Meditate

What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee . . . Lord, that I may receive my sight.—LUKE 18:41.

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.—The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, . . . shall teach you all things.—Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, . . . give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.

Psa. 119:18.Luke 24:45. -John 14:26. -Jas. 1:17.Eph. 1:17-19.

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

Luke 3:4

The voice crying in the wilderness demanded a way for the Lord, a way prepared, and a way prepared in the wilderness. I would be attentive to the Master’s proclamation, and give him a road into my heart, cast up by gracious operations, through the desert of my nature. The four directions in the text must have my serious attention.

Every valley must be exalted. Low and grovelling thoughts of God must be given up; doubting and despairing must be removed; and self-seeking and carnal delights must be forsaken. Across these deep valleys a glorious causeway of grace must be raised.

Every mountain and hill shall be laid low. Proud creature-sufficiency, and boastful self-righteousness, must be levelled, to make a highway for the King of kings. Divine fellowship is never vouchsafed to haughty, highminded sinners. The Lord hath respect unto the lowly, and visits the contrite in heart, but the lofty are an abomination unto him. My soul, beseech the Holy Spirit to set thee right in this respect.

The crooked shall be made straight. The wavering heart must have a straight path of decision for God and holiness marked out for it. Double-minded men are strangers to the God of truth. My soul, take heed that thou be in all things honest and true, as in the sight of the heart-searching God.

The rough places shall be made smooth. Stumbling-blocks of sin must be removed, and thorns and briers of rebellion must be uprooted. So great a visitor must not find miry ways and stony places when he comes to honour his favoured ones with his company. Oh that this evening the Lord may find in my heart a highway made ready by his grace, that he may make a triumphal progress through the utmost bounds of my soul, from the beginning of this year even to the end of it.

Micah 4

4. Mountain of the Lord

Peace and Security through Obedience

4

In days to come

the mountain of the Lord’s house

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be raised up above the hills.

Peoples shall stream to it,

2

and many nations shall come and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob;

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3

He shall judge between many peoples,

and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more;

4

but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,

and no one shall make them afraid;

for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

5

For all the peoples walk,

each in the name of its god,

but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God

forever and ever.

Restoration Promised after Exile

6

In that day, says the Lord,

I will assemble the lame

and gather those who have been driven away,

and those whom I have afflicted.

7

The lame I will make the remnant,

and those who were cast off, a strong nation;

and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion

now and forevermore.

8

And you, O tower of the flock,

hill of daughter Zion,

to you it shall come,

the former dominion shall come,

the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem.

9

Now why do you cry aloud?

Is there no king in you?

Has your counselor perished,

that pangs have seized you like a woman in labor?

10

Writhe and groan, O daughter Zion,

like a woman in labor;

for now you shall go forth from the city

and camp in the open country;

you shall go to Babylon.

There you shall be rescued,

there the Lord will redeem you

from the hands of your enemies.

11

Now many nations

are assembled against you,

saying, “Let her be profaned,

and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”

12

But they do not know

the thoughts of the Lord;

they do not understand his plan,

that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

13

Arise and thresh,

O daughter Zion,

for I will make your horn iron

and your hoofs bronze;

you shall beat in pieces many peoples,

and shall devote their gain to the Lord,

their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

Acts 24:1-9

24. Trial Before Felix

Paul before Felix at Caesarea

24

Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney, a certain Tertullus, and they reported their case against Paul to the governor.²When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying:

“Your Excellency, because of you we have long enjoyed peace, and reforms have been made for this people because of your foresight.³We welcome this in every way and everywhere with utmost gratitude.⁴But, to detain you no further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness.⁵We have, in fact, found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.⁶He even tried to profane the temple, and so we seized him.⁸By examining him yourself you will be able to learn from him concerning everything of which we accuse him.”

⁹ The Jews also joined in the charge by asserting that all this was true.

Psalm 136

136. Psalm 136

Psalm 136

God’s Work in Creation and in History

1

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

2

O give thanks to the God of gods,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

3

O give thanks to the Lord of lords,