AUGUST 22 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.(Song of Songs 5:8) Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with Jesus—he is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease except when they are…

AUGUST 20 The sweet psalmist of Israel.(2 Samuel 23:1) Among all the saints whose lives are recorded in Holy Scripture, David possesses an experience of the most striking, varied, and instructive character. In his history we meet with trials and temptations that are not found, as a whole, in other saints of ancient times, and…

AUGUST 19 He shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord.(Micah 5:4) Christ’s reign in His Church is that of a shepherd-king. He has supremacy, but it is the superiority of a wise and tender shepherd over his needy and loving flock. He commands and receives obedience, but it is the…

AUGUST 18 Foreigners have come into the holy places of the Lord’s house. (Jeremiah 51:51) In this account the faces of the Lord’s people were covered with shame, for it was a terrible thing for men to intrude upon the Holy Place that was reserved exclusively for the priests. Everywhere around us we see similar…

AUGUST 17 The steadfast love of God.(Psalm 52:8) Meditate a little on this steadfast love of the Lord. It is tender love. With gentle, loving touch, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of His steadfast love as in the matter of it. It is great…

AUGUST 16 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.(Psalm 29:2) God’s glory is the result of His nature and acts. He is glorious in His character, for there is such a store of everything that is holy and good and lovely in God that He must be glorious. The actions that flow from…

AUGUST 15 Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening.(Genesis 24:63) Isaac’s evening occupation was very admirable. If those who spend so many hours in idle company, light reading, and useless pastimes could learn wisdom, they would find more profitable society and more interesting engagements in meditation than in the vanities that now…

AUGUST 14 You, O Lord, have made me glad by your work.(Psalm 92:4) Do you believe that your sins are forgiven and that Christ has made a full atonement for them? Then what a joyful Christian you ought to be! How you should live above the common trials and troubles of the world! Since sin…

AUGUST 12 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice. (Psalm 97:1) There are no real causes for anxiety as long as this blessed sentence is true. On earth the Lord’s power controls the rage of the wicked as readily as the rage of the sea; His love refreshes the poor with mercy as easily as…

AUGUST 8 They weave the spider’s web. (Isaiah 59:5) Observe the spider’s web and find in it a most suggestive picture of the hypocrite’s religion. It is meant to catch his prey: The spider fattens himself on flies, and the Pharisee has his reward. Foolish people are easily trapped by the loud professions of pretenders, and…