Dawn 2 Dusk Always Before My EyesDavid’s words in Psalm 16:8 are the quiet resolve of a heart that has settled the biggest question of life: Who will be at the center? He says, “I have set the LORD always before me,” and because of that unwavering focus he can face the future without fear of being shaken. This isn’t a momentary feeling; it’s a deliberate, daily choice to keep God in the foreground of every thought, desire, and decision. Setting the Lord Before You Psalm 16:8 says, “I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Notice the language of decision: “I have set.” David is not passively hoping for spiritual stability; he is actively placing the Lord before his mind’s eye. This is the posture of a heart that refuses to let circumstances, emotions, or cultural pressures become the main reference point. To set the Lord before you is to say, “God’s character, God’s Word, and God’s will will define reality for me more than anything I see or feel.” The New Testament echoes this same call. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Hebrews 12:2 calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus. This is not escapism; it is clarity. When Christ is before you, everything else moves into its proper place—work, family, politics, fears, dreams. Ask yourself: What do I instinctively put in front of me when I wake up—my phone, my worries, my to-do list, or my Lord? The day follows the direction of your first gaze. At His Right Hand in Real Life “Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” In Scripture, the right hand is the place of strength, honor, and close companionship. God is not a distant consultant you call in emergencies; He stands right beside you as your covenant Lord and constant help. Psalm 46:1 reminds us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” The presence of God is not a feeling you chase but a promise you believe and act on. This changes how we respond to pressure. When anxiety rises, Philippians 4:6–7 invites us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” To live as if God is truly at your right hand is to push your fears toward Him in prayer the moment they appear, instead of letting them spiral in your mind. You stand, not because you are naturally strong, but because you are supernaturally upheld. Unshaken in a Shaking World Our age is marked by instability—moral confusion, relational breakdown, cultural hostility, personal discouragement. Yet Psalm 16:8 gives you the right to say, by faith in Christ, “I will not be shaken.” This is not stubborn optimism; it is confidence rooted in the character of God and the finished work of Jesus. Romans 8:31 asks, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If you belong to Christ, the God who cannot be moved has bound Himself to you by covenant grace. But notice that the promise is tied to a posture: “I have set the LORD always before me.” If you set comfort, reputation, success, or human approval before you, you will be shaken every time those things tremble. If you set Christ before you—His cross, His resurrection, His Word, His coming kingdom—you may be pressed, but you will not be destroyed. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.” Today, choose where your eyes will rest and where your feet will stand. Lord, thank You that when You are before me and at my right hand, I do not have to be shaken. Help me today to fix my eyes on You and to walk in obedient faith in every decision I make. Morning with A.W. Tozer Pursuing TruthOne of the great religious thinkers of this century has pointed out a strange contradiction in the mental attitude of our times--our eager love of knowledge and our universal neglect of truth. That men love knowledge is too well demonstrated to need proof, if by knowledge we mean facts, know-how, statistics, technical information, scientific and mechanical skills. Our printing presses are constantly rolling out books crammed with useful information. Our schools are bulging with eager students bent on acquiring all possible knowledge in the shortest possible time. Among the most popular and lucrative radio programs on the air today are those designed to discover how many unrelated bits of information the participants possess. "Who? What? When? Where?" run the endless questions, and the impression is created that the one who can answer the greatest number is in some way a superior person.
It is vitally important that we make a sharp distinction between knowledge and truth--that is, between the knowledge that is but the sum of facts we possess and truth which is a moral and spiritual thing. It is possible to fill the mind with facts and be none the better for it, for facts have no moral or spiritual significance. Facts bear the same relation to truth that a corpse bears to a man. They serve as a medium whereby truth relates itself to outward life and circumstance but must depend for their significance upon the inner essence of truth.
Music For the Soul God’s Familiarity with His FriendsAnd the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do? -- Genesis 18:17 "I CALL you not servants, but friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I declare unto you." So much for God’s frankness. What about Abraham’s frankness with God? Remember how he remonstrated with Him; how he complained to Him of His dealings; how he persisted with importunity, which would have been presumptuous but for the friendship which underlay it, and which is expressed in words. And let us take the simple lesson that if we are friends and lovers of God, we shall delight in His company. Ah! it is a strange kind of religion that does not care to be with God, that would rather think about anything else than about Him, that is all unused to quiet, solitary conversation and communion with Him, but it is the religion of I wonder how many of us? He would be a strange friend that never crossed your threshold if he could help it; that was evidently uncomfortable in your presence, and ill at ease till he got away from you; and that when he came was struck dumb, and had not a word to say for himself, and did not know or feel that he and you had any interests or subjects in common. Is that not a good deal like the religion of hosts of professing Christians? If we are friends of God we shall have no secrets from Him. There are very few of those that are dearest to us to whom we could venture to lay bare all the depths of our hearts. There are black things down in the cellars that we do not like to take our friends down into. We keep them upstairs, in the rooms for company. But you can take God all through the house. And if there is the trust and the love that I have been speaking about, we shall not be afraid to spread all our foulness and our meanness and our unworthy thoughts of, and acts towards, Him before His "pure eyes and perfect judgment." Tell God all, if you mean to be a friend of His. And do not be afraid to tell Him your harsh thoughts of Him, and your complaints of Him. He never resents anything that a man that loves Him says about Him, if he says it to Him. What He resents - if I might use the word - is our huddling up grudges and murmurings and questionings in our own hearts, and saying never a word to the Friend against whom they offend. Out with it all. Complaints, regrets, questionings, petitions, hot wishes- take them all to Him; and be sure that, instead of breaking, they will, if spoken, cement the friendship, which is disturbed by secrecy on our parts. If we are God’s lovers He will have no secrets from us. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His Covenant." There is a strange wisdom and insight, sometimes amounting even to prophetic anticipation, which creeps into a simple heart that is knit closely to God. But whether the result of our friendship with Him be such communication of such kinds of insight or no, we may be sure of this, that if we trust Him, and love Him, and are frank with Him, He will in so far be frank with us, that He will impart unto us Himself, and in the knowledge of His love we shall find all the knowledge that we need. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Psalm 51:1 Have mercy upon me, O God. When Dr. Carey was suffering from a dangerous illness, the enquiry was made, "If this sickness should prove fatal, what passage would you select as the text for your funeral sermon?" He replied, "Oh, I feel that such a poor sinful creature is unworthy to have anything said about him; but if a funeral sermon must be preached, let it be from the words, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.'" In the same spirit of humility he directed in his will that the following inscription and nothing more should be cut on his gravestone:-- William Carey, Born August 17th, 1761: Died - - "A wretched, poor, and helpless worm On thy kind arms I fall." Only on the footing of free grace can the most experienced and most honored of the saints approach their God. The best of men are conscious above all others that they are men at the best. Empty boats float high, but heavily laden vessels are low in the water; mere professors can boast, but true children of God cry for mercy upon their unprofitableness. We have need that the Lord should have mercy upon our good works, our prayers, our preachings, our alms-givings, and our holiest things. The blood was not only sprinkled upon the doorposts of Israel's dwelling houses, but upon the sanctuary, the mercy-seat, and the altar, because as sin intrudes into our holiest things, the blood of Jesus is needed to purify them from defilement. If mercy be needed to be exercised towards our duties, what shall be said of our sins? How sweet the remembrance that inexhaustible mercy is waiting to be gracious to us, to restore our backslidings, and make our broken bones rejoice! Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Plentiful RefreshmentOh, to have one’s soul under heavenly cultivation; no longer a wilderness but a garden of the LORD! Enclosed from the waste, walled around by grace, planted by instruction, visited by love, weeded by heavenly discipline, and guarded by divine power, one’s favored soul is prepared to yield fruit unto the LORD. But a garden may become parched for want of water, and then all its herbs decline and are ready to die. O my soul, how soon would this be the case were the LORD to leave thee! In the East, a garden without water soon ceases to be a garden at all: nothing can come to perfection, grow, or even live. When irrigation is kept up, the result is charming. Oh, to have one’s soul watered by the Holy Spirit uniformly -- every part of the garden having its own stream; plentifully -- a sufficient refreshment coming to every tree and herb, however thirsty by nature it may be; continually -- each hour bringing not only its heat, but its refreshment; wisely -- each plant receiving just what it needs. In a garden you can see by the verdure where the water flows, and you can soon perceive when the Spirit of God comes. O LORD, water me this day and cause me to yield Thee a full reward for Jesus’ sake. Amen. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer They All Slumbered and SleptWHEN we think of the warning Jesus has given, the promises He has made, and the precepts He has delivered, we are ready to conclude that His people must be always active and always happy. But when we look around us, or when we look at our own course, we are obliged to lament that this is not the case. Jesus is gone to receive a kingdom and to return; He has given talents to His servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. But it is said of the wise, as well as the foolish virgins, "They all slumbered and slept." Are we awake to our duties, to our privileges, to our expectations? Are we looking, longing, and preparing for the coming of Jesus? Are we sober and vigilant, because our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, is going about seeking whom he may devour? Are we active for God? Are we hasting home? Do we pass the time of our sojourning here in fear? Is the talent in the napkin, or at the bank? Let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. Behold the Judge standeth before the door. It is high time to awake out of sleep. He comes, He comes to call The nations to His bar; And take to glory all Who meet for glory are: Make ready for your full reward; Go forth with joy to meet your Lord. Bible League: Living His Word "Good people are like budding palm trees. They grow strong like the cedar trees of Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD. They grow strong there in the courtyards of our God."— Psalm 92:12-13 ERV The psalmist gives us a vivid picture of "good people" by comparing them to budding palm trees. How wonderful to know that every good person is well placed by God for the benefit of others to flourish, unfold, and excel in God's mission! The psalmist say, good people sprout, or start to grow, similarly to the palm tree. The palm tree belongs to the family of palmae, a tree with an unbranched trunk crowned by large pinnate or palmate leaves. The palm tree is believed to develop best at fountains and highly humid environments (see Exodus 15:27). This gives us a picture of God planting each person according to their environment where they will survive, flourish, and do well even in old age. Children of God flourish because we are joined to Christ, and we are rooted and nourished in Christ (John 15:4). Historically, the Israelites rested in Elim because there were streams of water and palm trees to give them cool shade (Numbers 33:9-10). And Jericho was known as the city of palm trees(Deuteronomy 34:3). The palm trees are a symbol of flourishing in humid environments, hence the psalmist says the good people "grow strong in the courtyards of our God" (92:12-13)! Human beings are created by God to relate and be in His presence at all times! In the New Testament, the palm tree leaves were used to honor Jesus Christ (John 12:13). The good people that are planted by God in Jesus Christ are known as the righteous who live by faith. Romans 1:17 says, "The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself. God's way of making people right begins and ends with faith. As the scripture say, 'The one who is right with God by faith will live forever.'" Romans 4:16 says, "So people get what God promised by having faith. This happens so that the promise can be a free gift. And if the promise is a free gift, then all of Abraham's people will get that promise. The promise is not just for those who live under the Law of Moses. It is for all who live with faith as Abraham did. He is the father of us all". My beloveds, we are planted by God in every part of the world to excel and grow in the godly environment of the church where the Word of God is the source and stream of life! Yield to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to bear fruit even into your old age! By Christopher Thetswe, Bible League International staff, South Africa Daily Light on the Daily Path Proverbs 16:20 He who gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.Romans 4:20,21 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, • and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 2 Chronicles 13:18 Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah conquered because they trusted in the LORD, the God of their fathers. Psalm 46:1,2 For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. • Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Psalm 118:8,9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. • It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in princes. Psalm 37:23,24 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. • When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. Psalm 34:8,9 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! • O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.Insight How do we get eternal life? Jesus tells us clearly here—by knowing God the Father himself through his Son, Jesus Christ. Eternal life requires entering into a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. Challenge When we admit our sin and turn away from it, Christ's love lives in us by the Holy Spirit. Devotional Hours Within the Bible Jesus, the Bread of LifeIt was the day after the multitude had been fed so marvelously on the five loaves and the two fishes. So great was the impression made by the miracle, that the people were about to take Jesus by force and make Him king. He first sent the disciples away, constraining them to enter the boat and go before Him, unto the other side. Then He sent the multitudes away and when they were gone He went quietly, unobserved, unto the mountain to pray. The people had been foiled of their purpose to make Jesus king, and were disappointed. They sought Him but could not find Him. It is a sad thing to lose Jesus. There is an incident in the days of our Lord’s boyhood which tells of His mother losing Him. The family had been to Jerusalem, on the occasion of the boy’s first Passover, and when they started homeward, Jesus was unawares left behind, and they had gone a whole day’s journey before they missed Him. Great was the anxiety and the distress. Not until they had retraced their steps and sought painfully, did they find Him. Many people lose Jesus, some in play, some in pleasure, some in business, some in sorrow, and some in sin. These men, who had lost Jesus in the desert, after vainly searching for Him far and near, crossed the sea and found Him on the other side. Then, when they found Him, they seemed almost to blame Him for disappearing, asking Him, “When did you get here?” Jesus answered, revealing to them their real motive in seeking Him, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” That is, they sought Jesus, not to honor Him but only for what they thought He would do for them. We are in danger of thinking of religion only or chiefly from the side of its earthly benefits, for it has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come. But the higher blessings should be dearer to us than the lower. We should seek Christ for His own sake, and for the sake of the honor we may do to Him. The lesson which Jesus taught the people that day, we should consider well for ourselves. He said, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” We live in a materialistic age, when the quest of the world is for money, for power, for things of the earth, and not for the things that are spiritual and enduring. Men are toiling and wearing out their life in gathering rubbish out of the dust, not thinking of the heavenly treasures, the spiritual things that are in Christ, and which they might have with half the toil and care. We ought not to spend our life in picking up things which we cannot carry through the grave. If we are wise, we will seek rather to gather treasures which we can take with us into eternity. Really, all we can carry out of this world, is whatever we may have of character when we are through with living. The Beatitudes tell us what are the things that will abide. The fruits of the Spirit, of which Paul tells us, are the only qualities which will endure to eternal life. The people seem to have caught at last from the words of Jesus a glimmering of the truth that there were better things to live for than they were yet striving after, and they asked Him, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus had said He would “give” them eternal life but they wanted to “work” for it. People are always making this mistake instead of accepting eternal life as God’s gift they want to earn it. Jesus corrected their mistaken notion in His answer, “This is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent.” There is abundant opportunity for working for Christ but working does not come first. Having received eternal life through Christ as a gift we are then to work, presenting our body as a living sacrifice unto God. The first thing in the true life, is to believe on Christ, to receive Him as the revealing of God to us, to commit ourselves to Him, and to let Him live in us. Then Christ becomes the inspiration of our life. He lives in us, and our life is just the working out of His life in us. The people had another question. Jesus had claimed to be the Messiah. What proof could He give? “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?” They remembered that Moses had given their fathers manna, which proved that He was God’s prophet, and they wanted Jesus to do something great, which would prove that He was one sent of God. They were thinking all the time of common food, daily bread, for they were poor and life was hard for them. It is not uncommon in our own times to hear practically the same demand for a sign. People want prosperity as a mark of divine favor. They want to find some reward for following Christ. If their religion does not bring them bread and earthly comforts, they think it is not measuring up to its promises. Yet it is not in this way that Christ is to reward those who follow Him. He gives spiritual life, with inward joy and peace and not ease and luxury and wealth . Jesus answered their demand, by telling them that He was doing for them a far greater work than Moses had done. Moses gave only bread for the body. It was not the true, the real bread bread which answered life’s deepest needs. Now God was giving them through Him true bread from heaven. It was not manna but a person, a life, “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Nothing that grows out of the soil of earth will feed a human soul. We were made for God and for heaven, and must feed our immortal nature upon heavenly bread. Nothing but bread will satisfy hunger; nothing but Christ will meet the cravings of a life. The people begin now to have a true thought of Christ’s meaning, although it is still only a glimmering. Instead of asking further questions, however, they make a prayer, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.” It was a good prayer but when they made it they did not know what they were asking. They wanted the bread that had in it the power to bless, and yet they did not know what that bread was. It is often so in our praying we have a dim vision of something very beautiful, very good but it is only a shadowy vision to us. It is well that we have an Intercessor to take our poor, ignorant, mistaken prayers and interpret them aright for us, securing for us not what we thought we would get, nor what we would like to receive but something better, richer, and more divine. Jesus then told them what the bread is, which gives life and how they could get it. “I am the bread of life! He who comes to me shall never hunger.” Christ will satisfy all our desires. Some people imagine that the desires of the heart are sinful things, which must be torn out and destroyed. But that is not what Christ purposes to do. He says that our thirsts shall all be satisfied. He does not mean our sinful and selfish desires, the things of our lusts which we think would satisfy us but our desires purified, such as Christ meant when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Jesus reminded the people that they had not received Him as the one sent from God. “You also have seen Me, and believe not.” That is, they had not eaten the bread of God of which He had been speaking to them. The assurance that follows is one of the most precious words of all the Bible, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” No penitent who ever really comes to Christ, shall be turned away. The closing words of the passage are rich in their revealing of the purpose of Christ’s coming into the world. He came to do His Father’s will. His will was that of all whom the Father had given the Son, the Son should lose none. Our part in His great purpose is also made very clear, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 139-141 Psalm 139 -- O Lord, you have searched me, and you know me. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 140 -- Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man. Preserve me from the violent man; NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 141 -- O Lord, I have called on you. Come to me quickly! NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 1 Corinthians 10 -- Warning to Avoid Israel's Fate and flee from Idolatry; Freedom of believers NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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