Daily Bible Notes: April, 27th
The following daily bible notes for every day of the year, are taken from six public domain sources:
- "Morning and Evening" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by John H.Jowett
- "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
- "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan
- An Evening Meditation from "Searchlights from the Word" by G. Campbell Morgan
1. "Morning and Evening" by C.H.Spurgeon
Morning
God, even our own God.
Psalm 67:6
It is strange how little use we make of the spiritual blessings which God gives us, but it is stranger still how little use we make of God Himself.
Though He is "our own God," we apply ourselves but little to Him, and ask but little of Him. How seldom do we ask counsel at the hands of the Lord! How often do we go about our business, without seeking His guidance! In our troubles how constantly do we strive to bear our burdens ourselves, instead of casting them upon the Lord, that He may sustain us!
This is not because we may not, for the Lord seems to say, "I am thine, soul, come and make use of me as thou wilt; thou mayst freely come to my store, and the oftener the more welcome." It is our own fault if we make not free with the riches of our God. Then, since thou hast such a friend, and He invites thee, draw from Him daily. Never want whilst thou hast a God to go to; never fear or faint whilst thou hast God to help thee; go to thy treasure and take whatever thou needest - there is all that thou canst want. Learn the divine skill of making God all things to thee. He can supply thee with all, or, better still, He can be to thee instead of all. Let me urge thee, then, to make use of thy God.
Make use of Him in prayer . Go to Him often, because He is thy God. O, wilt thou fail to use so great a privilege? Fly to Him, tell Him all thy wants. Use Him constantly by faith at all times. If some dark providence has beclouded thee, use thy God as a "sun;" if some strong enemy has beset thee, find in Jehovah a "shield," for He is a sun and shield to His people. If thou hast lost thy way in the mazes of life, use Him as a "guide," for He will direct thee. Whatever thou art, and wherever thou art, remember God is just what thou wantest, and just where thou wantest, and that He can do all thou wantest.
Evening
The Lord is King for ever and ever.
Psalm 10:16
Jesus Christ is no despotic claimant of divine right , but He is really and truly the Lord’s anointed! "It hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell." God hath given to Him all power and all authority. As the Son of man, He is now head over all things to His church, and He reigns over heaven, and earth, and hell, with the keys of life and death at His girdle. Certain princes have delighted to call themselves kings by the popular will , and certainly our Lord Jesus Christ is such in His church. If it could be put to the vote whether He should be King in the church, every believing heart would crown Him. O that we could crown Him more gloriously than we do! We would count no expense to be wasted that could glorify Christ. Suffering would be pleasure, and loss would be gain, if thereby we could surround His brow with brighter crowns, and make Him more glorious in the eyes of men and angels. Yes, He shall reign. Long live the King! All hail to Thee, King Jesus! Go forth, ye virgin souls who love your Lord, bow at His feet, strew His way with the lilies of your love, and the roses of your gratitude: "Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all." Moreover, our Lord Jesus is King in Zion by right of conquest : He has taken and carried by storm the hearts of His people, and has slain their enemies who held them in cruel bondage. In the Red Sea of His own blood, our Redeemer has drowned the Pharaoh of our sins: shall He not be King in Jeshurun? He has delivered us from the iron yoke and heavy curse of the law: shall not the Liberator be crowned? We are His portion, whom He has taken out of the hand of the Amorite with His sword and with His bow: who shall snatch His conquest from His hand? All hail, King Jesus! we gladly own Thy gentle sway! Rule in our hearts for ever, Thou lovely Prince of Peace.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
1 Samuel 17:12-27
12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul.
13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14 David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul.
15 Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
16 The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
17 Jesse said to David his son, "Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;
18 and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news."
19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20 David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons, as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle.
21 Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army.
22 David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.
23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them.
24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were terrified.
25 The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel."
26 David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
27 The people answered him in this way, saying, "So shall it be done to the man who kills him."
OBSCURE BIRTHPLACES
God's champion is at present feeding sheep! Who would have expected that Goliath's antagonist would emerge from the quiet pastures? "Genius hatches her offspring in strange places." Very humble homes are the birthplaces of mighty emancipations.
There was a little farm at St. Ives, and the farmer lived a quiet and unsensational life. But the affairs of the nation became more and more confused and threatening. Monarchical power despoiled the people's liberties, and tyranny became rampant. And out from the little farm strode Oliver Cromwell, the ordained of God, to emancipate his country.
There was an obscure rectory at Epworth. The doings in the little rectory were just the quiet practices of similar homes in countless parts of England. And England was becoming brutalized, because its religious life was demoralized. The Church was asleep, and the devil was wide awake! And forth from the humble rectory strode John Wesley, the appointed champion of the Lord to enthuse, to purify, and to sweeten the life of the people.
On what quiet farm is the coming deliverer now labouring? Who knows?
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
April 27th.
Holy God, I thank Thee for the purity of the morning. May its freshness only reflect the pure brightness of my spirit! May the
light of the eternal day fill my soul with glory, and may the cheeriness of my life proclaim the beauty of my God!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.
Psalms 138:8
He who has begun will carry on the work which is being wrought within my soul. The Lord is concerned about everything that concerns me. All that is now good, but not perfect, the Lord will watch over, and preserve, and carry out to completion. This is a great comfort. I could not perfect the work of grace myself. Of that I am quite sure, for I fail every day, and have only held on so long as I have because the Lord has helped me. If the Lord were to leave me, all my past experience would go for nothing, and I should perish from the way. But the Lord will continue to bless me. He will perfect my faith, my love, my character, my life-work. He will do this because he has begun a work in me. He gave me the concern I feel, and, in a measure, he has fulfilled my gracious aspirations. He never leaves a work unfinished; this would not be for his glory, nor would it be like him. He knows how to accomplish his gracious design, and though my own evil nature, and the world, and the devil, all conspire to hinder him, I do not doubt his promise. He will perfect that which concerneth me, and I will praise him for ever. Lord, let thy gracious work make some advance this day!
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Ephesians 4:8
The King has accomplished the Exodus! Are we living in the bondage, or in freedom? The answer to this question will be found in the answer to another. Have we yet come into the place of trusting identification with Him in His Cross? If so, then for us
"Bars are riven,
Foes are driven,"
and our bondage is at an end.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I believe God.
Acts 27:25
This was an affirmation of faith to pagan men under stress of great and grave difficulty. Luke's story of the stormy voyage and the shipwreck is one of the most graphic things in literature, and for us it is centred in Paul and his quiet courage throughout. So far as he was concerned, he knew that it was impossible that he should perish, for had not the Lord stood by him in the night more than two years ago, and assured him that he should witness in Rome? All through he comforted and strengthened those who sailed with him. When things were at their worst, an angel came to him and told him that he should stand before Caesar, and that none of those sailing with him should be lost. Then it was that he made his affirmation. The effect of that affirmation on those in authority is seen in the way in which they followed his directions subsequently. The value of a definite confession of confidence is very great. It is often that men who do not profess themselves to believe in God do believe in a man who does believe in Him, and are prepared to follow him. How much of influence we lose by slowness to confess the faith that is in us! The man who with definiteness will declare his belief in God, as against all contrary circumstances, is making other men put God to the test, and so is winning victories, for God never fails.
Note: To the best of our knowledge we are of the understanding that the above material, all published before 1926 and freely available elsewhere on the internet in various formats, is in the public domain.