Daily Bible Notes: August, 17th
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
The mercy of God.
Psalm 52:8
Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy . With gentle, loving touch, He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
He is as gracious in the manner of His mercy as in the matter of it. It is great mercy . There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself - it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God. It is undeserved mercy , as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner’s part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy . Some things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart. It is manifold mercy . As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God’s garden are double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is abounding mercy . Millions have received it, yet far from its being exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is unfailing mercy . It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend, mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding; with thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.
Evening
This sickness is not unto death.
John 11:4
From our Lord’s words we learn that there is a limit to sickness. Here is an "unto" within which its ultimate end is restrained, and beyond which it cannot go. Lazarus might pass through death, but death was not to be the ultimatum of his sickness. In all sickness, the Lord saith to the waves of pain, "Hitherto shall ye go, but no further." His fixed purpose is not the destruction, but the instruction of His people. Wisdom hangs up the thermometer at the furnace mouth, and regulates the heat. 1. The limit is encouragingly comprehensive . The God of providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestinated, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of Him who numbers the hairs of our head. 2. This limit is wisely adjusted to our strength, to the end designed, and to the grace apportioned. Affliction comes not at haphazard - the weight of every stroke of the rod is accurately measured. He who made no mistakes in balancing the clouds and meting out the heavens, commits no errors in measuring out the ingredients which compose the medicine of souls. We cannot suffer too much nor be relieved too late. 3. The limit is tenderly appointed . The knife of the heavenly Surgeon never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary. "He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." A mother’s heart cries, "Spare my child"; but no mother is more compassionate than our gracious God. When we consider how hard-mouthed we are, it is a wonder that we are not driven with a sharper bit. The thought is full of consolation, that He who has fixed the bounds of our habitation, has also fixed the bounds of our tribulation.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 107:1-15
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed by the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,
3 And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,
7 he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.
8 Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.
12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour. They fell down, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains.
15 Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
THE Psalms OF PRAISE
The miracle of deliverance must be followed by the psalm of praise. There are multitudes who cry, "God be merciful!" who never cry, "God be praised!" "There were none that returned to give thanks save this Samaritan." Ten cleansed, and only one grateful! "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness!" Many a blessing becomes stale because it is not renewed by thanksgiving. Graces that are received ungratefully droop like flowers deprived of rain. Yes, gratitude gives sustenance to blessings already received. Therefore "in everything give thanks."
But emancipated lives are not only to break into praise before God, they must exercise in confession before men. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!" Unconfessed blessings become like the Dead Sea; refused an outlet they lose their freshness and vitality. I am found by the Lord in order that I, too, may be a seeker. I receive His peace in order that I may be a peacemaker. I am comforted in order that I "may comfort others with the comfort wherewith I am comforted of God." Have you ever received a blessing; "pass it on!" Tell the story of thy deliverance to the enslaved, that he, too, may find "the iron gate" swing open, and so attain his freedom.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
August 17th.
God of all might, look upon my weakness. Link my frailty to Thee. May the devil not take advantage of my impotence!
May he find me endowed with all the power of God! Make me invincible by Thy grace!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2 Kings 6:16
Horses and chariots, and a great host, shut up the prophet in Dothan. His young servant was alarmed. How could they escape from such a body of armed men? But the prophet had eyes which his servant had not, and he could see a greater host with far superior weapons guarding him from all harm. Horses of fire are mightier than horses of flesh, and chariots of fire are far preferable to chariots of iron.
Even so is it at this hour. The adversaries of truth are many, influential, learned, and crafty; and truth fares ill at their hands; and yet the man of God has no cause for trepidation. Agencies, seen and unseen, of the most potent kind, are on the side of righteousness. God has armies in ambush which will reveal themselves in the hour of need. The forces which are on the side of the good and the true far outweigh the powers of evil. Therefore, let us keep our spirits up, and walk with the gait of men who possess a cheering secret, which has lifted them above all fear. We are on the winning side. The battle may be sharp, but we know how it will end. Faith, having God with her, is in a clear majority: "They that be with us are more than they that be with them."
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Lord, teach us to pray.
Luke 11:1
All prayer lies within the two petitions of the pattern prayer the Master taught His disciples, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done." There is no prayer beyond that.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
A great High Priest, Who hath passed through the heavens.
Hebrews 4:14
With these words the writer began his more careful consideration of Jesus as the High Priest of our confession; and as he did so, he employed the word "great." To the Hebrew mind the phrase "High Priest" in itself expressed the highest form of priestly service; it was the ultimate word. This phrase is still further strengthened by the word "great." Jesus is not merely a priest; He is the High Priest, and in that He is great. His priestly work and position are characterized by the utmost finality. This greatness is here described in one way. He has "passed through the heavens." The statement is far stronger than it would be if it read "passed into the heavens." It helps us to think of Him as entering into the place of closest nearness to God in His priestly position. No lower heaven, however exalted, is the place of His work. Through all heavens He passed to that which in some sense is beyond the heavens, to the very place and being of God Himself. Moreover, the phrase is inclusive of His coming to us as well as to His going to God. He passed through the heavens to come to man, into closest identification; and having accomplished His purposes there, He passed through the heavens to go to God, into closest identification. The same thought is found in Paul's letter to the Ephesians: "Now this, He ascended, what is it but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended far ... that He might fill all things."
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.