I have followed a certain pattern in my early morning devotional for the past several years, and I want to recommend it to you --
First, rise EARLY, as it is written --
"O God, thou art my God; EARLY will I SEEK thee..." Psalm 63:1
"I love them that love me; and those that SEEK ME EARLY shall find me." Proverbs 8:17
"With my spirit within me will I SEEK THEE EARLY..." Isaiah 26:9
Rising EARLY is INDISPENSABLE to seeking and finding the Lord God in genuine fellowship.
But there's more --
I purchased the three volume set of Spurgeon's Treasury Of David, published by Hendrickson Publishers. I recommend that you do the same, and do NOT use the electronic editions for your morning devotional. There are many reasons why, but I won't go into them here. BUY the PRINTED EDITION. It is relatively cheap, and I find that the format of the printed edition is BETTER and MORE USEFUL than the electronic edition. With regard to your computer, LEAVE IT ALONE -- leave it COMPLETELY ALONE -- during your morning devotional. If you don't, you can forget fellowship with the Lord in your morning session.
For those of you who cannot obtain the printed edition, like many of you in the military who are at sea or in country, or like some of you who visit this website and are under persecution in countries that don't allow you to possess Christian material, print out each Psalm from the electronic edition and use that, but STAY AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER in your morning session. God will honor you in your means as long as you are DILIGENT, and he will not penalize you for lack of material. In fact, if for some reason you are not able to print out the chapter, such as those of you who risk your lives by having such material, and the computer is therefore the ONLY way that you have access to it, then God will also honor you in this as long as you don't start puttzing around with the computer, and as long as you employ the computer ONLY for the sake of reading the material and remaining FOCUSED on it.
After rising
EARLY, and after having used the bathroom,
and perhaps after having refreshed yourself with a glass of juice, or whatever
you drink in the morning, (but NO breakfast
yet), get ON YOUR KNEES and
PRAY. Do not be distracted by other matters.
Wait upon the Lord, and pray as, and if, the Holy Spirit gives you utterance.
Whenever you're ready, open your Bible to
the first Psalm. Your Bible MUST be a
King James Bible if you're going to follow and truly understand Spurgeon and
those he quotes, for the King James Bible is the Bible used in The
Treasury Of David, and there are COUNTLESS
times when a SINGLE WORD is keyed off of, so
you MUST use a King James Bible if
you're going to reap the full harvest.
Now, after you've spent
time in prayer, read the first Psalm once straight through. (Some of the longer
Psalms you'll most definitely want to break up into sections, such as Psalm 119,
and so forth). I recommend that you stay on your knees while doing this. Then go
back and read each verse PRAYERFULLY.
Concentrate on each word, and pray as you read, asking the Lord to give you
wisdom and understanding. If you are in the military and in cramped quarters,
such as a bunk on a ship, or if you are in ill health, or what-have-you, and it
is too difficult to get on your knees, then pray in your bunk or your sick bed,
but pray as IF you were on your knees -- the
Lord understands, and the REAL reason we get
on our knees in the first place is to humble our HEARTS,
so do not be discouraged if you can't reasonably get on your knees.
When you've finished praying and reading
the Psalm in your Bible in the manner described, open the first volume of
Spurgeon's Treasury Of David and begin with the first Psalm. You may get
up and do this in a comfortable chair, BUT STAY AWAY
FROM THE COMPUTER, (unless that is your only means), and of course,
it goes without saying that no radio or television should be on. Read
ONLY as much as you can comfortably digest,
and meditate upon what you've read. After this, get back on your knees (if you
can) and pray and meditate upon what you've read in the Psalm itself, as well as
what you've gleaned from Spurgeon and the people he quotes. You very likely will
not complete each Psalm in one morning. With some of the longer Psalms, it may
take you two or three weeks, or even a couple of months, or more, to get through
a single Psalm.
Repeat this process every morning, picking
up where you left off in The Treasury Of David. If you did not finish the
first Psalm the first day, which I truly hope you didn't, then begin again by
taking your Bible and read the first Psalm through again on your knees, then
PRAYERFULLY read each verse one by one
again, just as you did the day before, thus repeating the
EXACT process of the day before. When you've done with that, pick
up where you left off in Spurgeon's Treasury of David.
With regard to Spurgeon's book, I use a
blue highlighter to mark important clauses, and a pink highlighter to mark the
names of those who gave the quotation. I also use the pink highlighter to mark
the title of each Psalm, as well as the demarcations, such as Explanatory
Notes, et cetera. Here are some examples --
You choose what works best for you. If you're not a
highlighting type of person, then don't do it. If you like to highlight
different ways, do that. Or, instead of highlighting, maybe you just like to
take notes. Maybe both. No problem. Just make sure that you never over stretch
yourself. Read only as far as you are able to comfortably digest the material
and to pray and meditate upon that material for that morning.
Each volume of The Treasury Of David
as published by Hendrickson Publishers is about 1,000 pages in length,
and it took me approximately five years to finish the first volume. I'm still in
the second volume now. Therefore, don't be concerned about
QUANTITATIVE progress; rather, be concerned
ONLY about QUALITATIVE
progress. Did the Lord meet you this morning? Did he bear witness to the
Scripture? Did he give you revelation on what you read? Is your spirit and soul
invigorated by the morning's devotion? And don't be afraid to compare Scripture
with Scripture when the Holy Spirit leads you to other passages in the Bible
that have a bearing on the material of the Psalm you are studying this morning.
I have found
GREAT blessing in this method, and I believe you will too, if you
will give it a week or so before giving up. My prayer is that the Lord Jesus
will be glorified in your soul as you immerse yourself in David's Treasure,
and that you may share that glory with others.
Farewell.