At times I’m amazed at how the Lord providentially brings together various readings to communicate one unified theme.
This year for my daily quiet time with God, I’m reading through the Bible as well as two additional devotional publications: Tabletalk magazine (by Ligonier Ministries), and Morning by Morning (by Charles Spurgeon).
Today a portion of my Scripture reading included Psalm 40, where David says,
You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. … I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. (vv. 5, 8-10)
David doesn’t just take in God’s Word; he talks about it. He tells the congregation about God’s faithfulness, love, and salvation. God calls us to do the same today as his people: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16; cf. Eph. 5:18-20). Like David, we are to treasure God’s truth in our hearts, but we’re not to keep it to ourselves; we’re to tell others, too!
That was my main takeaway from this psalm. Then I opened my Tabletalk magazine, and read I read a the weekend devotional by Deepak Reju titled “Weaponize Your Quiet Time.” Deepak writes,
Biblical truth should never be hoarded. To told on to it is selfish. God’s truth was never meant to stop with us. … Let’s strive to take something from our personal study of Scripture and weaponize it. Let us find someone and boldly and graciously hand them truth.
Don’t hoard God’s truth — herald it!
Finally, I turned to Spurgeon’s Morning by Morning and read the opening line for today’s devotional:
No promise is for private application. Whatever God has said to one saint, He has said to all. When He opens a well for one, it is that all may drink.
This truth encourages us in two different ways. First, on the receiving end. What God said to Moses, Abraham, and David, he meant for you and me. “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).
Furthermore, we can be encouraged to know that God’s Word for us is also his word for others. The specific application may differ from person to person, but the truth remains the same. So let’s share it!
This can be done through text, social media, and, best of all, personal conversation – especially when the church is gathered each Lord’s Day. Sing God’s Word! Pray God’s Word! Speak God’s Word! That’s how we encourage and build others up in Christ. For it is through the written Word that we meet the living Word, Jesus.