Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
Is his mercy clean gone for ever?—PSA. 77:8.
His mercy endureth for ever.—The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy.—Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity? . . . he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sin into the depths of the sea.—Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
A merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Psa. 136:23. -Num. 14:18. -Mic. 7:18,19. -Tit. 3:5.II Cor. 1:3,4.Heb. 2:17,18.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?”
Job 38:31
If inclined to boast of our abilities, the grandeur of nature may soon show us how puny we are. We cannot move the least of all the twinkling stars, or quench so much as one of the beams of the morning. We speak of power, but the heavens laugh us to scorn. When the Pleiades shine forth in spring with vernal joy we cannot restrain their influences, and when Orion reigns aloft, and the year is bound in winter’s fetters, we cannot relax the icy bands. The seasons revolve according to the divine appointment, neither can the whole race of men effect a change therein. Lord, what is man?
In the spiritual, as in the natural world, man’s power is limited on all hands. When the Holy Spirit sheds abroad his delights in the soul, none can disturb; all the cunning and malice of men are ineffectual to stay the genial quickening power of the Comforter. When he deigns to visit a church and revive it, the most inveterate enemies cannot resist the good work; they may ridicule it, but they can no more restrain it than they can push back the spring when the Pleiades rule the hour. God wills it, and so it must be. On the other hand, if the Lord in sovereignty, or in justice, bind up a man so that he is in soul bondage, who can give him liberty? He alone can remove the winter of spiritual death from an individual or a people. He looses the bands of Orion, and none but he. What a blessing it is that he can do it. O that he would perform the wonder tonight. Lord, end my winter, and let my spring begin. I cannot with all my longings raise my soul out of her death and dulness, but all things are possible with thee. I need celestial influences, the clear shinings of thy love, the beams of thy grace, the light of thy countenance; these are the Pleiades to me. I suffer much from sin and temptation; these are my wintry signs, my terrible Orion. Lord, work wonders in me, and for me. Amen.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Genesis 46
46. Jacob Goes to Egypt
Jacob Brings His Whole Family to Egypt
46
When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.2God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”3Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.4I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.”
5 Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.6They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him,7his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.
8 Now these are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his offspring, who came to Egypt. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,9and the children of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.10The children of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.11The children of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.12The children of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the children of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.13The children of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.14The children of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel15(these are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; in all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three).16The children of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.17The children of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The children of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel18(these are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons).19The children of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.20To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.21The children of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard22(these are the children of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all).23The children of Dan: Hashum.24The children of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem25(these are the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all).26All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own offspring, not including the wives of his sons, were sixty-six persons in all.27The children of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.
Jacob Settles in Goshen
28 Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph to lead the way before him into Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen,29Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.30Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive.”31Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.32The men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’33When Pharaoh calls you, and says, ‘What is your occupation?’34you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors’—in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians.”
New Testament in Four Years - Romans 10:5-13
10. Israel's Unbelief
Salvation Is for All
5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.”6But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down)7“or ”Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).8But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.11The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.13For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Psalm a Day - Psalm 58
58. Psalm 58
Psalm 58
Prayer for Vengeance
To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam.
1
Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge people fairly?
2
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
3
The wicked go astray from the womb;
they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4
They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5
so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6
O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7
Let them vanish like water that runs away;
like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8
Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime;
like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9
Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10
The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done;
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11
People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”