Morning
It is good for me that I have been
afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.
Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. § We suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.
You shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not … You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.
Ps. 119:71; Heb. 5:8; Rom. 8:17–18;
Job 23:10–11; Deut. 8:2, 5–6
Evening
By strength no man shall prevail.
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” … Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it … So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone.
No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength … Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy. § Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 Sam. 2:9; 17:45, 49–50; Ps. 33:16,
18; 1 Chron. 29:12; 2 Cor. 12:9–10
