Monday, April 13, 2026

Talk to Your Tears

Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. (Psalm 126:5–6)


There is nothing sad about sowing seed. It takes no more work than reaping. The days can be beautiful. There can be great hope of harvest.


Yet the psalm speaks of sowing “in tears.” It says that someone “goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing.” So, why are they weeping?


I think the reason is not that sowing is sad, or that sowing is hard. I think the reason has nothing to do with sowing. Sowing is simply the work that has to be done, even when there are things in life that make us cry.


The crops won’t wait while we finish our grief or solve all our problems. If we are going to eat next winter, we must get out in the field and sow the seed, whether we are crying or not.


If you do that, the promise of the psalm is that you will “reap with shouts of joy.” You will “come home with shouts of joy, bringing [your] sheaves with [you].” Not because the tears of sowing produce the joy of reaping, but because the sheer sowing produces the reaping, and you need to remember this even when your tears tempt you to give up sowing.


So, here’s the lesson: When there are simple, straightforward jobs to be done, and you are full of sadness, and tears are flowing easily, go ahead and do the jobs with tears. Be realistic. Say to your tears, “Tears, I feel you. You make me want to quit life. But there is a field to be sown (dishes to be washed, car to be fixed, sermon to be written).”


Then say, on the basis of God’s word, “Tears, I know that you will not stay forever. The very fact that I just do my work (tears and all) will in the end bring a harvest of blessing. So, go ahead and flow if you must. But I believe — though I do not yet see it or feel it fully — I believe that the simple work of my sowing will bring sheaves of harvest. And my tears will be turned to joy.”


John Piper 

Is God Driving Your Life?

“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.” PSALM 4:1

 

PONDER THIS


Many of us want to use God like our spare tires rather than our steering wheels. We want to wait until we have spiritual blowouts and see if God will come and help us, rather than doing as Jesus taught us to do by seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. (See Matthew 6:33.) Why does God allow us to have problems? To cause us to do exactly what Jehoshaphat did: to seek Him!


Did you know that if we never had problems, most likely we would not seek God? When are the times you’ve grown the most? Be honest. When everything was fine? Likely, the times God was the nearest, dearest, and most real to you—the times when you agonized in prayer and found God to be faithful—were when you were going through trouble. That’s what David said: “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress” (Psalm 4:1, KJV).


How do you relate to this picture of the spare tire versus the steering wheel? Which are you more likely to view God as in your life?

How have you seen your dependence on God grow in difficult times? What can that teach you?


PRACTICE THIS


Journal about a difficult time when you grew in dependence on God. Write about the unique blessings that came out of that time.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

 

April 13

Mark 5:21-43


[21] And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. [22] Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet [23] and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” [24] And he went with him. 


And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.  [25] And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, [26] and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. [27] She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. [28] For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” [29] And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. [30] And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” [31] And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” [32] And he looked around to see who had done it. [33] But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. [34] And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”


[35] While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” [36] But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” [37] And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. [38] They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. [39] And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” [40] And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. [41] Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” [42] And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. [43] And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.


1 Corinthians 9:13-27


[13] Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? [14] In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.


[15] But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. [16] For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! [17] For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. [18] What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.


[19] For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. [20] To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. [21] To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. [22] To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. [23] I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.


[24] Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. [25] Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26] So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. [27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.


Psalm 83


A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.


    [1] O God, do not keep silence;

        do not hold your peace or be still, O God! 

    [2] For behold, your enemies make an uproar;

        those who hate you have raised their heads. 

    [3] They lay crafty plans against your people;

        they consult together against your treasured ones. 

    [4] They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;

        let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” 

    [5] For they conspire with one accord;

        against you they make a covenant—

    [6] the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

        Moab and the Hagrites, 

    [7] Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,

        Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 

    [8] Asshur also has joined them;

        they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah


    [9] Do to them as you did to Midian,

        as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, 

    [10] who were destroyed at En-dor,

        who became dung for the ground. 

    [11] Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

        all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 

    [12] who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves

        of the pastures of God.”


    [13] O my God, make them like whirling dust,

        like chaff before the wind. 

    [14] As fire consumes the forest,

        as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, 

    [15] so may you pursue them with your tempest

        and terrify them with your hurricane! 

    [16] Fill their faces with shame,

        that they may seek your name, O LORD. 

    [17] Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;

        let them perish in disgrace, 

    [18] that they may know that you alone,

        whose name is the LORD,

        are the Most High over all the earth.


Judges 4


[1] And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. [2] And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. [3] Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.


[4] Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. [5] She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. [6] She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. [7] And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” [8] Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” [9] And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. [10] And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.


[11] Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.


[12] When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, [13] Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. [14] And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. [15] And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. [16] And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.


[17] But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. [18] And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. [19] And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. [20] And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” [21] But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. [22] And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.


[23] So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. [24] And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.


Judges 5


[1] Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:


    [2] “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,

        that the people offered themselves willingly,

        bless the LORD!


    [3] “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;

        to the LORD I will sing;

        I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.


    [4] “LORD, when you went out from Seir,

        when you marched from the region of Edom,

    the earth trembled

        and the heavens dropped,

        yes, the clouds dropped water. 

    [5] The mountains quaked before the LORD,

        even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.


    [6] “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,

        in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,

        and travelers kept to the byways. 

    [7] The villagers ceased in Israel;

        they ceased to be until I arose;

        I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel. 

    [8] When new gods were chosen,

        then war was in the gates.

    Was shield or spear to be seen

        among forty thousand in Israel? 

    [9] My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel

        who offered themselves willingly among the people.

        Bless the LORD.


    [10] “Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,

        you who sit on rich carpets

        and you who walk by the way. 

    [11] To the sound of musicians at the watering places,

        there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD,

        the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.


    “Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD.


    [12] “Awake, awake, Deborah!

        Awake, awake, break out in a song!

    Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,

        O son of Abinoam. 

    [13] Then down marched the remnant of the noble;

        the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty. 

    [14] From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,

        following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;

    from Machir marched down the commanders,

        and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s staff; 

    [15] the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,

        and Issachar faithful to Barak;

        into the valley they rushed at his heels.

    Among the clans of Reuben

        there were great searchings of heart. 

    [16] Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds,

        to hear the whistling for the flocks?

    Among the clans of Reuben

        there were great searchings of heart. 

    [17] Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;

        and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?

    Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,

        staying by his landings. 

    [18] Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;

        Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.


    [19] “The kings came, they fought;

        then fought the kings of Canaan,

    at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;

        they got no spoils of silver. 

    [20] From heaven the stars fought,

        from their courses they fought against Sisera. 

    [21] The torrent Kishon swept them away,

        the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.

        March on, my soul, with might!


    [22] “Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs

        with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.


    [23] “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD,

        curse its inhabitants thoroughly,

    because they did not come to the help of the LORD,

        to the help of the LORD against the mighty.


    [24] “Most blessed of women be Jael,

        the wife of Heber the Kenite,

        of tent-dwelling women most blessed. 

    [25] He asked for water and she gave him milk;

        she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl. 

    [26] She sent her hand to the tent peg

        and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;

    she struck Sisera;

        she crushed his head;

        she shattered and pierced his temple. 

    [27] Between her feet

        he sank, he fell, he lay still;

    between her feet

        he sank, he fell;

    where he sank,

        there he fell—dead.


    [28] “Out of the window she peered,

        the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:

    ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?

        Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’ 

    [29] Her wisest princesses answer,

        indeed, she answers herself, 

    [30] ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—

        A womb or two for every man;

    spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,

        spoil of dyed materials embroidered,

        two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’


    [31] “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!

        But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.”


    And the land had rest for forty years. 

Sunday, April 12, 2026

You Cannot Lose in the End


“You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” (Matthew 27:65)


When Jesus was dead and buried, with a big stone rolled against the tomb, the Pharisees came to Pilate and asked for permission to seal the stone and guard the tomb.


They gave it their best shot — in vain.


It was hopeless then, it is hopeless today, and it will always be hopeless. Try as they may, people can’t keep Jesus down. They can’t keep him buried.


It’s not hard to figure out: He can break out because he wasn’t forced in. He let himself be libeled and harassed and blackballed and scorned and shoved around and killed.


I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. (John 10:17–18)


No one can keep him down because no one ever knocked him down. He lay down when he was ready.


When it looks like he is buried for good, Jesus is doing something awesome in the dark. “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how” (Mark 4:26–27).


The world thinks Jesus is done for — out of the way — but Jesus is at work in the dark places. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). He let himself be buried — “no one takes [my life] from me” — and he will come out in power when and where he pleases — “I have authority to take it up again.”


“God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). Jesus has his priesthood today “by the power of an indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16).


For twenty centuries, the world has given it their best shot — in vain. They can’t bury him. They can’t hold him in. They can’t silence him or limit him. Jesus is alive and utterly free to go and come wherever he pleases.


Trust him and go with him, no matter what. You cannot lose in the end.



John Piper 


Choosing the Father’s Will

 

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.”

ISAIAH 53:10A

 

PONDER THIS


When Jesus Christ suffered as our substitute, He took the full force of the Father’s wrath. The fires of God’s wrath burned themselves out on the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary. No one ever suffered like the Lord Jesus. He, the Son of God, who had been in the bosom of the Father for all eternity, was not only abandoned by the Father but also became the object of the Father’s loathing and wrath. All the sin of the world was distilled into that cup He drank.


How could Jesus suffer an eternity of hell on the cross? The reason is this: He, being infinite, suffered in a finite period what we, being finite, would suffer in an infinite period. The eternities were compressed upon Jesus. The sins of the world were distilled upon Jesus. We cannot begin to imagine the emotional suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder He lay there prostrate on the ground with red blood and black dirt on His face, saying, “Father, if there be some other way, please! Let this cup pass from Me.” But the silence from Heaven said, “There is no other way.” So, the dear Savior said, “Then not My will, but Thine be done.”


What does it tell you of Jesus’s love for you that He denied His own will to rescue you?

Where is God calling you to follow His will instead of your own?


PRACTICE THIS


Consider where God is calling you to follow His will over your own and act in accordance with that conviction today.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

April 12

Mark 5:1-20


[1] They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. [2] And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. [3] He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, [4] for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. [5] Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. [6] And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. [7] And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” [8] For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” [9] And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” [10] And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. [11] Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, [12] and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” [13] So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.


[14] The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. [15] And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. [16] And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. [17] And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. [18] As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. [19] And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” [20] And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.


1 Corinthians 9:1-12


[1] Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? [2] If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.


[3] This is my defense to those who would examine me. [4] Do we not have the right to eat and drink? [5] Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? [6] Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? [7] Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?


[8] Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? [9] For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? [10] Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. [11] If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? [12] If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? 


Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 


Psalm 82


A Psalm of Asaph.


    [1] God has taken his place in the divine council;

        in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 

    [2] “How long will you judge unjustly

        and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 

    [3] Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;

        maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 

    [4] Rescue the weak and the needy;

        deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”


    [5] They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

        they walk about in darkness;

        all the foundations of the earth are shaken.


    [6] I said, “You are gods,

        sons of the Most High, all of you; 

    [7] nevertheless, like men you shall die,

        and fall like any prince.”


    [8] Arise, O God, judge the earth;

        for you shall inherit all the nations!


Judges 1


[1] After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the LORD, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” [2] The LORD said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” [3] And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. [4] Then Judah went up and the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. [5] They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. [6] Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. [7] And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.


[8] And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. [9] And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. [10] And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.


[11] From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. [12] And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” [13] And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. [14] When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” [15] She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.


[16] And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. [17] And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah. [18] Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. [19] And the LORD was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. [20] And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. [21] But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.


[22] The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. [23] And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) [24] And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” [25] And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. [26] And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.


[27] Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. [28] When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.


[29] And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.


[30] Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.


[31] Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, [32] so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.


[33] Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.


[34] The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. [35] The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. [36] And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.


Judges 2


[1] Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, [2] and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? [3] So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” [4] As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. [5] And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the LORD.


[6] When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. [7] And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. [8] And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. [9] And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. [10] And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.


[11] And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. [12] And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. [13] They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. [14] So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. [15] Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.


[16] Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. [17] Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. [18] Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. [19] But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. [20] So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, [21] I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, [22] in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” [23] So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.


Judges 3


[1] Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. [2] It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. [3] These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. [4] They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. [5] So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. [6] And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.


[7] And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. [8] Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. [9] But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. [10] The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. [11] So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.


[12] And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. [13] He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. [14] And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.


[15] Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. [16] And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. [17] And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. [18] And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. [19] But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. [20] And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. [21] And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. [22] And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. [23] Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.


[24] When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” [25] And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.


[26] Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. [27] When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. [28] And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. [29] And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. [30] So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.


[31] After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.

Saturday, April 11, 2026

The Great King’s Wine

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)


I have never heard anyone say, “The really deep lessons of my life have come through times of ease and comfort.” But I have heard strong saints say, “Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love and growing deep with him, has come through suffering.”


This is a sobering biblical truth. For example: “For [Christ’s] sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Paraphrase: No pain, no gain. Or:


Now let it all be sacrificed, if it will get me more of Christ.


Here’s another example: “Although he was a son, [Jesus] learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). The same book said he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).


So learning obedience does not mean switching from disobedience to obedience. It means growing deeper and deeper with God in the experience of obedience. It means experiencing depths of yieldedness to God that would not have been otherwise attained. This is what came through suffering. No pain, no gain.


Samuel Rutherford said that when he was cast into the cellars of affliction, he remembered that the great King always kept his wine there. Charles Spurgeon said, “They who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.”


Do you not love your beloved more when you feel some strange pain that makes you think you have cancer? We are strange creatures indeed. If we have health and peace and time to love, it can become a thin and hasty thing. But if we are dying, love becomes a deep, slow river of inexpressible joy, and we can scarcely endure to give it up.


Therefore brothers and sisters, “Count it all joy . . . when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2).


John Piper