FBC Daily Devotional – January 12, 2022

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, a good morning, a good midweek morning. Here we are, Wednesday morning of this second week of January 2022.

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I hope your week has been going well thus far. Well, today I'd like to draw a connection between the two passages of Scripture that are in our daily

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Bible reading. We're in Acts 25 as well as Psalm 5. Before we get to that connection, though,

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I want us to see that we're getting a glimpse here in chapter 25 of God's purpose for this long ordeal of Paul's imprisonment.

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Now, let's back up. Paul had the goal, we saw this earlier in the book of Acts, Paul had the goal of going to Jerusalem.

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He wanted to get to Jerusalem before Pentecost for the feast, you know. So he had that goal, he achieved that goal.

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But he had a bigger goal. He also wanted to get to Rome. And he had an even bigger goal than that.

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He wanted to get to Spain. So in the course of putting some things together, Paul had the goals of getting to Jerusalem and then going to Rome and eventually to Spain, okay?

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Well, he's been to Jerusalem, and so the next leg of his goal would be to go to Rome. However, there's been this little snafu.

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While in Jerusalem, he got arrested. And it's now been a long time since that arrest.

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He's been kind of languishing in bondage, and nothing seems to be being resolved. He's given testimony before different authorities that all demonstrate his innocence.

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There's really no reason for him to be held captive any longer. But he has one more opportunity to give his testimony, this time before Festus.

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It's been two years since he gave his testimony to Felix. And now, two years later, a new administrator is on the throne, if you will, is serving on the court,

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Festus by name. And Paul has the opportunity to give his testimony to Festus. He gives it to Festus.

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And, you know, Festus doesn't really see any reason that he should be in prison. But he asks

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Paul this. He says, are you willing to go to Jerusalem? Go back to Jerusalem, back to where they wanted to kill him.

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And Paul's like, you know, enough of this. And he appeals to Caesar. He appeals to Caesar.

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And Festus says, okay, you appeal to Caesar. To Caesar, you will go.

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To Caesar, you shall go, he says in verse 12. Oh, no, wait a minute. To Caesar, you will go.

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That means Paul's going to get on a boat and be taken to Rome, which is a goal that he had, to get to Rome.

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So with this appealing his case to Caesar, he has this opportunity to fulfill this goal.

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So you could say that one of the purposes of God allowing

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Paul to be in prison during this time was to get him to Rome eventually. But there's another purpose in mind that kind of comes out here.

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And that is that Paul has had throughout the course of this whole ordeal a broad audience for the communication of the gospel.

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Think of all the different authorities, not only Festus, but before him, Felix. And one of these guys, they wanted to hear him often, and they called for him frequently because they liked to hear what he had to say.

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And then there's Festus, and now he appeals to Rome. And then

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Herod Agrippa is going to come to visit Festus. And while Herod Agrippa is there, he wants to hear what

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Paul has to say too. And so Paul gets another opportunity to share the gospel, this time before Agrippa.

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So he's had this broad audience of sharing the gospel to those in governmental positions of power and authority that he would never have had without this imprisonment.

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The other thing I wanted to mention here is that throughout this whole ordeal that's been going on for over two years, we don't really have anything said about Paul's state of mind during this time.

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Did he ever feel discouraged? Was he ever despairing that this would never end?

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Well, we don't really know, but throughout it all, it seemed every indication that we have of his state of mind, his frame of mind, is that he seems to be unrattled by it all, just really kind of taking it all in stride.

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He expresses no animosity. He shows no hostility. He doesn't seem to be frustrated in any sense of the word whatsoever.

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But did he ever wonder, while he had all this time to think and to ponder and to reflect, did he ever wonder, should

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I have listened to the advice not to go to Jerusalem? Remember that, when

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Paul was making his plans and had this goal to go to Jerusalem. It was like everywhere he went, he was warned, if you go to Jerusalem, you're going to be placed in bonds and in bondage.

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And along the way, especially with the elders at Ephesus, he says, it doesn't bother me. If I die for Christ, it's okay.

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I'm just going to move forward. But now, after he's been imprisoned and he's waiting and waiting and waiting and nothing's being resolved, did he ever wonder, should

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I have listened to that advice? What is God doing in all of this?

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Has he sidelined me for some reason? And where is all this headed?

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And I wonder, did the words of Psalm 5 come back to him over and over and over again?

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So if you read Psalm 5, read it again with Paul's experience in mind and wonder, did

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Paul pray this Psalm? Did he sing this Psalm over and over again, languishing in the prison in Caesarea?

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Listen to the words, especially in verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 5, where the psalmist prays,

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Give ear to my words, O Lord. Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, my

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King and my God, for to you I will pray. And in verses 4 through 6, he says,

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For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand in your sight.

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You hate all workers of iniquity. Think of those whom Paul has had to deal with, right?

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The boastful, those who work iniquity, wanted to have him executed and killed. He goes on to say,

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You shall destroy those who speak falsehood. He's had all kinds of falsehood spoken against him. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

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And he has been the victim of bloodthirsty, deceitful men. Verse 8,

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Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face.

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Let me know where you're taking me. Give me some insight, some understanding, and lead me in that path.

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And then verses 10 and 11, Pronounce them guilty, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels.

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Cast them out in a multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you. Yes, to have arrested

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Paul and to seek to silence Paul is to rebel against the God who called him and ordained him to that work of the ministry.

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But he goes on to say, But let all those who rejoice put their trust in you. Let them ever shout for joy because you defend them.

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Let those also who love your name be joyful in you. I wonder, did

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Paul pray this? Was this Paul's favorite song while he languished in prison?

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I think it certainly could have been. It's certainly appropriate, don't you think? It's also a good one for you and me at various times in our lives as well.

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Well, whatever the case, God was making his way plain and he was using all of what was going on here in this circumstance of Paul's life for his ultimate purposes, for Paul's good and for God's glory.

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Let's thank him for the way he works. Our Father and our God, we are grateful today that you do sovereignly work and orchestrate the affairs of our lives.

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Even the difficult times, the times that we don't understand what's going on, you use them all.

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You use them all for your purposes. I pray that we would trust them, trust you, even in those times.

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We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. Have a good rest of your