March 20 - Choice Gleanings
DAILY READINGS: Exodus 37; Psalm:89:19-52 [19] Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
[20] I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
[21] With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.
[22] The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
[23] And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
[24] But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
[25] I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
[26] He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
[27] Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
[28] My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
[29] His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
[30] If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
[31] If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
[32] Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
[33] Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
[34] My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
[35] Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
[36] His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
[37] It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
[38] But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.
[39] Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
[40] Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.
[41] All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.
[42] Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
[43] Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
[44] Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.
[45] The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
[46] How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
[47] Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
[48] What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
[49] Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
[50] Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;
[51] Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
[52] Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.
See All...; Acts:22:1-21 [1] Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.
[2] (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
[3] I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
[4] And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
[5] As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
[6] And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
[7] And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
[8] And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
[9] And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
[10] And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
[11] And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
[12] And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
[13] Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
[14] And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
[15] For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
[16] And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
[17] And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
[18] And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
[19] And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:
[20] And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
[21] And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
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Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews:11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
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We are almost there! C. H. Spurgeon said that by faith the wilderness can become the suburbs of heaven. We have almost reached heaven's suburbs and in a little while heaven's "downtown"—yet unseen— will become gloriously apparent to us all. For just a little longer, strengthened by our Saviour's grace we seek to be faithful in our corner of the vineyard. Even as we keep looking forward for the short distance which remains! —Mark Fenn
So lift your eyes to the things as yet unseen,
That will remain now for all eternity.
Though trouble's hard, it's only momentary,
And it's achieving our future glory. —Lou Fellingham
Posted with permission from gospelfolio.com