Monday, January 27, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Romans 16, 1 Corinthians 1
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 12
Devotional Thought
Paul reaches the end of his letter to the church at Rome and does something easy to skip past: he says hello. Romans 16 is a long list of names—Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae who likely carried this very letter; Priscilla and Aquila, who risked their necks for Paul; Mary, who bestowed much labour; Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who was a mother to Paul too. In an age when the powerful wrote history, God preserved the names of ordinary believers. Then Paul warns against those who cause divisions with smooth words and fair speeches, and he closes with a doxology: the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
Then 1 Corinthians 1 opens a letter to a very different congregation—a church rich in gifts and riven with quarrels. Chloe’s household has reported contentions. Some say, “I am of Paul”; others, “I am of Apollos.” Paul’s answer is the cross: “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called—but God hath chosen the weak things, “that no flesh should glory in his presence.”
Psalm 12 sounds the same theme from another direction. David cries, “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth.” Flattering lips and a double heart fill the land; the wicked boast, “With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own.” It is the perennial human claim: no lord over us. Yet God answers, “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise.” And against the shifting words of men, David sets the words of the LORD—”as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”
It is late January, when resolutions have already thinned and the year’s first enthusiasm has cooled. The same discouragements David felt can settle over us: it seems the faithful are few, the loud are many, and talk is cheap. But look at what God does in these chapters. He remembers Phoebe and Rufus. He chooses the foolish and the weak. He rises for the sighing needy. He preserves His purified Word forever. The God who kept those names in Romans 16 will not forget yours. When the proud tongues boast, He is still Lord over all—and He is coming to bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
Reflection
- Where in your own life have you been tempted to believe that “with our tongue will we prevail”—that talk, spin, or self-promotion is the way to safety—rather than trusting the pure words of the LORD?
- Paul greets Phoebe, Priscilla, Aquila, and Rufus by name, and God says He will arise for the sighing needy. Whose name has God placed in your path this week that you could encourage or serve, even quietly?
Prayer
O Lord, we cry with David, “Help, LORD,” for the faithful seem few and the proud speak loudly. We confess that we too have spoken with flattering lips and a double heart. Thank You that Your words are pure, as silver tried in the furnace seven times, and that You preserve them forever. Arise for the sighing of the needy, we pray, and set us in safety. Remember us by name as You remembered Phoebe and Rufus, and let us not glory in our own wisdom, but only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 12:1 — “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.”