Daily Bible Notes: May, 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
He led them forth by the right way.
Psalm 107:7
Changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to enquire "Why is it thus with me?" I looked for light, but lo, darkness came; for peace, but behold trouble. I said in my heart, my mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved. Lord, thou dost hide Thy face, and I am troubled. It was but yesterday that I could read my title clear; to-day my evidences are bedimmed, and my hopes are clouded. Yesterday I could climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the landscape o’er, and rejoice with confidence in my future inheritance; to-day, my spirit has no hopes, but many fears; no joys, but much distress. Is this part of God’s plan with me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven? Yes, it is even so. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope, all these things are but parts of God’s method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter. These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith - they are waves that wash you further upon the rock - they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven. According to David’s words, so it might be said of you, "so He bringeth them to their desired haven." By honour and dishonour, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your souls maintained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it. "We must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom." Learn, then, even to "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." "O let my trembling soul be still, And wait Thy wise, Thy holy will!
I cannot, Lord, Thy purpose see, Yet all is well since ruled by Thee."
Evening
Behold, Thou art fair, my Beloved.
Song of Solomon 1:16
From every point our Well-beloved is most fair. Our various experiences are meant by our heavenly Father to furnish fresh standpoints from which we may view the loveliness of Jesus; how amiable are our trials when they carry us aloft where we may gain clearer views of Jesus than ordinary life could afford us! We have seen Him from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, and He has shone upon us as the sun in his strength; but we have seen Him also "from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards," and He has lost none of His loveliness. From the languishing of a sick bed, from the borders of the grave, have we turned our eyes to our soul’s spouse, and He has never been otherwise than "all fair." Many of His saints have looked upon Him from the gloom of dungeons, and from the red flames of the stake, yet have they never uttered an ill word of Him, but have died extolling His surpassing charms.
Oh, noble and pleasant employment to be for ever gazing at our sweet Lord Jesus! Is it not unspeakably delightful to view the Saviour in all His offices, and to perceive Him matchless in each? - to shift the kaleidoscope, as it were, and to find fresh combinations of peerless graces?
In the manger and in eternity, on the cross and on His throne, in the garden and in His kingdom, among thieves or in the midst of cherubim, He is everywhere "altogether lovely." Examine carefully every little act of His life, and every trait of His character, and He is as lovely in the minute as in the majestic. Judge Him as you will, you cannot censure; weigh Him as you please, and He will not be found wanting. Eternity shall not discover the shadow of a spot in our Beloved, but rather, as ages revolve, His hidden glories shall shine forth with yet more inconceivable splendour, and His unutterable loveliness shall more and more ravish all celestial minds.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Matthew 13:10-17
10 The disciples came, and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
11 He answered them, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
12 For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn't have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don't see, and hearing, they don't hear, neither do they understand.
14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 'By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:
15 for this people's heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them.'
16 "But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
17 For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn't see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn't hear them.
THE LIGHT AS DARKNESS
The condition of the heart determines the quality of my discernment. If "the heart is waxed gross," the ears will be "dull of hearing," and the eyes will be "closed." My spiritual senses gain their acuteness or obtuseness from my affections. If my love is muddy my sight will be dim. If my love be "clear as crystal" the spiritual realm will be like a gloriously transparent air.
And the awful nemesis of sin-created blindness is this, that it interprets itself as sight. "The light that is in thee is darkness." We think we see, and all the time we are the children of the night. We think it is "the dawn of God's sweet morning," and behold! it is the perverse flare of the evil one. He has given us a will-o'-the-wisp, and we boastfully proclaim it to be "the morning star."
But there is hope for any man, however blind he be, who will humbly lay himself at Jesus' feet. Let this be my prayer, O Lord, "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." Deliver me from self-deception, save me from confusing the fixed light of heaven with the wandering beacon-lights of hell. And again and again will I pray, "Lord, that I might receive my sight!"
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
May 22nd.
My Father, help me to grow in knowledge of Thee through Jesus Christ. May I see new beauties in Him while I go about
my common work! May I catch new glimpses of Him in my ordinary tasks!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies,
and thy right hand shall save me.
Psalms 138:7
Wretched walking in the midst of trouble, Nay, blessed walking, since there is a special promise for it. Give me a promise, and what is the trouble? What doth my Lord teach me here to say? Why this - "Thou wilt revive me." I shall have more life, more energy, more faith. Is it not often so, that trouble revives us, like a breath of cold air when one is ready to faint?
How angry are my enemies and especially the arch-enemy! Shall I stretch forth my hand and fight my foes? No, my hand is better employed in doing service for my Lord. Besides, there is no need, for my God will use his far-reaching arm, and he will deal with them far better than I could if I were to try. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." He will with his own right hand of power and wisdom save me, and what more can I desire?
Come, my heart, talk this promise over to thyself till thou canst use it as the song of thy confidence, the solace of thy loneliness. Pray to be revived thyself, and leave the rest with the Lord, who performeth all things for thee.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1:15, R.V.
The evangel is not denunciatory of sin. It is not pronunciatory of punishment. It is annunciatory of salvation. That is its great value.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.
Luke 16:31
This statement runs counter to most popular human conceptions, and yet is vindicated by persistent human experience. We are constantly in danger of thinking that faith can be compelled by what we describe as the supernatural, and therefore we are ever desirous that something spectacular, weird, out of the common, should happen. We argue that if something transpires which men cannot explain, they will be persuaded to believe. This is what our Lord superlatively denies in these words. He declares that the sacred writings are in themselves as powerful as anything like the delivery of their message by one risen from the dead. The only thing that can inspire faith is truth, and truth is not made more powerful when it is proclaimed in some way which is beyond human explanation. From Him men were ever asking signs, which He refused to give, and that for this reason. Whereas, stated thus, we may be in doubt as to the correctness of the statement, an appeal to human experience vindicates the truth of the declaration. Under stress of fear or of wonder, produced by such mysterious things, men do experience certain emotions and sensations of the soul, which may be mistaken for conviction. But they are transient, and with the passing of the first surprise these things cease and leave no permanent results. It is the Truth which makes free; and the Truth alone is able to inspire living faith.
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.