DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Help us to make an acceptable confession of sin, with much mourning, with much deep regret, with much self-loathing, and with the absence of anything like a pretense to merit or to excuse. Here we stand, Lord, a company of tax-collectors and sinners, with whom Jesus deigns to sit down.
Heal us, Emanuel! Here we are, needing that healing. Good Physician, here is scope for you; come and manifest your healing power! There are many of us who have looked unto Jesus and are lightened, but we do confess that our faith was the gift of God. We had never looked with these bleary eyes of ours to that dear cross, unless first the heavenly light had shone, and the heavenly finger had taken the thick scales away. We trace therefore our faith to that same God who gave us life, and we ask now that we may have more of it.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:2)
A hypocrite is satisfied with the washing of his garments, but the true repentant sinner cries, “Wash me. ‘Wash me throughly from mine iniquity.’ It is almost the only thing that I can really call my own, and it is most sadly mine, O Lord, wash mine iniquity right away!”
You notice that David’s prayer is not concerning the punishment of his sin, but concerning the sin itself. That is the one thing which is eating into his heart; see how many words he uses to describe it: “My sin; mine iniquity; my transgressions.” He cries to God to help him to get rid of that which is the source of all his sorrow. The thief dreads the gallows, but the repentant sinner fears not the punishment of his sin, it is the sin itself that terrifies him.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
We are shaped by our habits — so cultivate good, godly habits in your home.
Parents, have any of your children ever learned anything important the first time you said it? Of course not. Our children won’t learn the most important things (like knowing the Bible, loving God, and trusting Christ) by being told once — they need to be told these things over and over again.
Teaching our children anything requires a lot of repetition, so let’s cultivate daily rhythms of reading and discussing God’s Word with our families.
That’s the goal of GodCenteredFamily.org — making family Bible time a daily habit in your household, so that God is at the center of your family’s life.
If you want to have a daily family devotional, you don’t have to do it alone. I want to help you along the way. When you subscribe to GodCenteredFamily.org, you’ll receive everything you need for a daily family devotional, so that having a daily family Bible time is a joy instead of a burden.
I hope you’ll try out these family devotionals today and start to make God’s Word a daily, joy-filled habit in your home.
Download a free one-week family devotional at GodCenteredFamily.org.