Daily Devotionals for August 17, 2026

So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. § What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. § The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. § Use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this...

Turn not disdainfully away from these words of God, as though they had no claim upon your attention. These words come to you, so to speak, upon your own invitation. For, what have you done all your life long, but rush hither and thither, into this path and into that, crying unceasingly, " How shall I obtain the desires of my heart?" Behold here an answer to your life-long question. The explanation of all your disappointments, the remedy of all your sorrows, is here. Though there were on your...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ecclesiastes 10:16-20

Solomon draws attention to the picture of a land governed by an immature king. The NIV says "servant" (v. 16), but the real thought here is of immaturity. Moffatt translates verse 16: "Woe betide you, O land, when your king is a mere boy." In other words, woe betide you, O land, when you have a fool on the...

The armies of the three kings were famishing for want of water: God was about to send it, and in these words the prophet announced the coming blessing. Here was a case of human helplessness: not a drop of water could all the valiant men procure from the skies or find in the wells of earth. Thus often the people of the Lord are at their wits' end; they see the vanity of the creature, and learn experimentally where their help is to be found. Still the people were to make a believing...

QUIETNESS is expressive of submission to the holy will of God, and supposes a waiting upon Him as directed by His word. It is the believer's duty to be silent before God while He is working, being assured that his best interests are secured by the promises, and that all things will be made plain by-and-bye. He should confide in the Lord's word, and rely on the Lord's wisdom, love, and ability. Our confidence must arise from God's word, a review of His dealings with His people, and the...

For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law" (Gal. 3:21).

Paul devoted two full chapters to establish our freedom from the fallen Adam. Romans Six sets forth our freedom from the dominion of Adamic sin; Romans Seven explains our freedom from Adamic law.

Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; he is manna always falling round the camp; he is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing. As the King can never...

Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. § Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have...

Elsewhere I have said that we cannot know God by thinking, but that we must do a lot of thinking if we would know Him well. This sounds self-contradictory, but I am sure that the two statements are in full accord with each other. The inability of the human mind to know God in a true and final sense is taken for granted throughout the Bible and even taught in plain words in such passages as these: No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he...

Matthew 28:1-20

We think of death ordinarily as the end of a man's life. He can do no more work in this world. Only his influence remains. But it was not the end of the life of Jesus Christ. He came again from the grave after a brief rest - and took up once more His work of redemption.

The women watched beside the grave after the burial of the body there, until they were...

One of the many ways in which we can honor the Lord is by standing true to divine principles and by steadfastly refusing to compromise.

During his early years Adam Clarke worked for a silk merchant. One day his boss showed him how he should stretch the silk when measuring it out for a customer. Adam said, "Sir, your silk may stretch but my conscience won't." Years later God honored that honest clerk by enabling him to write the Bible commentary that bears his name.

Eric Liddell...

"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." 2 Kings 6:16

Horses and chariots and a great host shut up the prophet in Dothan. His young servant was alarmed. How could they escape from such a body of armed men? But the prophet had eyes which his servant had not, and he could see a greater host with far superior weapons guarding him from all harm. Horses of fire are mightier than horses...

In spite of our lip-service to democracy, Americans are a decidedly class-conscious people. The very politicians and educators and church leaders among us who sound abroad the praises of the common man and plead for equal rights for all are in private practice as aloof from the plain people as the proudest monarch could ever be. There exists among us an aristocracy composed of famous people, rich men, social lions, actors, public figures and headliners of one kind or another, and these are a...