Daily Bible Notes: February, 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
Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.
Genesis 25:11
Hagar had once found deliverance there and Ishmael had drank from the water so graciously revealed by the God who liveth and seeth the sons of men; but this was a merely casual visit, such as worldlings pay to the Lord in times of need, when it serves their turn. They cry to Him in trouble, but forsake Him in prosperity. Isaac dwelt there, and made the well of the living and all-seeing God his constant source of supply. The usual tenor of a man’s life, the dwelling of his soul, is the true test of his state. Perhaps the providential visitation experienced by Hagar struck Isaac’s mind, and led him to revere the place; its mystical name endeared it to him; his frequent musings by its brim at eventide made him familiar with the well; his meeting Rebecca there had made his spirit feel at home near the spot; but best of all, the fact that he there enjoyed fellowship with the living God, had made him select that hallowed ground for his dwelling. Let us learn to live in the presence of the living God; let us pray the Holy Spirit that this day, and every other day, we may feel, "Thou God seest me."
May the Lord Jehovah be as a well to us, delightful, comforting, unfailing, springing up unto eternal life. The bottle of the creature cracks and dries up, but the well of the Creator never fails; happy is he who dwells at the well, and so has abundant and constant supplies near at hand. The Lord has been a sure helper to others: His name is Shaddai, God All-sufficient; our hearts have often had most delightful intercourse with Him; through Him our soul has found her glorious Husband, the Lord Jesus; and in Him this day we live, and move, and have our being; let us, then, dwell in closest fellowship with Him. Glorious Lord, constrain us that we may never leave Thee, but dwell by the well of the living God.
Evening
Whereas the Lord was there.
Ezekiel 35:10
Edom’s princes saw the whole country left desolate, and counted upon its easy conquest; but there was one great difficulty in their way - quite unknown to them -"The Lord was there"; and in His presence lay the special security of the chosen land. Whatever may be the machinations and devices of the enemies of God’s people, there is still the same effectual barrier to thwart their design. The saints are God’s heritage, and He is in the midst of them, and will protect His own. What comfort this assurance yields us in our troubles and spiritual conflicts! We are constantly opposed, and yet perpetually preserved! How often Satan shoots his arrows against our faith , but our faith defies the power of hell’s fiery darts; they are not only turned aside, but they are quenched upon its shield, for "the Lord is there." Our good works are the subjects of Satan’s attacks. A saint never yet had a virtue or a grace which was not the target for hellish bullets: whether it was hope bright and sparkling, or love warm and fervent, or patience all-enduring, or zeal flaming like coals of fire, the old enemy of everything that is good has tried to destroy it. The only reason why anything virtuous or lovely survives in us is this, "the Lord is there."
If the Lord be with us through life, we need not fear for our dying confidence; for when we come to die , we shall find that "the Lord is there"; where the billows are most tempestuous, and the water is most chill, we shall feel the bottom, and know that it is good: our feet shall stand upon the Rock of Ages when time is passing away. Beloved, from the first of a Christian’s life to the last, the only reason why he does not perish is because "the Lord is there ." When the God of everlasting love shall change and leave His elect to perish, then may the Church of God be destroyed; but not till then, because it is written, JEHOVAH SHAMMAH, "The Lord is there ."
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Joshua 8:30-35
30 Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
31 as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings.
32 He wrote there on the stones a copy of Moses' law, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
33 All Israel, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the LORD's covenant, the foreigner as well as the native; half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.
34 Afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua didn't read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were amongst them.
BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS
"He read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings."
We are inclined to read only what pleases us, to hug the blessings and to ignore the warnings. We bask in the light, we close our eyes to the lightning. We recount the promises, we shut our ears to the rebukes. We love the passages which speak of our Master's gentleness, we turn away from those which reveal His severity. And all this is unwise, and therefore unhealthy. We become spiritually soft and anæmic. We lack moral stamina. We are incapable of noble hatred and of holy scorn. We are invertebrate, and on the evil day we are not able to stand.
We must read "all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings." We must let the Lord brace us with His severities. We must gaze steadily upon the appalling fearfulness of sin, and upon its terrific issues. At all costs we must get rid of the spurious gentleness that holds compromise with uncleanness, that effeminate affection which is destitute of holy fire. We must seek the love which burns everlastingly against all sin; we must seek the gentleness which can fiercely grip a poisonous growth and tear it out to its last hidden root. We must seek that holy love which is as a "consuming fire."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
February 17th.
My Lord, pour grace into my lips to-day, that all my conversation may be gracious, and may tend to enrich and sweeten
the society in which I move.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
2 Chronicles 15:7
God had done great things for King Asa and Judah, but yet they were a feeble folk. Their feet were very tottering in the ways of the Lord, and their hearts very hesitating, so that they had to be warned that the Lord would be with them while they were with him, but that if they forsook him he would leave them. They were also reminded of the sister kingdom, how ill it fared in its rebellion, and how the Lord was gracious to it when repentance was shown. The Lord's design was to confirm them in his way, and make them strong in righteousness. So ought it to be with us. God deserves to be served with all the energy of which we are capable.
If the service of God is worth anything, it is worth everything. We shall find our best reward in the Lord's work if we do it with determined diligence. Our labour is not in vain in the Lord, and we know it. Half-hearted work will bring no reward; but, when we throw our whole soul into the cause, we shall see prosperity. This text was sent to the author of these notes in a day of terrible storm, and it suggested to him to put on all steam, with the assurance of reaching port in safety with a glorious freight.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I have been crucified with Christ.
Galatians 2:20
The man who preaches the Cross must be a crucified man. You may preach the Cross and it is nothing but a Roman gibbet unless you preach it from yourself. It is the crucified man that can preach the Cross.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
They are bowed down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
Psalms 20:8
This is the language of faith, not after the battle, but before it. The whole Psalm consists of a prayer for the king as he goes out to meet his enemies in conflict. In the first five verses the voice of the people is heard, praying for their king. In one verse (6), the voice of the king is heard, affirming his confidence that the prayers of his people will be heard. Then again the voice of the people is a song surveying the field, and exulting in the coming victory (verses 7 and 8). Once again the song becomes a prayer (verse 9). The secret of this confidence is discovered in the contrast presented in the preceding verse. On the one hand are seen those who depend upon chariots, upon horses - that is, upon material strength. On the other are seen those who find inspiration in the Name of Jehovah their God - that is, who depend upon spiritual forces. To such a conflict there can be but one issue. Already the men of faith see that issue, and celebrate it thus: "They are bowed down and fallen: But we are risen and stand upright." Faith is rational confidence. That is to say, that when the true balance and proportion of things is apprehended, the reasonableness of the conviction is self-evident, that God in goodness and purity and beneficence must triumph over material forces ranged on the side of evil, impurity, malevolence. But faith is rational in another sense. It is not only so in its intellectual apprehension, but also in its volitional surrender. Faith has only one anxiety and that is to be found ranged on the side of God. When that is so, it can know no fear.
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.