Daily Bible Notes: November, 24th
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 glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams.
Isaiah 33:21
Broad rivers and streams produce fertility, and abundance in the land.
Places near broad rivers are remarkable for the variety of their plants and their plentiful harvests. God is all this to His Church. Having God she has abundance . What can she ask for that He will not give her? What want can she mention which He will not supply? "In this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things." Want ye the bread of life? It drops like manna from the sky. Want ye refreshing streams? The rock follows you, and that Rock is Christ. If you suffer any want it is your own fault; if you are straitened you are not straitened in Him, but in your own bowels. Broad rivers and streams also point to commerce . Our glorious Lord is to us a place of heavenly merchandize. Through our Redeemer we have commerce with the past; the wealth of Calvary, the treasures of the covenant, the riches of the ancient days of election, the stores of eternity, all come to us down the broad stream of our gracious Lord. We have commerce, too, with the future. What galleys, laden to the water’s edge, come to us from the millennium! What visions we have of the days of heaven upon earth! Through our glorious Lord we have commerce with angels; communion with the bright spirits washed in blood, who sing before the throne; nay, better still, we have fellowship with the Infinite One. Broad rivers and streams are specially intended to set forth the idea of security . Rivers were of old a defence. Oh! beloved, what a defence is God to His Church! The devil cannot cross this broad river of God. How he wishes he could turn the current, but fear not, for God abideth immutably the same. Satan may worry, but he cannot destroy us; no galley with oars shall invade our river, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
Evening
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
Proverbs 24:33,
The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant if they were accused of thorough idleness. A little folding of the hands to sleep is all they crave, and they have a crowd of reasons to show that this indulgence is a very proper one. Yet by these littles the day ebbs out, and the time for labour is all gone, and the field is grown over with thorns. It is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls. They have no intention to delay for years - a few months will bring the more convenient season - to-morrow if you will, they will attend to serious things; but the present hour is so occupied and altogether so unsuitable, that they beg to be excused. Like sands from an hour-glass, time passes, life is wasted by driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers. Oh, to be wise, to catch the flying hour, to use the moments on the wing! May the Lord teach us this sacred wisdom, for otherwise a poverty of the worst sort awaits us, eternal poverty which shall want even a drop of water, and beg for it in vain. Like a traveller steadily pursuing his journey, poverty overtakes the slothful, and ruin overthrows the undecided: each hour brings the dreaded pursuer nearer; he pauses not by the way, for he is on his master’s business and must not tarry. As an armed man enters with authority and power, so shall want come to the idle, and death to the impenitent, and there will be no escape. O that men were wise be-times, and would seek diligently unto the Lord Jesus, or ere the solemn day shall dawn when it will be too late to plough and to sow, too late to repent and believe. In harvest, it is vain to lament that the seed time was neglected. As yet, faith and holy decision are timely. May we obtain them this night.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
1 Kings 8:54-66
54 It was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the LORD's altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out towards heaven.
55 He stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56 "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.
57 May the LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us;
58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.
59 Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day requires;
60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD himself is God. There is no one else.
61 "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as it is today."
62 The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
63 Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the LORD, twenty two thousand head of cattle, and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the LORD's house.
64 The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before the LORD's house; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days.
66 On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
THE PRAYER WHICH ENDS IN SACRIFICE
And that is the healthy order of all true worship. It begins in spacious supplication in which "the stranger" finds a place. Then there is a lavish consecration of self and substance. And then the wedding-bells begin to ring, and "the joy of the Lord is our strength!" "They went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done."
But so many suppliants miss the middle term, and therefore the gladness is wanting. Supplication is not followed by consecration, and therefore there is no exultation. It is a fatal omission. When we are asking for "the gift of God" our request must be accompanied by the gift of ourselves to God. If we want the water we must offer the vessel. No gift of self, no bounty of God! No losing, no finding! "When the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began."
- "Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
November 24th.
My gracious Saviour, I thank Thee for the gospel that tells me Thou art my friend. May I not despise the friendship!
May I seek to be worthy of it! Help me to lift up my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. May I be drawn to Thee!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Psalms 103:9
He will chide sometimes, or he would not be a wise father for such poor erring children as we are. His chiding is very painful to those who are true, because they feel how sadly they deserve it, and how wrong it is on their part to grieve him. We know what this chiding means, and we bow before the Lord, mourning that we should cause him to be angry with us.
But what a comfort we find in these lines! "Not always" will he chide. If we repent and turn to him with hearts broken for sin and broken from sin, he will smile upon us at once. It is no pleasure to him to turn a frowning face towards those whom he loves with all his heart: it is his joy that our joy should be full.
Come, let us seek his face. There is no reason for despair, nor even for despondency. Let us love a chiding God, and before long we shall sing: "Thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me." Begone, ye dark forebodings, ye ravens of the soul! Come in, ye humble hopes and grateful memories, ye doves of the heart! He who pardoned us long ago as a judge, will again forgive us as a father, and we shall rejoice in his sweet, unchanging love.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
2 Corinthians 12:4
No man can tell his own vision and help another as that vision helped him, so it is infinitely better to be silent about the deepest things that God says to the heart. Each must for himself have the vision, if it is to be of use and of blessing.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Holy is He ... Holy is He, ... the Lord our God is holy ...
Psalms 99:3, 5, 9
This song completes the suggested octave which commenced with Psa. 92. It is the final note in the Sabbath praise of Jehovah as the exalted and reigning King. The words we quote constitute the thrice-repeated refrain, and the light of them flashes forth upon all the considerations of these songs of worship. Jehovah is enthroned in Zion over all the peoples, and He is holy. His activities in the government which He exercises are those of righteousness, because of His character, for He is holy. Through all the history of His people He has been faithful, both in forgiveness and in vengeance, and that because He is holy. Therein is the reason for worship. Herein also is the reason for trembling. This song in its entirety helps us to realize the meaning of Holiness as it was revealed to the people of God. While the word itself signifies simply separateness, and was used with reference to other gods by other peoples, it acquired a new significance in this Divine revelation. To others the idea was that of aloofness, of distance, and had no necessary moral value. To these people it came to have that value only. God was revealed as separated from everything unjust, untrue, evil, in His character, and therefore in all His dealings with men, whether in the giving of law, or in the activities of the government. This the supreme reason for confidence in Him, and so the supreme inspiration of worship. Thus fittingly, then, do we reach the climax of the Song of the Sabbath, the ultimate in its sacrifices of praise.
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.