Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Be not far from me; for trouble is near.—PSA. 22:11.
How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?—Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.—The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.—Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.—Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.—My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psa. 13:1,2. -Psa. 27:9.Psa. 91:15. -Psa. 145:18,19.John 14:18. -Matt. 28:20.Psa. 46:1. -Psa. 62:1. -Psa. 62:5.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.”
Lamentations 3:41
The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favours without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust. Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which it brings, a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labour of prayer. Prayer plumes the wings of God’s young eaglets, that they may learn to mount above the clouds. Prayer girds the loins of God’s warriors, and sends them forth to combat with their sinews braced and their muscles firm. An earnest pleader cometh out of his closet, even as the sun ariseth from the chambers of the east, rejoicing like a strong man to run his race. Prayer is that uplifted hand of Moses which routs the Amalekites more than the sword of Joshua; it is the arrow shot from the chamber of the prophet foreboding defeat to the Syrians. Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer cannot do! We thank thee, great God, for the mercy-seat, a choice proof of thy marvellous lovingkindness. Help us to use it aright throughout this day!
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Jeremiah 18
18. At the Potter's House
The Potter and the Clay
18
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:2“Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.”3So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel.4The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me:6Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.7At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,8but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.9And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,10but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.11Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
Israel’s Stubborn Idolatry
12 But they say, “It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.”
13
Therefore thus says the Lord:
Ask among the nations:
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel has done
a most horrible thing.
14
Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?
Do the mountain waters run dry,
the cold flowing streams?
15
But my people have forgotten me,
they burn offerings to a delusion;
they have stumbled in their ways,
in the ancient roads,
and have gone into bypaths,
not the highway,
16
making their land a horror,
a thing to be hissed at forever.
All who pass by it are horrified
and shake their heads.
17
Like the wind from the east,
I will scatter them before the enemy.
I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.
A Plot against Jeremiah
18 Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah—for instruction shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us bring charges against him, and let us not heed any of his words.”
19
Give heed to me, O Lord,
and listen to what my adversaries say!
20
Is evil a recompense for good?
Yet they have dug a pit for my life.
Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.
21
Therefore give their children over to famine;
hurl them out to the power of the sword,
let their wives become childless and widowed.
May their men meet death by pestilence,
their youths be slain by the sword in battle.
22
May a cry be heard from their houses,
when you bring the marauder suddenly upon them!
For they have dug a pit to catch me,
and laid snares for my feet.
23
Yet you, O Lord, know
all their plotting to kill me.
Do not forgive their iniquity,
do not blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be tripped up before you;
deal with them while you are angry.
New Testament in Four Years - Matthew 5:43-48
5. Sermon on the Mount
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 75
75. Psalm 75
Psalm 75
Thanksgiving for God’s Wondrous Deeds
To the leader: Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1
We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks; your name is near.
People tell of your wondrous deeds.
2
At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.
3
When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep its pillars steady.Selah
4
I say to the boastful, “Do not boast,”
and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn;
5
do not lift up your horn on high,
or speak with insolent neck.”
6
For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up;
7
but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
8
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed;
he will pour a draught from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs.
9
But I will rejoice forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10
All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.