Daily Bible Notes: August, 20th
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 sweet psalmist of Israel.
2 Samuel 23:1
Among all the saints whose lives are recorded in Holy Writ, David possesses an experience of the most striking, varied, and instructive character. In his history we meet with trials and temptations not to be discovered, as a whole, in other saints of ancient times, and hence he is all the more suggestive a type of our Lord. David knew the trials of all ranks and conditions of men. Kings have their troubles, and David wore a crown: the peasant has his cares, and David handled a shepherd’s crook: the wanderer has many hardships, and David abode in the caves of Engedi: the captain has his difficulties, and David found the sons of Zeruiah too hard for him. The psalmist was also tried in his friends, his counsellor Ahithophel forsook him, "He that eateth bread with me, hath lifted up his heel against me." His worst foes were they of his own household: his children were his greatest affliction. The temptations of poverty and wealth, of honour and reproach, of health and weakness, all tried their power upon him. He had temptations from without to disturb his peace, and from within to mar his joy. David no sooner escaped from one trial than he fell into another; no sooner emerged from one season of despondency and alarm, than he was again brought into the lowest depths, and all God’s waves and billows rolled over him. It is probably from this cause that David’s psalms are so universally the delight of experienced Christians. Whatever our frame of mind, whether ecstasy or depression, David has exactly described our emotions. He was an able master of the human heart, because he had been tutored in the best of all schools - the school of heart-felt, personal experience. As we are instructed in the same school, as we grow matured in grace and in years, we increasingly appreciate David’s psalms, and find them to be "green pastures." My soul, let David’s experience cheer and counsel thee this day.
Evening
And they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.
Nehemiah 3:8
Cities well fortified have broad walls, and so had Jerusalem in her glory.
The New Jerusalem must, in like manner, be surrounded and preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world, and separation from its customs and spirit. The tendency of these days break down the holy barrier, and make the distinction between the church and the world merely nominal. Professors are no longer strict and Puritanical, questionable literature is read on all hands, frivolous pastimes are currently indulged, and a general laxity threatens to deprive the Lord’s peculiar people of those sacred singularities which separate them from sinners. It will be an ill day for the church and the world when the proposed amalgamation shall be complete, and the sons of God and the daughters of men shall be as one: then shall another deluge of wrath be ushered in. Beloved reader, be it your aim in heart, in word, in dress, in action to maintain the broad wall, remembering that the friendship of this world is enmity against God.
The broad wall afforded a pleasant place of resort for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, from which they could command prospects of the surrounding country. This reminds us of the Lord’s exceeding broad commandments, in which we walk at liberty in communion with Jesus, overlooking the scenes of earth, and looking out towards the glories of heaven. Separated from the world, and denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts, we are nevertheless not in prison, nor restricted within narrow bounds; nay, we walk at liberty, because we keep His precepts. Come, reader, this evening walk with God in His statutes. As friend met friend upon the city wall, so meet thou thy God in the way of holy prayer and meditation. The bulwarks of salvation thou hast a right to traverse, for thou art a freeman of the royal burgh, a citizen of the metropolis of the universe.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Isaiah 40:1-11
1 "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God.
2 "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins."
3 The voice of one who calls out, "Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
5 The LORD's glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it."
6 The voice of one saying, "Cry!" One said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever."
9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Don't be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God!"
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
FEEDING THE FLOCK
Here is the gracious promise of provision. "He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd." He knows the fields where my soul will be best nourished in holiness. I am sometimes amazed at His choice. He takes me into an apparent wilderness, but I find rich herbage on the unpromising plain. And so I would rest in His choice even when it seems adverse to my good.
And here is the gracious promise of gentle discrimination. "He shall gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom." Says old Trapp, "He hath a great care of His little ones, like as He had of the weaker tribes. In their march through the Wilderness He put a strong tribe to two weak tribes, lest they should faint or fail." Yes, "He knoweth our frame." He will not lay upon us more than we can bear. At the back of every commandment there is a promise of adequate resource. His askings are also His enablings. The big duty means that we shall have a big lift. And when we are tired He will lead on gently. Such is the grace and tenderness of the Lord.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
August 20th.
My Father, I turn to the day's work, I turn to the earning of my daily bread. May I go to it as to prayer!
May my labour be an act of worship! May the spirit of my toil rise as acceptable fragrance to Thee!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
Job 5:19
Eliphaz in this spoke the truth of God. We may have as many troubles as the work-days of the week, but the God who worked on those six days will work for us till our deliverance is complete. We shall rest with him, and in him on our Sabbath. The rapid succession of trials is one of the sorest tests of faith. Before we have recovered from one blow, it is followed by another and another till we are staggered. Still, the equally quick succession of deliverances is exceedingly cheering. New songs are rung out upon the anvil by the hammer of affliction, till we see in the spiritual world the antitype of "the Harmonious Blacksmith." Our confidence is, that when the Lord makes our trials six, six they will be, and no more.
It may be that we have no rest-day, for seven troubles come upon us. What then? "In seven there shall no evil touch thee." Evil may roar at us, but it shall be kept at more than arm's length, and shall not even touch us. Its hot breath may distress us, but its little finger cannot be laid upon us.
With our loins girt about us we will meet the six or the seven troubles, and leave fear to those who have no Father, no Saviour, and no Sanctifier.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:10, R.V.
No man is to imagine that when he has fulfilled certain obligations to God, he may then live his life without reference to his neighbour.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him.
Hebrews 7:25
This ability is based upon two things, His priesthood, and our availing ourselves of it. No other priest is equal to such complete saving of men. He, however, is only able to complete the work of saving, when men draw near to God through Him. There are very remarkable truths involved in this glorious declaration. Let us note two of them. First, the assumption of the statement is that it is only when men are near to God that the priesthood of Jesus is operative in all those continuous activities of intercession through which the saving of men can be carried out to its consummation. Not being perfect, not yet having attained, we may yet remain near to God, Who is the God of all patience. As that nearness is maintained, our High Priest is the Mediator through Whom all the resources of the Divine Wisdom, Strength, and Grace are communicated to us; that, growing up into Him in all things, our saving to the uttermost is completed. Departure from nearness to God separates us from the operation of our High Priest. That is a truth that we must never forget. Standing alone, it is liable to discourage us. But that brings us to the second truth, and that is that our nearness to God is through Him. It is through Him we draw near, and it is through Him we abide in nearness. Thus the two phases of His priestly work are in view. The first is atoning. Through that we draw near, and abide in nearness. The second is intercessory and perfecting. That operates as we are near to God through His atoning work.
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.