Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
Hallowed be thy name.—MATT. 6:9.
Thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?—Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.—I saw . . . the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone.—I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself.
The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.—That we might be partakers of his holiness.—Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart.
Exo. 34:14.Exo. 15:11. -Rev. 4:8.I Chr. 16:29. -Isa. 6:1-3,5. -Job 42:5,6.I John 1:7. -Heb. 12:10. -Heb. 10:19,22.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“Whom he did predestinate, them he also called.”
Romans 8:30
In the second epistle to Timothy, first chapter, and ninth verse, are these words—“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling.” Now, here is a touchstone by which we may try our calling. It is “an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.” This calling forbids all trust in our own doings, and conducts us to Christ alone for salvation, but it afterwards purges us from dead works to serve the living and true God. As he that hath called you is holy, so must you be holy. If you are living in sin, you are not called, but if you are truly Christ's, you can say, “Nothing pains me so much as sin; I desire to be rid of it; Lord, help me to be holy.” Is this the panting of thy heart? Is this the tenor of thy life towards God, and his divine will? Again, in Philippians, 3:13, 14, we are told of “The high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Is then your calling a high calling? Has it ennobled your heart, and set it upon heavenly things? Has it elevated your hopes, your tastes, your desires? Has it upraised the constant tenor of your life, so that you spend it with God and for God? Another test we find in Hebrews 3:1—“Partakers of the heavenly calling.” Heavenly calling means a call from heaven. If man alone call thee, thou art uncalled. Is thy calling of God? Is it a call to heaven as well as from heaven? Unless thou art a stranger here, and heaven thy home, thou hast not been called with a heavenly calling; for those who have been so called, declare that they look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and they themselves are strangers and pilgrims upon the earth. Is thy calling thus holy, high, heavenly? Then, beloved, thou hast been called of God, for such is the calling wherewith God doth call his people.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - 1 Samuel 13
13. Samuel Rebukes Saul
Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice
13
Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign; and he reigned . . . and two years over Israel.
2 Saul chose three thousand out of Israel; two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; the rest of the people he sent home to their tents.3Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba; and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”4When all Israel heard that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines, the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.6When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns.7Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people began to slip away from Saul.9So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the offerings of well-being.” And he offered the burnt offering.10As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived; and Saul went out to meet him and salute him.11Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the people were slipping away from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines were mustering at Michmash,12I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of the Lord’; so I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”13Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. The Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever,14but now your kingdom will not continue; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart; and the Lord has appointed him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”15And Samuel left and went on his way from Gilgal. The rest of the people followed Saul to join the army; they went up from Gilgal toward Gibeah of Benjamin.
Preparations for Battle
Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.16Saul, his son Jonathan, and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin; but the Philistines encamped at Michmash.17And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies; one company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual,18another company turned toward Beth-horon, and another company turned toward the mountain that looks down upon the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19 Now there was no smith to be found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, “The Hebrews must not make swords or spears for themselves”;20so all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, or sickles;21The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.22So on the day of the battle neither sword nor spear was to be found in the possession of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
Jonathan Surprises and Routs the Philistines
23 Now a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass of Michmash.
New Testament in Four Years - Ephesians 5:3-7
5. Living as Children of Light
Renounce Pagan Ways
3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints.4Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving.5Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient.7Therefore do not be associated with them.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 77
77. Psalm 77
Psalm 77
God’s Mighty Deeds Recalled
To the leader: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1
I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, that he may hear me.
2
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
3
I think of God, and I moan;
I meditate, and my spirit faints.Selah
4
You keep my eyelids from closing;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5
I consider the days of old,
and remember the years of long ago.
6
I commune with my heart in the night;
I meditate and search my spirit:
7
“Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
8
Has his steadfast love ceased forever?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
9
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”Selah
10
And I say, “It is my grief
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11
I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
I will remember your wonders of old.
12
I will meditate on all your work,
and muse on your mighty deeds.
13
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?
14
You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.Selah
16
When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.
17
The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed on every side.
18
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
19
Your way was through the sea,
your path, through the mighty waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
20
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.