Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
Our friend sleepeth.—JOHN 11:11.
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
It came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones . . . and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.—This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.—Witnesses chosen before of God, . . . who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
I Thes. 4:13,14.I Cor. 15:16-18,20.Josh. 4:1,3,7. -Acts 2:32. -Acts 10:41.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“I will accept you with your sweet savour.”
Ezekiel 20:41
The merits of our great Redeemer are as sweet savour to the Most High. Whether we speak of the active or passive righteousness of Christ, there is an equal fragrance. There was a sweet savour in his active life by which he honoured the law of God, and made every precept to glitter like a precious jewel in the pure setting of his own person. Such, too, was his passive obedience, when he endured with unmurmuring submission, hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, and at length sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane, gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked out the hair, and was fastened to the cruel wood, that he might suffer the wrath of God in our behalf. These two things are sweet before the Most High; and for the sake of his doing and his dying, his substitutionary sufferings and his vicarious obedience, the Lord our God accepts us. What a preciousness must there be in him to overcome our want of preciousness! What a sweet savour to put away our ill savour! What a cleansing power in his blood to take away sin such as ours! and what glory in his righteousness to make such unacceptable creatures to be accepted in the Beloved! Mark, believer, how sure and unchanging must be our acceptance, since it is in him! Take care that you never doubt your acceptance in Jesus. You cannot be accepted without Christ; but, when you have received his merit, you cannot be unaccepted. Notwithstanding all your doubts, and fears, and sins, Jehovah’s gracious eye never looks upon you in anger; though he sees sin in you, in yourself, yet when he looks at you through Christ, he sees no sin. You are always accepted in Christ, are always blessed and dear to the Father’s heart. Therefore lift up a song, and as you see the smoking incense of the merit of the Saviour coming up, this evening, before the sapphire throne, let the incense of your praise go up also.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Nehemiah 3
3. Builders of the Wall
Organization of the Work
3
Then the high priest Eliashib set to work with his fellow priests and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set up its doors; they consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred and as far as the Tower of Hananel.2And the men of Jericho built next to him. And next to them Zaccur son of Imri built.
3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.4Next to them Meremoth son of Uriah son of Hakkoz made repairs. Next to them Meshullam son of Berechiah son of Meshezabel made repairs. Next to them Zadok son of Baana made repairs.5Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.
6 Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.7Next to them repairs were made by Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite—the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah—who were under the jurisdiction of the governor of the province Beyond the River.8Next to them Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs; and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.9Next to them Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.10Next to them Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house; and next to him Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs.11Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens.12Next to him Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.
13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate; they rebuilt it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.
14 Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate; he rebuilt it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
15 And Shallum son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he rebuilt it and covered it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars; and he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David.16After him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired from a point opposite the graves of David, as far as the artificial pool and the house of the warriors.17After him the Levites made repairs: Rehum son of Bani; next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.18After him their kin made repairs: Binnui, son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah;19next to him Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle.20After him Baruch son of Zabbai repaired another section from the Angle to the door of the house of the high priest Eliashib.21After him Meremoth son of Uriah son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib.22After him the priests, the men of the surrounding area, made repairs.23After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah son of Maaseiah son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house.24After him Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the Angle and to the corner.25Palal son of Uzai repaired opposite the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah son of Parosh26and the temple servants living on Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.27After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 Above the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each one opposite his own house.29After them Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs.30After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his living quarters.31After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper room of the corner.32And between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.
New Testament in Four Years - Hebrews 11:18-28
11. By Faith
18of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”19He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.20By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.21By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, “bowing in worship over the top of his staff.”22By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.The Faith of Moses
23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.24By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter,25choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.26He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward.27By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible.28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 63
63. Psalm 63
Psalm 63
Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
1
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5
My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6
when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9
But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10
they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
they shall be prey for jackals.
11
But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.