Bread for the hungry

‘And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.’ Deuteronomy 8:3

Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 119:1–24

We must open our Bibles every morning with this prayer—‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ We must get some choice text to fill our homer. If we read a chapter we shall have nothing over; if we read a verse we shall have no lack. Then we put the word in our memories, and we shall surely find, perhaps not the first hour, but some other hour in the day, that it will taste like wafers made with honey to us. It is astonishing how much a man may know of the Bible by learning a text a day, and how much he may know experimentally by watching the events of the day, and interpreting them in the light of the text. If you cannot retain by memory a whole passage, never mind that; take a short text, and let it be under your tongue all day, and be looking out for a commentary upon it. I do not mean Matthew Henry, or Scott, or Gill—I mean your own daily experience. Be looking out to see how the Lord translates that text to you by his own providence, and you will frequently see a striking relation between the text that was given you in the morning, and the trials or the mercies that are given you during the day. At any rate, let the Word of God be the man of your right hand. We are so busy reading the magazines, newspapers, and new books, and so forth that we forget this—this new book, this that is always new, and always old, always having a freshness in it. Like a well, it is always springing up, not with musty, stale water, but with fresh water that has never sparkled in the sun before, and in all its virgin lustre of purity scatters jewels on the right hand and on the left. Let us go to this fountain and drink fresh and fresh.

For meditation: It is a blessing to seek God’s wisdom daily (Proverbs 8:34). Are you keen to read his Word daily (Acts 17:11)? If not, you are depriving yourself of daily refreshment (Psalm 1:2–3), daily light (Psalm 119:105) and daily bread (Jeremiah 15:16).

Sermon no. 418
10 November (1861)