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Daily Light's Morning Reading
Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.—PROV. 1:33.
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.—He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.—His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Your life is hid with Christ in God.—He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.—Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.—God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear.
Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.—Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.—I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Psa. 90:1. -Psa. 91:1. -Psa. 91:4.Col. 3:3. -Zech. 2:8. -Exo. 14:13,14. -Psa. 46:1,2.Matt. 14:27. -Luke 24:38,39. -II Tim. 1:12.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Fellowship with him.”
1 John 1:6
When we were united by faith to Christ, we were brought into such complete fellowship with him, that we were made one with him, and his interests and ours became mutual and identical. We have fellowship with Christ in his love. What he loves we love. He loves the saints—so do we. He loves sinners—so do we. He loves the poor perishing race of man, and pants to see earth’s deserts transformed into the garden of the Lord—so do we. We have fellowship with him in his desires. He desires the glory of God—we also labour for the same. He desires that the saints may be with him where he is—we desire to be with him there too. He desires to drive out sin—behold we fight under his banner. He desires that his Father’s name may be loved and adored by all his creatures—we pray daily, “Let thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven.” We have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. We are not nailed to the cross, nor do we die a cruel death, but when he is reproached, we are reproached; and a very sweet thing it is to be blamed for his sake, to be despised for following the Master, to have the world against us. The disciple should not be above his Lord. In our measure we commune with him in his labours, ministering to men by the word of truth and by deeds of love. Our meat and our drink, like his, is to do the will of him who hath sent us and to finish his work. We have also fellowship with Christ in his joys. We are happy in his happiness, we rejoice in his exaltation. Have you ever tasted that joy, believer? There is no purer or more thrilling delight to be known this side heaven than that of having Christ’s joy fulfilled in us, that our joy may be full. His glory awaits us to complete our fellowship, for his Church shall sit with him upon his throne, as his well-beloved bride and queen.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - 1 Kings 1
1. David Makes Solomon King
The Struggle for the Succession
1
King David was old and advanced in years; and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.2So his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king, and be his attendant; let her lie in your bosom, so that my lord the king may be warm.”3So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.4The girl was very beautiful. She became the king’s attendant and served him, but the king did not know her sexually.
5 Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.6His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.7He conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar, and they supported Adonijah.8But the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the prophet Nathan, and Shimei, and Rei, and David’s own warriors did not side with Adonijah.
9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fatted cattle by the stone Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah,10but he did not invite the prophet Nathan or Benaiah or the warriors or his brother Solomon.
11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king and our lord David does not know it?12Now therefore come, let me give you advice, so that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.13Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then is Adonijah king?’14Then while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”
15 So Bathsheba went to the king in his room. The king was very old; Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king.16Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king, and the king said, “What do you wish?”17She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne.18But now suddenly Adonijah has become king, though you, my lord the king, do not know it.19He has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the children of the king, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander of the army; but your servant Solomon he has not invited.20But you, my lord the king—the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.21Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his ancestors, that my son Solomon and I will be counted offenders.”
22 While she was still speaking with the king, the prophet Nathan came in.23The king was told, “Here is the prophet Nathan.” When he came in before the king, he did obeisance to the king, with his face to the ground.24Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne’?25For today he has gone down and has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s children, Joab the commander of the army, and the priest Abiathar, who are now eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’26But he did not invite me, your servant, and the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon.27Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not let your servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”
The Accession of Solomon
28 King David answered, “Summon Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king.29The king swore, saying, “As the Lord lives, who has saved my life from every adversity,30as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so will I do this day.”31Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and did obeisance to the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”
32 King David said, “Summon to me the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king,33the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.34There let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’35You shall go up following him. Let him enter and sit on my throne; he shall be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.”36Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so ordain.37As the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”
38 So the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon.39There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”40And all the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth quaked at their noise.
41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city in an uproar?”42While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news.”43Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king;44the king has sent with him the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they had him ride on the king’s mule;45the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you heard.46Solomon now sits on the royal throne.47Moreover the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ The king bowed in worship on the bed48and went on to pray thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who today has granted one of my offspring to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness it.’ ”
49 Then all the guests of Adonijah got up trembling and went their own ways.50Adonijah, fearing Solomon, got up and went to grasp the horns of the altar.51Solomon was informed, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; see, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’ ”52So Solomon responded, “If he proves to be a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”53Then King Solomon sent to have him brought down from the altar. He came to do obeisance to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go home.”
New Testament in Four Years - Colossians 2:20-23
2. Freedom Through Life in Christ
Warnings against False Teachers
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations,21“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”?22All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings.23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 107:33-43
107. Psalm 107
33
He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35
He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
36
And there he lets the hungry live,
and they establish a town to live in;
37
they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
and get a fruitful yield.
38
By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their cattle decrease.
39
When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40
he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41
but he raises up the needy out of distress,
and makes their families like flocks.
42
The upright see it and are glad;
and all wickedness stops its mouth.
43
Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.