Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep.—HEB. 13:20.
The chief Shepherd.—I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.—I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.—I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.—Ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
I Pet. 5:4. -John 10:14,27,28.Psa. 23:1-3.Isa. 53:6. -John 10:11. -Ezek. 34:16. -I Pet. 2:25.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.”
Psalm 55:22
Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into his place to do for him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy he will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if he were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain precept, this unbelief in his Word, this presumption in intruding upon his province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God’s hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the “broken cistern” instead of to the “fountain;” a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God’s lovingkindness, and thus our love to him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from him; but if through simple faith in his promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon him, and are “careful for nothing” because he undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to him, and strengthen us against much temptation. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.”
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Song of Solomon 4
4. Lover
The Bride’s Beauty Extolled
4
How beautiful you are, my love,
how very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
moving down the slopes of Gilead.
2
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them is bereaved.
3
Your lips are like a crimson thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
4
Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in courses;
on it hang a thousand bucklers,
all of them shields of warriors.
5
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that feed among the lilies.
6
Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7
You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
8
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9
You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride,
you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10
How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride!
how much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11
Your lips distill nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
12
A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a garden locked, a fountain sealed.
13
Your channel is an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
14
nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all chief spices—
15
a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16
Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden
that its fragrance may be wafted abroad.
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
New Testament in Four Years - John 6:61-65
6. Miracles and Teachings of Jesus
61But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you?62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?63It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.64But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.65And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”Psalm a Day - Psalm 109:1-15
109. Psalm 109
Psalm 109
Prayer for Vindication and Vengeance
To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1
Do not be silent, O God of my praise.
2
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3
They beset me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
4
In return for my love they accuse me,
even while I make prayer for them.
5
So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6
They say, “Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand on his right.
7
When he is tried, let him be found guilty;
let his prayer be counted as sin.
8
May his days be few;
may another seize his position.
9
May his children be orphans,
and his wife a widow.
10
May his children wander about and beg;
may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit.
11
May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.
12
May there be no one to do him a kindness,
nor anyone to pity his orphaned children.
13
May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation.
14
May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the Lord,
and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15
Let them be before the Lord continually,
and may his memory be cut off from the earth.