May 26 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"For all the promises of God find their YES in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our AMEN to God for his glory" (2 Cor. 1:20).

Devotional

It pleased a gracious and sin-pardoning God to meet our guilty and conscience-stricken parents immediately after the fall with the comforting and gracious promise that the "Seed of the woman"—his eternal Son, the everlasting Mediator—should "bruise the serpent's head" (Gen. 3:15). On this divine assurance of recovering and saving mercy they rested. Believing this, as they doubtless did, they were saved, "the first fruits for God and the Lamb" (Rev. 14:4). Make no mistake. They rested, not upon the bare letter of the promise, but upon its substance. They rested, not merely upon the grace promised, but upon the truth of God in the promise.

The bare letter of a promise is no resting-place for a believing soul. It can convey no solid consolation and support. Thus far and no further did many Jews, to whom the promises pertained, get. This is all that they saw in the types and promises which set forth "God's inexpressible gift" (2 Cor. 9:15). They rested in the mere letter. They did not see Christ in them. And, to those who do not rest in Christ as their substance and glory, "faith is null and the promise is void" (Rom. 4:14).

Now God has fulfilled his ancient promise. The Word he spoke to Adam, he has made good to the letter to us, his posterity. It is true, the vision of grace and glory seemed to delay for a long while, but it delayed only for its appointed time. It is true, the vista through which patriarchs, seers, and prophets beheld it was long and dreary. The star of hope was often scarcely seen in the dim distance. It frequently seemed for a moment entirely quenched in darkness. Time rolled heavily along. A period of four thousand years elapsed. But, true to his Word, faithful to his promise, "when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:4–5).

Oh, how gloriously the truth of the LORD God Almighty shone in the person of the babe of Bethlehem! How it gathered brightness as the holy child Jesus increased in stature and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52)! And to what midday splendor it blazed forth when on Calvary it united grace and mercy with holiness and justice in finishing the great work of the Church's redemption! Then was it that "steadfast love and faithfulness [met]; righteousness and peace kiss[ed] each other" (Ps. 85:10).

Jesus is the grand evidence that God is true. Faith needs no more. Faith asks no more. Here it rests, as on a stable foundation. Ever "looking unto Jesus" (Heb. 12:2), it can thread its way—often sunless and starless—through a dreary and convoluted wilderness. It can travel through trials, endure temptations, bow meekly to disappointments, bear up under frowning providences, and sustain the shock of fearful conflicts trusting in the God of the covenant, resting on his promise and oath, and implicitly believing his Word. Why? Because it sees in Jesus Christ an ever-living witness that God is true.

Hark, the glad sound! the Savior comes,
the Savior promised long:
let every heart prepare a throne,
and every voice a song!
On him the Spirit, largely poured,
exerts his sacred fire;
wisdom, and might, and zeal, and love
his holy breast inspire.

He comes the pris'ners to release,
in Satan's bondage held;
the gates of brass before him burst,
the iron fetters yield.
He comes the broken heart to bind,
the bleeding soul to cure;
and with the treasures of his grace
to enrich the humble poor.

Our glad Hosannas, Prince of Peace,
your welcome shall proclaim;
and heav'n's eternal arches ring
with your beloved Name.
Hark, the glad sound! the Savior comes,
the Savior promised long:
let every heart prepare a throne,
and every voice a song!

Philip Doddridge, 1735 (sl. alt., 2008, LEW)
(sing to tune, CAROL, C.M.D. ["It came upon the midnight clear"])

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.