May 23 - Collection of Daily Devotionals

Daily Devotion: May 23, 2024
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May 23
"At their wit’s end, they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and
he bringeth them out" (Psa 107:27-28).
Are you standing at "Wit’s End Corner,"
Christian, with troubled brow?
Are you thinking of what is before you,
And all you are bearing now?
Does all the world seem against you,
And you in the battle alone?
Remember-- at "Wit’s End Corner"
Is just where God’s power is shown.
Are you standing at "Wit’s End Corner,"
Blinded with wearying pain,
Feeling you cannot endure it,
You cannot bear the strain,
Bruised through the constant suffering,
Dizzy, and dazed, and numb?
Remember-- at "Wit’s End Corner"
Is where Jesus loves to come.
Are you standing at "Wit’s End Corner"?
Your work before you spread,
All lying begun, unfinished,
And pressing on heart and head,
Longing for strength to do it,
Stretching out trembling hands?
Remember-- at. "Wit’s End Corner"
The Burden-bearer stands.
Are you standing at "Wit’s End Corner"?
Then you’re just in the very spot
To learn the wondrous resources
Of Him who faileth not:
No doubt to a brighter pathway
Your footsteps will soon be moved,

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But only at "Wit’s End Corner"
Is the "God who is able" proved.
-- Antoinette Wilson
Do not get discouraged; it may be the last key in the bunch that
opens the door. – Stansifer 1
May 23
THE BAD IS WEAKER
Mar 12:13-17; Mar 12:28-34
Satan is no match for God. Bad can’t hold its own against good
in an even contest. No opposition can stand up against Jesus. It
is only God’s patience with men that makes evil seem so
powerful in the present contest. God is determined that men
shall have fullest opportunity. His patience is beyond words.
Ours should be. Jesus, in control in our lives, will hold his own
and more against all ridicule and opposition that we meet.2
May 23
THE SLEEPLESS WATCHER
"He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, He that keepeth
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper."
— Psa 121:3-5.
THIS PSALM has been called the Traveller's Psalm. When the
pilgrims started forth from their distant homes to go up to the
Temple, not one of them could forecast his experiences before
he reached home again. There were perils of rivers, perils of
robbers, perils in the wilderness, perils in travel from wild
beasts. It was well, therefore, that they should commit
themselves and their dear ones to the care of One who neither
slumbered nor slept. It is not enough for the body to be kept;
we need the soul to be kept from all evil, as we go out into the
world with its microbes of temptation, or come back to the
luxury and comfort of our dwelling. There is temptation
everywhere; not for one moment are we absolutely immune.
There is a difference between slumbering and sleeping. The
1
Streams in the Desert (Mrs. Charles E. Cowman) Published in 1925; public domain.
2
The Bent-Knee Time (Samuel D. Gordon) Published in 1918; public domain.

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mother or nurse watching the child may sometimes get a few
moments of slumber; it is not very restful, yet there is a brief
pause of unconsciousness. But this never comes to God. Not for
one moment does He slumber, or ceases His watchful care of
us. God keeps us by besetting us behind and before, and lays
His hand upon us (Psa 139:5). As a sentry goes to and fro
before the palace given to his charge, so God's peace, like a
sentinel, keeps watch and ward around the soul. We speak of
the castle-keeper, the inner circle of defence; so God's Presence
is our Keep. We think also of the safe, around which the fire
may play, but cannot touch its contents; so the child of God
may walk in the midst of peril and temptation, but God is round
about him; he is inside the secret place of the Most High, and no
weapons formed against him can reach that inner sanctuary. Let
us hand over the keeping of our souls to Him as to a faithful
Creator (1Pe 4:19).
The closing words of this Psalm remind us of Joh 14:1-6. There
will be one last going out and coming in, when the house of our
life shall be left vacant, and we shall go forth to the Father, to
the House of many mansions, to the great company which
awaits us on the other side. Then in the transition between this
world and the next, and amid all the mysteries that shall crowd
upon us, we need fear no evil, for whatever Eternity may bring
to us, we shall always be sheltered and kept by Almighty care.
PRAYER
Almighty God! Thou knowest that I have no power of myself to
keep myself. Keep me outwardly in my body and inwardly in my
soul, that I may be defended from all adversities which may
happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may
assault and hurt the soul. AMEN.3
May 23
The Angels and the Babe
And, Lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them; and the glory
3
Our Daily Walk by Frederick Brotherton (F. B.) Meyer. Published in 1893; public domain.

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of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid
— Luk 2:9
God Speaks Your language
One of the messages of this beautiful story is that God speaks in
ways we understand. That is part of His fatherly compassion.
The wise men from the East had spent their nights observing
the stars, it was no chance, then, that it was by a star that they
were led to the feet of the Redeemer. But the shepherds,
devout and humble Jews, had been familiar since childhood with
the angels, and it was through angels that God drew near to
them. I believe that the divine voice has a different accent for
every differing heart. His voice is as the sound of many waters.
There are things He says to every separate child which probably
no one else could under-stand—His secret is with them that fear
Him. That was so with the voice of the Good Shepherd. in what
different ways He spoke to different people. He never dealt upon
the scale of thousands; He always dealt upon the scale of one.
And today He is on the throne, the very same Jesus, still
touched with a feeling of our infirmities.
Vision Comes Along the Line of Duty
Another lesson of this story is that vision comes along the line of
duty. it was when they were busy in their lowly toil that the
shepherds heard the music of the skies. I wonder if any of them
had stayed at home, leaving the work to be done by someone
else. I wonder if any of them had slipped away to spend an hour
in the tavern of the village. Then for such there was no music,
nor any glorious singing of angels. That was given on the line of
duty. There is an old story of a monastic porter, who in his cell
had a vision of the Lord. Then came the clanging of the
monastery bell. Must he leave the vision to go in answer? He
went, and returning, the vision was still there, saying, "Hadst
thou remained, I should have vanished; but thou wert faithful,
and lo! I am still here." We are all tempted to flee away
sometimes. We crave for liberty from common drudgery. We
seem to be missing so much in the routine. We long for a larger

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life. But the angel music never comes that way. Heaven has
never a song for those who shirk. It was on men who were
faithful to their appointed task that there broke the glory of the
Lord.
What Interests Heaven, Earth Disregards
One notes, too, that what interested heaven was something
which all the village disregarded, it is a strange contrast to pass
from the hillside to the crowded caravansary of Bethlehem.
There were men from every neighboring village, and some who
had traveled from long distances. One subject alone was on
their lips; they were all talking of Caesar and his tax. But I do
not think that the sharpest shepherd's ear, listening to the
singing of the angels, caught a single whisper of the topic which
was absorbing the travelers in the inn. The theme which was
agitating everybody was not the theme which agitated heaven.
Nobody gave a thought to Jesus' birth, and heaven that night
thought of nothing else. So are we taught, that what the world
makes much of may be insignificant in heaven, and what the
world neglects may be supreme. To grasp that is one secret of
fine living, it helps us to readjust our scale of values. The
relative magnitude of things is altered when we live under the
aspect of eternity. Some unnoticed and interior victory may be
like the birth in Bethlehem, and set the angels singing in their
courses.
Angels May Go but Jesus Remains
And then this exquisite story teaches us that angels may go, but
Jesus Christ remains, in a little while the hillside was all dark
again, but the Baby was still lying in the manger. The angels
went, but Jesus did not go. The glory departed, but the Lord
remained. He grew in wisdom, and lived within their borders,
and toiled as the Carpenter of Nazareth. The vision of the angels
was a memory, but the Babe they heralded was more than
that—He was a living power in their midst. Now, for many,
Christmas is a sad time. it is a season when memories awaken.
We cannot help thinking of those angel faces that we have loved

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long since and lost awhile. But for us, as for the shepherds,
Christ remains, a living presence, a Savior and a friend, the
same yesterday, today, forever. He offers us His peace. He
wants us to be sharers in His joy. He is here to break the
tyranny of things, and in life and death to make us more than
conquerors. With such a Savior, pardoning and powerful, who
will never leave us nor forsake us, cannot we all enjoy a happy
Christmas? 4
May 23
Morning
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." — Psa 138:8
Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here
expressed was a divine confidence. He did not say, "I have
grace enough to perfect that which concerneth me-my faith is
so steady that it will not stagger-my love is so warm that it will
never grow cold-my resolution is so firm that nothing can move
it; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we indulge in
any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of ages, our
confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover
us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. All that Nature
spins time will unravel, to the eternal confusion of all who are
clothed therein. The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing
short of the Lord's work. It is the Lord who has begun the good
work within us; it is he who has carried it on; and if he does not
finish it, it never will be complete. If there be one stitch in the
celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert
ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord
who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and
will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done,
nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the
Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates – "You will never be able to
stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer sin;
remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that
beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray."
4
Devotional Sermons by George H. Morrison from "The Glasgow Pulpit Series". Published in 1902-1928; public domain.

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Ah! yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If
we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea,
we might well give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to
God, he will perfect that which concerneth us, and bring us to
the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we
confide in him alone, and never too much concerned to have
such a trust.
Evening
"Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money." — Isa 43:24
Worshippers at the temple were wont to bring presents of sweet
perfumes to be burned upon the altar of God: but Israel, in the
time of her backsliding, became ungenerous, and made but few
votive offerings to her Lord: this was an evidence of coldness of
heart towards God and his house. Reader, does this never occur
with you? Might not the complaint of the text be occasionally, if
not frequently, brought against you? Those who are poor in
pocket, if rich in faith, will be accepted none the less because
their gifts are small; but, poor reader, do you give in fair
proportion to the Lord, or is the widow's mite kept back from
the sacred treasury? The rich believer should be thankful for the
talent entrusted to him, but should not forget his large
responsibility, for where much is given much will be required;
but, rich reader, are you mindful of your obligations, and
rendering to the Lord according to the benefit received? Jesus
gave his blood for us, what shall we give to him? We are his,
and all that we have, for he has purchased us unto himself -can
we act as if we were our own? O for more consecration! and to
this end, O for more love! Blessed Jesus, how good it is of thee
to accept our sweet cane bought with money! nothing is too
costly as a tribute to thine unrivalled love, and yet thou dost
receive with favour the smallest sincere token of affection! Thou
dost receive our poor forget-me-nots and love-tokens as though
they were intrinsically precious, though indeed they are but as
the bunch of wild flowers which the child brings to its mother.
Never may we grow niggardly towards thee, and from this hour

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never may we hear thee complain of us again for withholding
the gifts of our love. We will give thee the first fruits of our
increase, and pay thee tithes of all, and then we will confess "of
thine own have we given thee." 5
5
Morning and Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon. Published in 1865, 1868; public domain.

May 23 - Collection of Daily Devotionals

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May 23 - Collection of Daily Devotionals