Daily Devotional
May 31
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for 1 shall never be in adversity. —Psalm 10:5, 6
Devotional:
There is a very great difference between a despiser of God, who, enjoying prosperity today, is so forgetful of the condition of man in this world, as through a distempered imagination to build his nest above the clouds, and who persuades himself that he shall always enjoy comfort and repose—there is a very great difference between him and the godly man, who, knowing that his life hangs only by a thread, and is encompassed by a thousand deaths, and who, ready to endure any kind of afflictions which shall be sent upon him, and living in the world as if he were sailing upon a tempestuous and dangerous sea, nevertheless bears patiently all his troubles and sorrows, and comforts himself in his affiictions, because he leans wholly upon the grace of God, and entirely confides in it.
The ungodly man says, I shall not be moved, or I shall not shake forever; because he thinks himself sufficiently strong and powerful to bear up against all the assaults that shall be made upon him. The faithful man says, What though I may happen to be moved, yea, even fall and sink into the lowest depths? My fall will not be fatal, for God will put his hand under me to sustain me.
By this, in like manner, we are furnished with an explanation of the different effects which an apprehension of danger has upon the good and the bad. Good men may tremble and sink into despondency, but this leads them to flee with all haste to the sanctuary of God's grace; whereas the ungodly, while they are affrighted even at the noise of a falling leaf, and live in constant uneasiness, endeavor to harden themselves in their stupidity, and to bring themselves into such a state of giddy frenzy, that being, as it were, carried out of themselves, they may not feel their calamities. —Commentaries
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
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