Daily Bible Notes: October, 30th
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
I will praise Thee, O Lord.
Psalm 9:1
Praise should always follow answered prayer; as the mist of earth’s gratitude rises when the sun of heaven’s love warms the ground. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined His ear to the voice of thy supplication? Then praise Him as long as thou livest. Let the ripe fruit drop upon the fertile soil from which it drew its life. Deny not a song to Him who hath answered thy prayer and given thee the desire of thy heart.
To be silent over God’s mercies is to incur the guilt of ingratitude; it is to act as basely as the nine lepers, who after they had been cured of their leprosy, returned not to give thanks unto the healing Lord. To forget to praise God is to refuse to benefit ourselves; for praise, like prayer, is one great means of promoting the growth of the spiritual life. It helps to remove our burdens, to excite our hope, to increase our faith. It is a healthful and invigorating exercise which quickens the pulse of the believer, and nerves him for fresh enterprises in his Master’s service. To bless God for mercies received is also the way to benefit our fellow-men; "the humble shall hear thereof and be glad." Others who have been in like circumstances shall take comfort if we can say, "Oh! magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together; this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him."
Weak hearts will be strengthened, and drooping saints will be revived as they listen to our "songs of deliverance." Their doubts and fears will be rebuked, as we teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They too shall "sing in the ways of the Lord," when they hear us magnify His holy name. Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. The angels pray not, but they cease not to praise both day and night; and the redeemed, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary of singing the new song, "Worthy is the Lamb."
Evening
Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to Thy voice: cause me to hear it.
Song of Solomon 8:13
My sweet Lord Jesus remembers well the garden of Gethsemane, and although He has left that garden, He now dwells in the garden of His church: there He unbosoms Himself to those who keep His blessed company. That voice of love with which He speaks to His beloved is more musical than the harps of heaven. There is a depth of melodious love within it which leaves all human music far behind. Ten of thousands on earth, and millions above, are indulged with its harmonious accents. Some whom I well know, and whom I greatly envy, are at this moment hearkening to the beloved voice. O that I were a partaker of their joys! It is true some of these are poor, others bedridden, and some near the gates of death, but O my Lord, I would cheerfully starve with them, pine with them, or die with them, if I might but hear Thy voice. Once I did hear it often, but I have grieved Thy Spirit. Return unto me in compassion, and once again say unto me, "I am thy salvation." No other voice can content me; I know Thy voice, and cannot be deceived by another, let me hear it, I pray thee. I know not what Thou wilt say, neither do I make any condition, O my Beloved, do but let me hear Thee speak, and if it be a rebuke I will bless Thee for it. Perhaps to cleanse my dull ear may need an operation very grievous to the flesh, but let it cost what it may I turn not from the one consuming desire, cause me to hear Thy voice. Bore my ear afresh; pierce my ear with Thy harshest notes, only do not permit me to continue deaf to Thy calls. To-night, Lord, grant Thine unworthy one his desire, for I am Thine, and Thou hast bought me with Thy blood. Thou hast opened mine eye to see Thee, and the sight has saved me. Lord, open Thou mine ear. I have read Thy heart, now let me hear Thy lips.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 34:1-11
1 I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh magnify the LORD with me. Let's exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The LORD's angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Oh fear the LORD, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
A TESTIMONY MEETING
This is a little testimony meeting, in which each of the witnesses tells the story of the Lord's gracious dealings with him. Let me listen to them.
"He delivered me from all my fears." His fears held him in dungeons. Even the noontide was as darkness round about him, and there was no song in his soul. And the Lord broke open the prison-gate and let him out to light, and joy, and belief.
"They looked to Him and were lightened." They looked upon the grace of the Lord, and were lit up, just as I have seen humble cottage windows ablaze with the glory of the rising sun. I must "set my face" towards the Lord, and I, too, shall catch the radiance of His glory.
"This poor man cried ... and the Lord saved him out of all his troubles." And these troubles were what I should call "tight corners," when the life is hemmed in by unfortunate circumstances, and there seems no way of escape. Disappointment shuts us in. Sorrow shuts us in. Lack of money shuts us in. Let me cry unto the Lord. He is a wonderful Friend in the tight corner, and He will bring my feet into "a large place."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
October 30th.
Spirit of God, wilt Thou come like the south wind into the garden of my life? Breathe about me in quickening breath.
May lovely flowers of grace become more abundant in my life! Convert the desert into a garden.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Exodus 36:25
What an exceeding joy is this! He who has purified us with the blood of Jesus will also cleanse us by the water of the Holy Spirit. God hath said it, and so it must be, "Ye shall be clean." Lord, we feel and mourn our uncleanness, and it is cheering to be assured by thine own mouth that we shall be clean. Oh that thou wouldst make a speedy work of it!
He will deliver us from our worst sins. The uprisings of unbelief, and the deceitful lusts which war against the soul, the vile thoughts of pride, and the suggestions of Satan to blaspheme the sacred name - all these shall be so purged away as never to return.
He will also cleanse us from all our idols, whether of gold or of clay: our impure loves, and our excessive love of that which in itself is pure. That which we have idolized shall either be broken from us, or we shall be broken off from it.
It is God who speaks of what he himself will do. Therefore is this word established and sure, and we may boldly look for that which it guarantees to us. Cleansing is a covenant blessing, and the covenant is ordered in all things and sure.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Christ abideth forever.
John 12:34
The Christ of today cannot be eliminated from history, or from the consciousness of the age, because the Scriptures cannot be broken. By His grace we will follow Him in the train of those who have lived and hoped and suffered and died.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
If it were not so, I would have told you.
John 14:2
These words were parenthetical in what the Lord was saying, but they are most suggestive. They mean that there are some things concerning which He would not allow His own to remain in ignorance. What He was saying at the time gives us a perfect illustration. He was going away and they were filled with sorrow. To help them, He told them that in His Father's house there are many abiding-places. That is to say, that absence from this world, which is one of the abiding-places in the Father's house, simply means that the absent one is at home in some other abiding-place in the one great House of God. They were not to think of Him as having ceased to be when they could not see Him. He had only gone to another abiding-place to prepare for their coming; and, moreover, He would come back to receive them when they should come. It was about this that He said that if it were not so, He would have told them. If this world were the only place, and this life were all, He would have said so. From this incidental word, then, we may argue that He has said all that we need to know. He has not left us in doubt on any essential matter. That this is so, the experience of those who have walked according to His teaching proves. They have all had the light of life, and have not walked in darkness.
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.