Daily Bible Notes: January, 31st
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 Lord our Righteousness.
Jeremiah 23:6
It will always give a Christian the greatest calm, quiet, ease, and peace, to think of the perfect righteousness of Christ. How often are the saints of God downcast and sad! I do not think they ought to be. I do not think they would if they could always see their perfection in Christ. There are some who are always talking about corruption, and the depravity of the heart, and the innate evil of the soul. This is quite true, but why not go a little further, and remember that we are "perfect in Christ Jesus." It is no wonder that those who are dwelling upon their own corruption should wear such downcast looks; but surely if we call to mind that "Christ is made unto us righteousness," we shall be of good cheer. What though distresses afflict me, though Satan assault me, though there may be many things to be experienced before I get to heaven, those are done for me in the covenant of divine grace; there is nothing wanting in my Lord, Christ hath done it all. On the cross He said, "It is finished!" and if it be finished, then am I complete in Him, and can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, "Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." You will not find on this side heaven a holier people than those who receive into their hearts the doctrine of Christ’s righteousness. When the believer says, "I live on Christ alone; I rest on Him solely for salvation; and I believe that, however unworthy, I am still saved in Jesus;" then there rises up as a motive of gratitude this thought - "Shall I not live to Christ?
Shall I not love Him and serve Him, seeing that I am saved by His merits?" "The love of Christ constraineth us," "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him which died for them." If saved by imputed righteousness, we shall greatly value imparted righteousness.
Evening
Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
2 Samuel 18:23
Running is not everything, there is much in the way which we select: a swift foot over hill and down dale will not keep pace with a slower traveller upon level ground. How is it with my spiritual journey, am I labouring up the hill of my own works and down into the ravines of my own humiliations and resolutions, or do I run by the plain way of "Believe and live"? How blessed is it to wait upon the Lord by faith! The soul runs without weariness, and walks without fainting, in the way of believing.
Christ Jesus is the way of life, and He is a plain way, a pleasant way, a way suitable for the tottering feet and feeble knees of trembling sinners: am I found in this way, or am I hunting after another track such as priestcraft or metaphysics may promise me? I read of the way of holiness, that the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein: have I been delivered from proud reason and been brought as a little child to rest in Jesus’ love and blood? If so, by God’s grace I shall outrun the strongest runner who chooses any other path. This truth I may remember to my profit in my daily cares and needs. It will be my wisest course to go at once to my God, and not to wander in a roundabout manner to this friend and that. He knows my wants and can relieve them, to whom should I repair but to Himself by the direct appeal of prayer, and the plain argument of the promise. "Straightforward makes the best runner." I will not parlay with the servants, but hasten to their master.
In reading this passage, it strikes me that if men vie with each other in common matters, and one outruns the other, I ought to be in solemn earnestness so to run that I may obtain. Lord, help me to gird up the loins of my mind, and may I press forward towards the mark for the prize of my high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 57
1 Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me, for my soul takes refuge in you. Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, until disaster has passed.
2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes my requests for me.
3 He will send from heaven, and save me, he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.
4 My soul is amongst lions. I lie amongst those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be above all the earth!
6 They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.
7 My heart is steadfast, God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.
8 Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp! I will wake up the dawn.
9 I will give thanks to you, Lord, amongst the peoples. I will sing praises to you amongst the nations.
10 For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies.
11 Be exalted, God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.
UNDER HIS WINGS
"In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge."
Could anything be more tenderly gracious than this figure of hiding under the shadow of God's wings? It speaks of bosom-warmth, and bosom-shelter, and bosom-rest. "Let me to Thy bosom fly!"
And what strong wings they are! Under those wings I am secure even from the lions. My animal passions shall not hurt me when I am "hiding in God." The fiercest onslaughts of the devil are powerless to break those mighty wings. The tenderest little chick, "one of these little ones," nestling behind this soft and gentle shelter, shall be perfectly secure; "none of its bones shall be broken."
I do not wonder that this sheltering psalmist begins to sing! "I will sing and give praise!" I have often listened to the sheltering chicks, hiding behind the mother's wings, and I have heard that quaint, comfortable, contented sound for which our language has no name. It is a sound of incipient song, the musical murmur of satisfaction. "I will sing unto Thee ... for Thy mercy is great."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
January 31st.
My Father, teach me the value of little times and of little things! May I know the worth of the moment and the trifle!
May I light every deed with the light of life! May every moment go away laden with sanctified supplication and service!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
My God will hear me.
Micah 7:7
Friends may be unfaithful, but the Lord will not turn away from the gracious soul; on the contrary, he will hear all its desires. The prophet says, "Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. A man's enemies are the men of his own house." This is a wretched state of affairs; but even in such a case the Best Friend remains true, and we may tell him all our grief.
Our wisdom is to look unto the Lord, and not to quarrel with men or women. If our loving appeals are disregarded by our own relatives, let us wait upon the God of our salvation, for he will hear us. He will hear us all the more because of the unkindness and oppression of others, and we shall soon have reason to cry, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy!"
Because God is the living God, he can hear; because he is a loving God, he will hear; because he is our covenant God, he has bound himself to hear us. If we can each one speak of him as "My God," we may with absolute certainty say, "My God will hear me." Come, then, O bleeding heart, and let thy sorrows tell themselves out to the Lord thy God! I will bow the knee in secret, and inwardly whisper, "My God will hear me."
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The only Master and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:4
We call you to no ignoble service when we call you to the King, but to serve the King you must kiss the sceptre and own allegiance to Him.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek-bone.
Psalms 3:7
There is no reason to question the accuracy of the heading of this Psalm, which attributes it to David, in the time when he fled from Absalom. It was certainly composed under circumstances of trial and of deliverance. The words in verse five warrant us in thinking of it as written in the morning; as verse eight of the next suggests that it was written in the evening. Accepting that view, we see the movement of thought. The fugitive king awoke to a sense of the adversaries (verses 1, 2). He also awoke to a sense of his God (verses 3, 4). He awoke to a consciousness of the restfulness of his sleep, and so to a complete courage (verses 5, 6) Then what? A great personal cry, in view of a relative deliverance. That is the meaning of this verse. Notice the request - "Save me"; and the affirmation - "Thou hast smitten all mine enemies." It would seem as though in the clear light of the morning - it, is wonderful how often we see clearly in the sunrise - and in the consciousness of how God had delivered him from his outward enemies, there came to David a sense of his own unworthiness and, therefore, this prayer escaped him as a cry out of the depths of his soul. It is even possible that he recognized that the very rebellion of his son Absalom was due to his own failure. How often we have to cry similarly to God. He delivers us from circumstances of trouble, and the very fact of such deliverance brings home to us the sense of personal unworthiness. We can always add to the prayer the next words of the psalmist, "Salvation belongeth unto Jehovah."
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.