Daily Bible Notes: March, 22nd
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
And He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed.
Matthew 26:39
There are several instructive features in our Saviour’s prayer in His hour of trial. It was lonely prayer . He withdrew even from His three favoured disciples. Believer, be much in solitary prayer, especially in times of trial.
Family prayer, social prayer, prayer in the Church, will not suffice, these are very precious, but the best beaten spice will smoke in your censer in your private devotions, where no ear hears but God’s.
It was humble prayer . Luke says He knelt, but another evangelist says He "fell on His face." Where, then, must be THY place, thou humble servant of the great Master? What dust and ashes should cover thy head! Humility gives us good foot-hold in prayer. There is no hope of prevalence with God unless we abase ourselves that He may exalt us in due time.
It was filial prayer . "Abba, Father." You will find it a stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You have no rights as a subject, you have forfeited them by your treason; but nothing can forfeit a child’s right to a father’s protection. Be not afraid to say, "My Father, hear my cry."
Observe that it was persevering prayer . He prayed three times. Cease not until you prevail. Be as the importunate widow, whose continual coming earned what her first supplication could not win. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.
Lastly, it was the prayer of resignation . "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." Yield, and God yields. Let it be as God wills, and God will determine for the best. Be thou content to leave thy prayer in his hands, who knows when to give, and how to give, and what to give, and what to withhold. So pleading, earnestly, importunately, yet with humility and resignation, thou shalt surely prevail.
Evening
Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.
John 17:24
O death! why dost thou touch the tree beneath whose spreading branches weariness hath rest? Why dost thou snatch away the excellent of the earth, in whom is all our delight? If thou must use thine axe, use it upon the trees which yield no fruit; thou mightest be thanked then. But why wilt thou fell the goodly cedars of Lebanon? O stay thine axe, and spare the righteous.
But no, it must not be; death smites the goodliest of our friends; the most generous, the most prayerful, the most holy, the most devoted must die.
And why? It is through Jesus’ prevailing prayer -"Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." It is that which bears them on eagle’s wings to heaven. Every time a believer mounts from this earth to paradise, it is an answer to Christ’s prayer. A good old divine remarks, "Many times Jesus and His people pull against one another in prayer. You bend your knee in prayer and say ‘Father, I will that Thy saints be with me where I am’; Christ says, ‘Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.’" Thus the disciple is at cross-purposes with his Lord. The soul cannot be in both places: the beloved one cannot be with Christ and with you too. Now, which pleader shall win the day? If you had your choice; if the King should step from His throne, and say, "Here are two supplicants praying in opposition to one another, which shall be answered?" Oh! I am sure, though it were agony, you would start from your feet, and say, "Jesus, not my will, but Thine be done." You would give up your prayer for your loved one’s life, if you could realize the thoughts that Christ is praying in the opposite direction -"Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." Lord, Thou shalt have them. By faith we let them go.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 119:33-40
33 Teach me, LORD, the way of your statutes. I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law. Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in them.
36 Turn my heart towards your statutes, not towards selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.
38 Fulfil your promise to your servant, that you may be feared.
39 Take away my disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts! Revive me in your righteousness.
COUNSEL AND MIGHT
The psalmist prays for an illumined understanding. "Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes." We are so prone to be children of the twilight, and to see things out of their true proportions. Therefore do we need to be daily taught. I must go into the school of the Lord, and in docility of spirit I must sit at His feet. "O, teach me, Lord, teach even me!"
And the psalmist prays for rectified inclinations. "Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies." We so often have the wrong bias, the fatal taste, and our desires are all against the will of the Lord. If only my leanings were toward the Lord how swift my progress would be! I strive to walk after holiness, while my inclinations are in the realm of sin. And so I need a clean mouth, with an appetite for the beautiful and the true. "Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness."
And the psalmist prays for a strenuous will. "Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments." He is praying for "go," for moral persistence, for power to crash through all obstacles which may impede his heavenly progress. And such is my need. Good Lord, endow me with a will like "an iron pillar," and help me to "stand in the evil day."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
March 22nd.
My Lord, the Fountain of light, give light to me. Make me a child of light, walking in the light as Thou art in the light.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He that giveth grace unto the humble.
James 4:6
Humble hearts seek grace, and therefore they get it. Humble hearts yield to the sweet influences of grace, and so it is bestowed on them more and more largely. Humble hearts lie in the valleys where streams of grace are flowing, and hence they drink of them. Humble hearts are grateful for grace and give the Lord the glory of it, and hence it is consistent with his honour to give it to them.
Come, dear reader, take a lowly place. Be little in thine own esteem, that the Lord may make much of thee. Perhaps the sigh breaks out, "I fear I am not humble." It may be that this is the language of true humility. Some are proud of being humble, and this is one of the very worst sorts of pride. We are needy, helpless, undeserving, hell-deserving creatures, and if we are not humble we ought to be. Let us humble ourselves because of our sins against humility, and then the Lord will give us to taste of his favour. It is grace which makes us humble, and grace which finds in this humility an opportunity for pouring in more grace. Let us go down that we may rise. Let us be poor in spirit that God may make us rich. Let us be humble that we may not need to be humbled, but may be exalted by the grace of God.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Ye are my witnesses.
Isaiah 43:10
The only reason why those born again of the Spirit are left in the world is that they may be His witnesses.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away
Mark 13:31
Perhaps this was our Lord's superlative word concerning His teaching. A statement more definite and plain it would be impossible to frame. Whereas the claim had undoubted reference to the whole of His teaching, it is important that we should remember that He uttered it in connection with His apocalyptic prophecies. It has been the fashion of certain thinkers to discredit the validity of these sayings of Jesus. First it was suggested that the records were not authentic. That view has been largely abandoned; and now it is suggested that He was mistaken in accepting the views of His age. Yet, according to this word, it was in connection with these very things that He made this supreme claim. It is well to remember this today. However difficult it may be to come to perfect agreement in the interpretation of these Olivet discourses in detail, it is unquestionable that their general ideas are far more in harmony with the world conditions in the midst of which we are living, than are the views which have been advanced as to the course of things proceeding gradually, and without upheaval, to the establishment of an order of peace and goodwill among men. This claim is being vindicated in our own times. It is evident that He understood the human heart better than the modern teachers who have thought Him mistaken. We may still rest assured that the march of history will vindicate Him at every point, and in that assurance we shall find our safety and our joy in believing Him and obeying Him.
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.