Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Mine eyes fail with looking upward.—ISA. 38:14.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.—My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Ye have need of patience.
While they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.—Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.—That blessed hope,. . . the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Psa. 6:2-4. -Psa. 55:4-6.Heb. 10:36.Acts 1:10,11. -Phi. 3:20. -Tit. 2:13.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:26
The fatherhood of God is common to all his children. Ah! Little-faith, you have often said, “Oh that I had the courage of Great-heart, that I could wield his sword and be as valiant as he! But, alas, I stumble at every straw, and a shadow makes me afraid.” List thee, Little-faith. Great-heart is God’s child, and you are God’s child too; and Great-heart is not one whit more God’s child than you are. Peter and Paul, the highly-favoured apostles, were of the family of the Most High; and so are you also; the weak Christian is as much a child of God as the strong one.
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“This cov'nant stands secure, Though earth’s old pillars bow; The strong, the feeble, and the weak, Are one in Jesus now.” |
All the names are in the same family register. One may have more grace than another, but God our heavenly Father has the same tender heart towards all. One may do more mighty works, and may bring more glory to his Father, but he whose name is the least in the kingdom of heaven is as much the child of God as he who stands among the King’s mighty men. Let this cheer and comfort us, when we draw near to God and say, “Our Father.”
Yet, while we are comforted by knowing this, let us not rest contented with weak faith, but ask, like the Apostles, to have it increased. However feeble our faith may be, if it be real faith in Christ, we shall reach heaven at last, but we shall not honour our Master much on our pilgrimage, neither shall we abound in joy and peace. If then you would live to Christ’s glory, and be happy in his service, seek to be filled with the spirit of adoption more and more completely, till perfect love shall cast out fear.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Job 20
20. Zophar Replies
Zophar Speaks: Wickedness Receives Just Retribution
20
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2
“Pay attention! My thoughts urge me to answer,
because of the agitation within me.
3
I hear censure that insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.
4
Do you not know this from of old,
ever since mortals were placed on earth,
5
that the exulting of the wicked is short,
and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?
6
Even though they mount up high as the heavens,
and their head reaches to the clouds,
7
they will perish forever like their own dung;
those who have seen them will say, ‘Where are they?’
8
They will fly away like a dream, and not be found;
they will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9
The eye that saw them will see them no more,
nor will their place behold them any longer.
10
Their children will seek the favor of the poor,
and their hands will give back their wealth.
11
Their bodies, once full of youth,
will lie down in the dust with them.
12
“Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth,
though they hide it under their tongues,
13
though they are loath to let it go,
and hold it in their mouths,
14
yet their food is turned in their stomachs;
it is the venom of asps within them.
15
They swallow down riches and vomit them up again;
God casts them out of their bellies.
16
They will suck the poison of asps;
the tongue of a viper will kill them.
17
They will not look on the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and curds.
18
They will give back the fruit of their toil,
and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of their trading
they will get no enjoyment.
19
For they have crushed and abandoned the poor,
they have seized a house that they did not build.
20
“They knew no quiet in their bellies;
in their greed they let nothing escape.
21
There was nothing left after they had eaten;
therefore their prosperity will not endure.
22
In full sufficiency they will be in distress;
all the force of misery will come upon them.
23
To fill their belly to the full
God will send his fierce anger into them,
and rain it upon them as their food.
24
They will flee from an iron weapon;
a bronze arrow will strike them through.
25
It is drawn forth and comes out of their body,
and the glittering point comes out of their gall;
terrors come upon them.
26
Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures;
a fire fanned by no one will devour them;
what is left in their tent will be consumed.
27
The heavens will reveal their iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against them.
28
The possessions of their house will be carried away,
dragged off in the day of God’s wrath.
29
This is the portion of the wicked from God,
the heritage decreed for them by God.”
New Testament in Four Years - Luke 23:13-19
23. Trial and Crucifixion
Jesus Sentenced to Death
13 Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people,14and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him.15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death.16I will therefore have him flogged and release him.”
18 Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!”19(This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)
Psalm a Day - Psalm 55
55. Psalm 55
Psalm 55
Complaint about a Friend’s Treachery
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
1
Give ear to my prayer, O God;
do not hide yourself from my supplication.
2
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught3by the noise of the enemy,
because of the clamor of the wicked.
For they bring trouble upon me,
and in anger they cherish enmity against me.
4
My heart is in anguish within me,
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5
Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6
And I say, “O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7
truly, I would flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness;Selah
8
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest.”
9
Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10
Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11
ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
12
It is not enemies who taunt me—
I could bear that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—
I could hide from them.
13
But it is you, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend,
14
with whom I kept pleasant company;
we walked in the house of God with the throng.
15
Let death come upon them;
let them go down alive to Sheol;
for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.
16
But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
17
Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.
18
He will redeem me unharmed
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
19
God, who is enthroned from of old,Selah
will hear, and will humble them—
because they do not change,
and do not fear God.
20
My companion laid hands on a friend
and violated a covenant with me
21
with speech smoother than butter,
but with a heart set on war;
with words that were softer than oil,
but in fact were drawn swords.
22
Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23
But you, O God, will cast them down
into the lowest pit;
the bloodthirsty and treacherous
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.