Morning & Evening Daily Devotional Reading– February 22

by Charles H. Spurgeon, Revised and Edited by William C. Neff

“His bow remained strong, and the arms of his hands were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob.”

–Genesis 49:12

The strength that God gives to His “Josephs” is real strength— not an empty boasting, a fiction, a thing men talk about that ends merely in smoke. No! It is true, divine strength. Why did Joseph stand against temptation? It is because God gave him aid. There is nothing we can do without the power of God. All true strength comes from “the mighty God of Jacob.” And notice the tender way God gives this strength to Joseph; it says, “The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” God is portrayed here as putting His hands on Joseph’s hands, placing His arms on Joseph’s arms; like a father teaches his children, so the Lord teaches those that reverence Him.

Joseph’s strength was also covenant strength because it is ascribed to “the mighty God of Jacob.” Wherever you read of “the God of Jacob” in the Bible you should remember God’s covenant with Jacob. Christians love to think of God’s covenant, because all the power, grace, blessings, mercies, and comforts– all the things we have– flow to us from God through the covenant. If there were no covenant, then we would certainly fail because all grace proceeds from it just as light and heat proceed from the sun. God’s angels ascend and descend to earth on the ladder that Jacob saw (which was a picture of Jesus Himself) –at the top of which stood a covenant God.

Dear Christian, it may be that the archers of this world have shot at you and wounded you, but still your bow remains strong; so, get up, get to work, and ascribe all the glory to Jacob’s God. [M&E]