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Daily Light's Morning Reading
If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only.—I SAM. 7:3.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.—Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.—Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.
Thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.—Serve him with a perfect heart with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.
Behold, thou desireth truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.—Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.—Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
I John 5:21. -II Cor. 6:17,18. -Matt. 6:24.Exo. 34:14. -I Chr. 28:9.Psa. 51:6. -I Sam. 16:7. -I John 3:21.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“He answered him to never a word.”
Matthew 27:14
He had never been slow of speech when he could bless the sons of men, but he would not say a single word for himself. “Never man spake like this man,” and never man was silent like him. Was this singular silence the index of his perfect self-sacrifice? Did it show that he would not utter a word to stay the slaughter of his sacred person, which he had dedicated as an offering for us? Had he so entirely surrendered himself that he would not interfere in his own behalf, even in the minutest degree, but be bound and slain an unstruggling, uncomplaining victim? Was this silence a type of the defencelessness of sin? Nothing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt; and, therefore, he who bore its whole weight stood speechless before his judge. Is not patient silence the best reply to a gainsaying world? Calm endurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence. The best apologists for Christianity in the early days were its martyrs. The anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly bearing their blows. Did not the silent Lamb of God furnish us with a grand example of wisdom? Where every word was occasion for new blasphemy, it was the line of duty to afford no fuel for the flame of sin. The ambiguous and the false, the unworthy and mean, will ere long overthrow and confute themselves, and therefore the true can afford to be quiet, and finds silence to be its wisdom. Evidently our Lord, by his silence, furnished a remarkable fulfilment of prophecy. A long defence of himself would have been contrary to Isaiah’s prediction: “He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” By his quiet he conclusively proved himself to be the true Lamb of God. As such we salute him this morning. Be with us, Jesus, and in the silence of our heart, let us hear the voice of thy love.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Exodus 8
8. Frogs, Gnats, and Flies
The Second Plague: Frogs
8
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.2If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.3The river shall swarm with frogs; they shall come up into your palace, into your bedchamber and your bed, and into the houses of your officials and of your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.4The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials.’ ”5And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.7But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs up on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, “Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”9Moses said to Pharaoh, “Kindly tell me when I am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.”10And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God,11the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile.”12Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs that he had brought upon Pharaoh.13And the Lord did as Moses requested: the frogs died in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields.14And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.15But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
The Third Plague: Gnats
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.’ ”17And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came on humans and animals alike; all the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.18The magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, but they could not. There were gnats on both humans and animals.19And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
The Fourth Plague: Flies
20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.21For if you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies; so also the land where they live.22But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I the Lord am in this land.23Thus I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign shall appear tomorrow.’ ”24The Lord did so, and great swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his officials’ houses; in all of Egypt the land was ruined because of the flies.
25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.”26But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so; for the sacrifices that we offer to the Lord our God are offensive to the Egyptians. If we offer in the sight of the Egyptians sacrifices that are offensive to them, will they not stone us?27We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he commands us.”28So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, provided you do not go very far away. Pray for me.”29Then Moses said, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people; only do not let Pharaoh again deal falsely by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.31And the Lord did as Moses asked: he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people; not one remained.32But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and would not let the people go.
New Testament in Four Years - Romans 12:3-5
12. Living Sacrifices
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.4For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function,5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 69:1-18
69. Psalm 69
Psalm 69
Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution
To the leader: according to Lilies. Of David.
1
Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2
I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3
I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
4
More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5
O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6
Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
O God of Israel.
7
It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.
8
I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.
9
It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10
When I humbled my soul with fasting,
they insulted me for doing so.
11
When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12
I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.
13
But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help14rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15
Do not let the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the Pit close its mouth over me.
16
Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17
Do not hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.
18
Draw near to me, redeem me,
set me free because of my enemies.