Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle.—PSA. 18:39.
When I am weak, then am I strong.
Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.—Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him.
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.—There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God.
II Cor. 12:10.II Chr. 14:11. -II Chr. 18:31.Psa. 118:8,9. -Psa. 33:16,17.Eph. 6:12,13.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”
Romans 8:33
Most blessed challenge! How unanswerable it is! Every sin of the elect was laid upon the great Champion of our salvation, and by the atonement carried away. There is no sin in God’s book against his people: he seeth no sin in Jacob, neither iniquity in Israel; they are justified in Christ forever. When the guilt of sin was taken away, the punishment of sin was removed. For the Christian there is no stroke from God’s angry hand—nay, not so much as a single frown of punitive justice. The believer may be chastised by his Father, but God the Judge has nothing to say to the Christian, except “I have absolved thee: thou art acquitted.” For the Christian there is no penal death in this world, much less any second death. He is completely freed from all the punishment as well as the guilt of sin, and the power of sin is removed too. It may stand in our way, and agitate us with perpetual warfare; but sin is a conquered foe to every soul in union with Jesus. There is no sin which a Christian cannot overcome if he will only rely upon his God to do it. They who wear the white robe in heaven overcame through the blood of the Lamb, and we may do the same. No lust is too mighty, no besetting sin too strongly entrenched; we can overcome through the power of Christ. Do believe it, Christian, that thy sin is a condemned thing. It may kick and struggle, but it is doomed to die. God has written condemnation across its brow. Christ has crucified it, “nailing it to his cross.” Go now and mortify it, and the Lord help you to live to his praise, for sin with all its guilt, shame, and fear, is gone.
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“Here’s pardon for transgressions past, It matters not how black their cast; And, O my soul, with wonder view, For sins to come here’s pardon too.” |
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Deuteronomy 20
20. Going to War
Rules of Warfare
20
When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots, an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.2Before you engage in battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the troops,3and shall say to them: “Hear, O Israel! Today you are drawing near to do battle against your enemies. Do not lose heart, or be afraid, or panic, or be in dread of them;4for it is the Lord your God who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you victory.”5Then the officials shall address the troops, saying, “Has anyone built a new house but not dedicated it? He should go back to his house, or he might die in the battle and another dedicate it.6Has anyone planted a vineyard but not yet enjoyed its fruit? He should go back to his house, or he might die in the battle and another be first to enjoy its fruit.7Has anyone become engaged to a woman but not yet married her? He should go back to his house, or he might die in the battle and another marry her.”8The officials shall continue to address the troops, saying, “Is anyone afraid or disheartened? He should go back to his house, or he might cause the heart of his comrades to melt like his own.”9When the officials have finished addressing the troops, then the commanders shall take charge of them.
10 When you draw near to a town to fight against it, offer it terms of peace.11If it accepts your terms of peace and surrenders to you, then all the people in it shall serve you at forced labor.12If it does not submit to you peacefully, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it;13and when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword.14You may, however, take as your booty the women, the children, livestock, and everything else in the town, all its spoil. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you.15Thus you shall treat all the towns that are very far from you, which are not towns of the nations here.16But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive.17You shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—just as the Lord your God has commanded,18so that they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods, and you thus sin against the Lord your God.
19 If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them. Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you?20You may destroy only the trees that you know do not produce food; you may cut them down for use in building siegeworks against the town that makes war with you, until it falls.
New Testament in Four Years - 2 Corinthians 6:11-13
6. Reconciliation
11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you.12There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours.13In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 9
9. Psalm 9
Psalm 9
God’s Power and Justice
To the leader: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
1
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3
When my enemies turned back,
they stumbled and perished before you.
4
For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.
5
You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6
The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
their cities you have rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
7
But the Lord sits enthroned forever,
he has established his throne for judgment.
8
He judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with equity.
9
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.
Declare his deeds among the peoples.
12
For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13
Be gracious to me, O Lord.
See what I suffer from those who hate me;
you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,
14
so that I may recount all your praises,
and, in the gates of daughter Zion,
rejoice in your deliverance.
15
The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.
16
The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.Higgaion. Selah
17
The wicked shall depart to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18
For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
19
Rise up, O Lord! Do not let mortals prevail;
let the nations be judged before you.
20
Put them in fear, O Lord;
let the nations know that they are only human.Selah