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Daily Light's Morning Reading
The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them to search out a resting place for them.—NUM. 10:33.
My times are in thy hand.—He shall choose our inheritance for us.—Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness; . . . make thy way straight before my face.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shalt bring it to pass.—In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.—Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
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.—Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.—Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.—Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Psa. 31:15. -Psa. 47:4. -Psa. 5:8.Psa. 37:5. -Prov. 3:6. -Isa. 30:21.Psa. 23:1,2. -Psa. 103:13,14. -Matt. 6:32. -I Pet. 5:7.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“A certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”
Luke 11:27, 28
It is fondly imagined by some that it must have involved very special privileges to have been the mother of our Lord, because they supposed that she had the benefit of looking into his very heart in a way in which we cannot hope to do. There may be an appearance of plausibility in the supposition, but not much. We do not know that Mary knew more than others; what she did know she did well to lay up in her heart; but she does not appear from anything we read in the Evangelists to have been a better-instructed believer than any other of Christ’s disciples. All that she knew we also may discover. Do you wonder that we should say so? Here is a text to prove it: “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.” Remember the Master’s words—“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” So blessedly does this Divine Revealer of secrets tell us his heart, that he keepeth back nothing which is profitable to us; his own assurance is, “If it were not so, I would have told you.” Doth he not this day manifest himself unto us as he doth not unto the world? It is even so; and therefore we will not ignorantly cry out, “Blessed is the womb that bare thee,” but we will intelligently bless God that, having heard the Word and kept it, we have first of all as true a communion with the Saviour as the Virgin had, and in the second place as true an acquaintance with the secrets of his heart as she can be supposed to have obtained. Happy soul to be thus privileged!
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Numbers 23
23. Balaam's Oracles
1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”2Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.3Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offerings while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height.
4 Then God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars, and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”5The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you must say.”6So he returned to Balak, who was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.7Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying:
“Balak has brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me;
Come, denounce Israel!’
8
How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?
9
For from the top of the crags I see him,
from the hills I behold him.
Here is a people living alone,
and not reckoning itself among the nations!
10
Who can count the dust of Jacob,
or number the dust-cloud of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them.”12He answered, “Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 So Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there.”14So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.15Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offerings, while I meet the Lord over there.”16The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say.”17When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, “What has the Lord said?”18Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying:
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
listen to me, O son of Zippor:
19
God is not a human being, that he should lie,
or a mortal, that he should change his mind.
Has he promised, and will he not do it?
Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20
See, I received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
21
He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob;
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
acclaimed as a king among them.
22
God, who brings them out of Egypt,
is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
23
Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘See what God has done!’
24
Look, a people rising up like a lioness,
and rousing itself like a lion!
It does not lie down until it has eaten the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.”26But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do’?”
27 So Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.29Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”30So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
New Testament in Four Years - 1 Corinthians 14:34-40
14. Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues
34women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says.35If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.36Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?)37 Anyone who claims to be a prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord.38Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized.39So, my friends, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues;40but all things should be done decently and in order.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 126
126. Psalm 126
Psalm 126
A Harvest of Joy
A Song of Ascents.
1
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
4
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
6
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.