Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Psalm 65:9

You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The river of God has plenty of water; it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so. These days, less than two per cent of the population works in agriculture so, for most of us, harvesting feels a world away from our everyday lives. In pre-industrial society, most people were involved in agriculture, and harvest was a massive...

Psalm 63:1

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. This psalm was almost certainly penned by King David after he had fled from his son Absalom, who had attempted to take over his father’s throne. It was an agonising situation. Absalom was David’s third son and great favourite. He was charming and handsome and...

Psalm 62:10

If your wealth increases, don’t make it the centre of your life. The issue of wealth often comes up in the Bible. Psalm 112 gives an attractive picture of the person who follows the Lord. Such a person takes delight in the Lord’s commands and even in the darkness, the light shines for them. They are also described as wealthy and, at the same time, generous and compassionate. Everything that we have is a gift from God...

Psalm 62:1-2

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in life? It may have been an illness, the death of someone who was close to you, the betrayal of a friend or the breakup of a relationship. In such moments, we desperately need to know where to turn. We need a rock. King David seemed to f...

John 12:3

Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. Mary’s anointing of Jesus was a beautiful act of devotion, but it is hard not to have at least some sympathy for Judas, who pointed out that the precious perfume would have cost the equivalent of one year’s wages. That’s a huge amount...

John 11:33-36

When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him: “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” Very soon after this, Lazarus was brought back to life, but we shouldn’t rush past this moment of intense emotion....

John 11:25-26

Jesus told [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.” Jesus had known for some days that Martha’s brother Lazarus was seriously ill, but he had not gone to them straight away. When he finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Martha clearly regretted Jesus had taken so...

John 10:19-21

The people were again divided in their opinions about him. Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” Others said: “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” I am so grateful for the complete honesty of the Gospel writers. They were clearly deeply committed followers of Jesus, and it must have been tempting to have chose...

John 10:14-15

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.” Years ago, I read a book about Eleanor Philby, who was married to the spy Kim Philby. I was stunned to discover that Eleanor never had any idea her husband was a spy. That seemed incredible to me at the time, but the truth is that our knowledge of even our nearest...

John 9:24-25

For the second time [the Pharisees] called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.” “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” The Pharisees were fuming. Jesus had just healed a blind man, and they were determined to prove that he hadn’t. First of all, they interviewed...

John 8:12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” Jesus spoke these words during the Festival of Tabernacles, which was a seven-day holiday at the end of the harvest. It was one of three pilgrimage festivals, so Jerusalem would have been heaving with people. On the first evening, there ...

John 8:7 [Jesus said:] “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” By this time, Jesus had become a deeply controversial person in Jerusalem. The teachers of the religious law and the Pharisees were always looking for ways to trip him up. On this particular day, they brought a woman to him who had been caught in the act of adultery. They reminded Jesus that, according to the Law of Moses, anyone who committed adu...

John 6:66-69

At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied: “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” Until now, Jesus seemed to have been attracting more and more followers. In chapter four, we hear that he was attracting more discip...

John 6:33-35

The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said: “give us that bread every day.” Jesus replied: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” When I was a boy, bread was only offered to us in two forms. It was either brown or white! These days, it is offered in a huge variety of w...

John 6:8-9

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up: “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” I’m sure we’re all familiar with Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the 5,000. It must have had a profound effect on everyone who witnessed it, but I’m particularly interested in what happened before the miracle took place. Jesus asked Philip where it would be possible ...

John 5:2-6

Inside [Jerusalem], near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him: “Would you like to get well?” I loved spending time in Jerusalem, but it is often impossible to know exactly where ...

John 4:13-14

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” Here, Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman. Everything about their meeting was surprising. First of all, it would have astonished everyone that he had travelled through Samaria. The rivalry between...

John 3:29-30

[John the Baptist said:] “It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at [Jesus’] success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” John the Baptist knew his place. He knew that he was simply the one who was preparing the way, and that all the attention should be on Jesus. He...

John 3:16-17

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. I remember well the first time somebody, other than my parents, told me they loved me. I can recall everything about that moment, and it was simply amazing. In these verses, which are...