David Wilkerson Devotions

Many Christians are tossed about by winds and waves of doctrines, restless and guilt-ridden with no security in Christ. We need to enter God’s rest in steadfast faith.

The only spirit of violence we are going to have is a violent faith. It will be a strong holiness that comes against the gates of hell and the strongholds of the enemy. 

If we are God’s children and put our total trust in his Word and his faithfulness to provide for us, God has promised to bless us; and he cannot lie. 

Nobody had ever seen as many supernatural works as Israel. God provided miracle after miracle for them, and yet each work left the people as faithless and unbelieving as before. You would think that the ten plagues on Egypt would have produced faith in the Israelites. When Egypt was afflicted with flies, none were found in Israel's camp. When Egypt fell under total darkness, there was no darkness in Israel. However, none of these plagues produced faith of any kind.

"Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink…. And the people murmured against Moses, and said, ‘Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’” (Exodus 17:1-3, NKJV).

“Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end” (Psalm 107:23-27, NKJV).

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?... O my God, my soul is cast down within me” (Psalm 42:5-6, NKJV).

Scholars aren’t certain who the writer of this psalm is, but we do know for sure that something is bothering him. His soul is deeply disturbed, and he can’t explain why. This psalmist is on fire for God. He pants after the Lord the way a deer pants for water (see Psalm 42:1), thirsting after the Lord, yearning for intimacy. He asks, “When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:2).

When we allow Jesus to be Lord of all—when we cast all our cares upon him, fully trusting in his Word and resting in his love—our appearance should undergo a deep change. A quiet calm should begin to radiate from our face. Scripture gives us many examples of this: When Hannah laid down her burden, “. . . her face was no longer sad” (1 Samuel 1:18, NKJV).

David boldly declared, “For I shall yet praise him, the help [health] of my countenance” (Psalm 42:11, NKJV). In the original Hebrew, the proper rendering of this verse is “God is the salvation of my face!”

I believe David is saying something important here. You see, your face is a billboard that advertises what’s going on in your heart. All the joy or turmoil that’s inside you is reflected in your countenance. When I speak of countenance, I am talking about facial expression, body language, tone of voice.

“For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14, NKJV).

Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? (see 1 Corinthians 10:22). Yes, it is possible. Paul wrote in his letters to the effect of “You have testified that you love him. You’ve even taken his name, yet has someone or something else stolen your heart?”