Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Exodus 20:2-4 “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” The ten commandments are remarkable in many ways, but possibly most amazing is how short they are. Since they were delivered to Mose...

Exodus 19:5-6 [The Lord said:] “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.” When God spoke these words to Moses it was exactly two months since the people had left Egypt. They were getting used to their new life in the desert and God wa...

Exodus 19:4 [The Lord said:] “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” The eagle is a huge bird with a wingspan of more than two metres. It was an impressive sight for the Israelites as they walked through the desert. It is easy to understand how it was often seen as a symbol of God’s loving provision. In Moses’ final speech...

Isaiah 53:5-6 He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah was ministering among a people in exile. They were living in Babylon (modern Iraq) far from home and everything seemed...

Isaiah 46:4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. I have huge respect for many people, but at the top of my list come carers. I am constantly amazed by the way in which so many people pour out their lives to support others. They give up their own convenience and opportunities in order...

Isaiah 44:8-9 You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock—not one! How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame. Isaiah has a great deal to say about idols. He laughs at the sheer stupidity of those who spent their time carving idols out of blocks of woo...

Isaiah 43:19 I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. In recent years, I have talked to lots of churches about their vision. It’s really important for any organisation to be inspired by a clear and captivating vision for the future. It keeps us going when life is dull and h...

Isaiah 43:2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. If you’ve got the impression that following God will give you the smoothest journey through life, you obviously haven’t read the Bible! From first to last in the Old T...

Psalm 106:6-7 Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly! Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the LORD’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea. I strongly recommend that you read through this psalm and the previous one because they are twins. In Psalm 105, we hear about al...

Psalm 105:1-2 Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. In this beautiful psalm, the writer rooted his praise in how God had acted in history. He looked back to how God had led Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and finally Moses. Through the years, God had been consistently faithf...

Psalm 104:24-25 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small. Many of the psalmists use the wonder of creation as a springboard for their worship. This particular psalm does so by reminding us of the six days of creation. The poetic langu...

Psalm 103:2-4 Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. This psalm begins with King David talking to himself! He called to mind how his life had been wonderfully blessed by God and concluded that his whole being needed to be involved in...

Psalm 101:1-2 I will sing of your love and justice, LORD. I will praise you with songs. I will be careful to live a blameless life—when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. Here, David reflects on his responsibility as king to care for the whole of society and to ensure that justice prevails. The final verse of the psalm gives us a powerful picture of his daily...

2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. As Paul brought this letter to an end, he gave them this wonderful greeting. I love these words and, over the years, when I have sent a card to someone, I have very often quoted this verse. What greater blessing could you seek for another person than that they would know the Lord’s peace...

2 Thessalonians 3:11-13 We hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. There were people in the church in Thessalonica who thought they...

2 Thessalonians 3:1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honoured wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. As Paul brings this letter to a close, we see into his heart. He asks the Thessalonians to pray for him. He could go into some detail about his specific needs, but he doesn’t. He immediately invites prayer...

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. Whether we are conscious of it or not, our thoughts about the future have a huge impact on how we live today. That’s probably most easily seen when we are worried about someth...

2 Thessalonians 1:11 We keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. It is often, and rightly, pointed out that the Christian life is a marathon and not a sprint. Keeping something up isn’t too difficult if you are doing it for just a short while, but keeping going...

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. From this bold introduction to Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica, you might have thought...

Proverbs 16:32 Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city. It’s good for us to ask the question: “What matters most in life?” Time and again, the book of Proverbs helps us to think this through. Many people would assume that it is good to have control of people and even whole communities. Some would want to be a powerful politician or the head of a major...

Proverbs 13:11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. Work is often spoken about negatively. It is seen as something that gets in the way of the really exciting things of life. It needs to be avoided, and if that can’t be achieved, one should aim to retire as early as possible. This thinking is in complete contrast with Proverbs, where work is...

Proverbs 12:15-16 Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted. The language of Proverbs is very black and white. The writer refers to wise people and does everything he can think of to illustrate how wonderful it is to live in this way. It’s a life of happiness, prosperity and peace and is marked by humilit...

Mark 16:6-7 The angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.” Long ago, an old man told me about an experience he’d had a...

Mark 16:1 Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. As soon as the Sabbath came to an end, these three women started their preparations for anointing the body of Jesus. The Sabbath ends about 40 minutes after sunset, as soon as three stars are seen in the sky. That was probab...

Mark 15:37-39 Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!” I am very struck by the fact that just before Jesus breathed His last breath, He let out a loud cry. This is the last thing that you...