought you needed, but He gives and takes what is necessary to shape you into the image of Christ.

Remember today, brother or sister: what the world sees as “little” is actually all you ever need, for this “little” is the wondrous possession of Christ’s righteousness, life, forgiveness, love, grace, mercy, help, and eternal fellowship. This is enough.