Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
[The woman's seed] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.—GEN. 3:15.
His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.—He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
This is your hour, and the power of darkness.—Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.
The Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.—He cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.—In my name shall they cast out devils.
The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
Isa. 52:14. -Isa. 53:5.Luke 22:53. -John 19:11.I John 3:8. -Mark 1:34.Matt. 28:18. -Mark 16:17.Rom. 16:20.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“Beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”
Matthew 14:30
Sinking times are praying times with the Lord’s servants. Peter neglected prayer at starting upon his venturous journey, but when he began to sink his danger made him a suppliant, and his cry though late was not too late. In our hours of bodily pain and mental anguish, we find ourselves as naturally driven to prayer as the wreck is driven upon the shore by the waves. The fox hies to its hole for protection; the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so the tried believer hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven’s great harbour of refuge is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have found a haven there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to make for it with all sail.
Short prayers are long enough. There were but three words in the petition which Peter gasped out, but they were sufficient for his purpose. Not length but strength is desirable. A sense of need is a mighty teacher of brevity. If our prayers had less of the tail feathers of pride and more wing they would be all the better. Verbiage is to devotion as chaff to the wheat. Precious things lie in small compass, and all that is real prayer in many a long address might have been uttered in a petition as short as that of Peter.
Our extremities are the Lord’s opportunities. Immediately a keen sense of danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and with him ear and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger. At the last moment we appeal to our Master, but his swift hand makes up for our delays by instant and effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed by the boisterous waters of affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto our Saviour, and we may rest assured that he will not suffer us to perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist his powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Zephaniah 2
2. The Great Day of the Lord
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
2
Gather together, gather,
O shameless nation,
2
before you are driven away
like the drifting chaff,
before there comes upon you
the fierce anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the Lord’s wrath.
3
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
who do his commands;
seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
4
For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5
Ah, inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6
And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
meadows for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7
The seacoast shall become the possession
of the remnant of the house of Judah,
on which they shall pasture,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will be mindful of them
and restore their fortunes.
8
I have heard the taunts of Moab
and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts against their territory.
9
Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
Moab shall become like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.
10
This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
because they scoffed and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11
The Lord will be terrible against them;
he will shrivel all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all the coasts and islands of the nations.
12
You also, O Ethiopians,
shall be killed by my sword.
13
And he will stretch out his hand against the north,
and destroy Assyria;
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14
Herds shall lie down in it,
every wild animal;
the desert owl and the screech owl
shall lodge on its capitals;
the owl shall hoot at the window,
the raven croak on the threshold;
for its cedar work will be laid bare.
15
Is this the exultant city
that lived secure,
that said to itself,
“I am, and there is no one else”?
What a desolation it has become,
a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by it
hisses and shakes the fist.
New Testament in Four Years - Acts 27:13-20
27. Paul Sails For Rome
The Storm at Sea
13 When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore.14But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete.15Since the ship was caught and could not be turned head-on into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven.16By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control.17After hoisting it up they took measures to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven.18We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard,19and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard.20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 147
147. Psalm 147
Psalm 147
Praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem
1
Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3
He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4
He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
6
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
7
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
8
He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
9
He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
10
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
11
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13
For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14
He grants peace within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat.
15
He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16
He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
17
He hurls down hail like crumbs—
who can stand before his cold?
18
He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19
He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20
He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!