Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down.—ISA. 64:1.
Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.—We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.—Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
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.—Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.—It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.—That blessed hope . . . the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.—Our conversation is in heaven.
Song 8:14. -Rom. 8:23. -Psa. 144:5.Acts.1:11. -Heb. 9:28. -Isa. 25:9.Rev. 22:20. -Tit. 2:13. -Phil. 3:20.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Nevertheless I am continually with thee.”
Psalm 73:23
“Nevertheless,”—As if, notwithstanding all the foolishness and ignorance which David had just been confessing to God, not one atom the less was it true and certain that David was saved and accepted, and that the blessing of being constantly in God’s presence was undoubtedly his. Fully conscious of his own lost estate, and of the deceitfulness and vileness of his nature, yet, by a glorious outburst of faith, he sings “nevertheless I am continually with thee.” Believer, you are forced to enter into Asaph’s confession and acknowledgment, endeavour in like spirit to say “nevertheless, since I belong to Christ I am continually with God!” By this is meant continually upon his mind, he is always thinking of me for my good. Continually before his eye;—the eye of the Lord never sleepeth, but is perpetually watching over my welfare. Continually in his hand, so that none shall be able to pluck me thence. Continually on his heart, worn there as a memorial, even as the high priest bore the names of the twelve tribes upon his heart forever. Thou always thinkest of me, O God. The bowels of thy love continually yearn towards me. Thou art always making providence work for my good. Thou hast set me as a signet upon thine arm; thy love is strong as death, many waters cannot quench it; neither can the floods drown it. Surprising grace! Thou seest me in Christ, and though in myself abhorred, thou beholdest me as wearing Christ’s garments, and washed in his blood, and thus I stand accepted in thy presence. I am thus continually in thy favour—“continually with thee.” Here is comfort for the tried and afflicted soul; vexed with the tempest within—look at the calm without. “Nevertheless”—O say it in thy heart, and take the peace it gives. “Nevertheless I am continually with thee.”
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Deuteronomy 22
22. Marriage Violations
22
You shall not watch your neighbor’s ox or sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall take them back to their owner.2If the owner does not reside near you or you do not know who the owner is, you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until the owner claims it; then you shall return it.3You shall do the same with a neighbor’s donkey; you shall do the same with a neighbor’s garment; and you shall do the same with anything else that your neighbor loses and you find. You may not withhold your help.
4 You shall not see your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen on the road and ignore it; you shall help to lift it up.
5 A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.
6 If you come on a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, with the mother sitting on the fledglings or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.7Let the mother go, taking only the young for yourself, in order that it may go well with you and you may live long.
8 When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof; otherwise you might have bloodguilt on your house, if anyone should fall from it.
9 You shall not sow your vineyard with a second kind of seed, or the whole yield will have to be forfeited, both the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard itself.
10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
11 You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.
12 You shall make tassels on the four corners of the cloak with which you cover yourself.
Laws concerning Sexual Relations
13 Suppose a man marries a woman, but after going in to her, he dislikes her14and makes up charges against her, slandering her by saying, “I married this woman; but when I lay with her, I did not find evidence of her virginity.”15The father of the young woman and her mother shall then submit the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate.16The father of the young woman shall say to the elders: “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man but he dislikes her;17now he has made up charges against her, saying, ‘I did not find evidence of your daughter’s virginity.’ But here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.” Then they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the town.18The elders of that town shall take the man and punish him;19they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver (which they shall give to the young woman’s father) because he has slandered a virgin of Israel. She shall remain his wife; he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
20 If, however, this charge is true, that evidence of the young woman’s virginity was not found,21then they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house and the men of her town shall stone her to death, because she committed a disgraceful act in Israel by prostituting herself in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
22 If a man is caught lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well as the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
23 If there is a young woman, a virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies with her,24you shall bring both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry for help in the town and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
25 But if the man meets the engaged woman in the open country, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.26You shall do nothing to the young woman; the young woman has not committed an offense punishable by death, because this case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor.27Since he found her in the open country, the engaged woman may have cried for help, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act,29the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the young woman’s father, and she shall become his wife. Because he violated her he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
30 A man shall not marry his father’s wife, thereby violating his father’s rights.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 11
11. Psalm 11
Psalm 11
Song of Trust in God
To the leader. Of David.
1
In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to the mountains;
2
for look, the wicked bend the bow,
they have fitted their arrow to the string,
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.
3
If the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
4
The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind.
5
The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
and his soul hates the lover of violence.
6
On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulfur;
a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7
For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.