Daily Bible Notes: May, 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
Marvellous lovingkindness.
Psalm 17:7
When we give our hearts with our alms, we give well, but we must often plead to a failure in this respect. Not so our Master and our Lord. His favours are always performed with the love of His heart. He does not send to us the cold meat and the broken pieces from the table of His luxury, but He dips our morsel in His own dish, and seasons our provisions with the spices of His fragrant affections. When He puts the golden tokens of His grace into our palms, He accompanies the gift with such a warm pressure of our hand, that the manner of His giving is as precious as the boon itself.
He will come into our houses upon His errands of kindness, and He will not act as some austere visitors do in the poor man’s cottage, but He sits by our side, not despising our poverty, nor blaming our weakness.
Beloved, with what smiles does He speak! What golden sentences drop from His gracious lips! What embraces of affection does He bestow upon us! If He had but given us farthings, the way of His giving would have gilded them; but as it is, the costly alms are set in a golden basket by His pleasant carriage. It is impossible to doubt the sincerity of His charity, for there is a bleeding heart stamped upon the face of all His benefactions. He giveth liberally and upbraideth not. Not one hint that we are burdensome to Him; not one cold look for His poor pensioners; but He rejoices in His mercy, and presses us to His bosom while He is pouring out His life for us. There is a fragrance in His spikenard which nothing but His heart could produce; there is a sweetness in His honey-comb which could not be in it unless the very essence of His soul’s affection had been mingled with it.
Oh! the rare communion which such singular heartiness effecteth! May we continually taste and know the blessedness of it!
Evening
I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.
Hosea 11:4
Our heavenly Father often draws us with the cords of love; but ah! how backward we are to run towards Him! How slowly do we respond to His gentle impulses! He draws us to exercise a more simple faith in Him ; but we have not yet attained to Abraham’s confidence; we do not leave our worldly cares with God, but, like Martha, we cumber ourselves with much serving. Our meagre faith brings leanness into our souls; we do not open our mouths wide, though God has promised to fill them. Does He not this evening draw us to trust Him? Can we not hear Him say, "Come, My child, and trust Me. The veil is rent; enter into My presence, and approach boldly to the throne of My grace. I am worthy of thy fullest confidence, cast thy cares on Me. Shake thyself from the dust of thy cares, and put on thy beautiful garments of joy." But, alas! though called with tones of love to the blessed exercise of this comforting grace, we will not come. At another time He draws us to closer communion with Himself . We have been sitting on the doorstep of God’s house, and He bids us advance into the banqueting hall and sup with Him, but we decline the honour. There are secret rooms not yet opened to us; Jesus invites us to enter them, but we hold back. Shame on our cold hearts! We are but poor lovers of our sweet Lord Jesus, not fit to be His servants, much less to be His brides, and yet He hath exalted us to be bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, married to Him by a glorious marriage-covenant. Herein is love! But it is love which takes no denial . If we obey not the gentle drawings of His love, He will send affliction to drive us into closer intimacy with Himself. Have us nearer He will. What foolish children we are to refuse those bands of love, and so bring upon our backs that scourge of small cords, which Jesus knows how to use!
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Mark 10:46-52
46 They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.
47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, "Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!"
48 Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, "You son of David, have mercy on me!"
49 Jesus stood still, and said, "Call him." They called the blind man, saying to him, "Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!"
50 He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
51 Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "Rabboni, that I may see again."
52 Jesus said to him, "Go your way. Your faith has made you well." Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus on the way.
THE LONE CRY IN THE BIG CROWD
Our Lord hears the cry of need even when it rises from the midst of the tumultuous crowd. A mother can hear the faint cry of her child in the chamber above, even when the room resounds with the talk and laughter of her guests. And our Lord heard the wail of poor Bartimæus! That lone, sorrowful cry pierced the clamour, "and Jesus stood still." My soul, cry to Him! "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by."
And Bartimæus knew what he wanted. He merged all his petitions in one. "Lord, that I might receive my sight!" And let me, too, come to my Saviour with some great, dominant, all-commanding request. I trifle with my Master. I ask Him for toys, for petty things, while all the time He is waiting to give me "unsearchable wealth," "sight, riches, healing of the mind." "The Lord is great"; and shall I add, "and greatly to be prayed!"
And how delicately gracious it is that our Lord should attribute the miracle to Bartimæus himself. "Thy faith hath made thee whole!" As though the Lord had had no share in the ministry! He makes so much of our faith, and our endeavour, and our obedience. "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed!" That's all He wants, and miracles are accomplished.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
May 20th.
Pitiful God, I pray for all the infirm in the land. Look graciously upon all the sons and daughters of
pain. Make me very gentle and sympathetic, that I may help Thee in the gracious ministry. May I be a child of consolation!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.
Isaiah 45:2
This was for Cyrus; but it is evermore the heritage of all the Lord's own spiritual servants. Only let us go forward by faith, and our way will be cleared for us. Crooks and turns of human craft and Satanic subtlety shall be straightened for us; we shall not need to track their devious windings. The gates of brass shall be broken, and the iron bars which fastened them shall be cut asunder. We shall not need the battering ram nor the crow-bar: the Lord himself will do the impossible for us, and the unexpected shall be a fact.
Let us not sit down in coward fear. Let us press onward in the path of duty; for the Lord hath said it, "I will go before thee." Ours not to reason why; ours but to dare and dash forward. It is the Lord's work, and he will enable us to do it: all impediments must yield before him. Hath he not said, "I will break in pieces the gates of brass?" What can hinder his purpose or balk his decrees? Those who serve God have infinite resources. The way is clear to faith though barred to human strength. When Jehovah says, "I will," as he does twice in this promise, we dare not doubt.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
For through Him we both have out access in one Spirit unto the Father.
Ephesians 2:18
The God-man is the gateway between God and man. Through Him God has found His way back to man, from whom He had been excluded by his rebellion. In Him man finds his way back to God, from Whom he had been alienated by the darkening of his intelligence, the death of his love, and the disobedience of his will.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees.
Luke 14:3
In reading this statement, the arresting word is the word "answering." These men had said nothing, yet He answered them. In the course of these stories we often find this kind of thing recorded. It is a revelation of His perfect understanding of all those who were round about Him, and of His desire to correct and help them. Take this story as illustrating this. These rulers were hostile to Him, and "they were watching Him," without any doubt watching for something upon which they could fasten as a reason for finding fault with Him. He knew this, and He answered their thoughts and intentions. Then observe what He did. He made His appeal to their true intelligence, and to the capacity for tenderness and mercy which was latent within them. They knew that the work of healing was most sacred, and that no sanction upon which the Sabbath rested, could for a moment be violated by giving to the man who was suffering from dropsy, the blessing of healing. Indeed, was not the element of pity so strong within them, that if an ass or an ox had fallen into a pit they would not hesitate to draw him up on a Sabbath day? Thus, while our Lord rebuked the wrong attitude and temper of these men, He did so by appealing to the best within them, and calling them to be true to it. His purpose is not that of shaming men, but that of saving them; and the shame He produces in the soul when He answers its inward thoughts, is ever intended to produce the results which will be for its recovery. This method of correcting the evil, by appeal to, and reinforcement of, the good is one full of possibility and power.
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.