DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY JULY 19:
WORD OF WISDOM
Sometimes, the answer you're looking for is going to come from somewhere
you're not looking.
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DAILY DEVOTION
A City on a Hill
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be
hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven."
Matthew 5:14-16
President Ronald Reagan was fond of quoting a statement of John Winthrop, an
early leader of the Puritans in Massachusetts, about the way he viewed their
role in the world. Winthrop said, "For we must consider that we shall be as
a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall
deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him
to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word
through the world. We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy
servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we
be consumed out of the good land whither we are a going."
Christians should be the best citizens in whatever country they call home.
They should be obedient to civil authority, faithful to fulfill their civic
duties, and diligent about improving their surroundings. We are to do this
not because we have an earthly hope, but because we have an heavenly
obligation. "And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled
at him" (Mark 12:17). We are examples to those around us, and our faith
should impact how we live in a way that it is visible, including in the way
we conduct ourselves as citizens of our earthly homeland.
When we live out our faith in daily life, we are an example that is fit for
others to follow.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Song of Solomon 5-8New King James Version (NKJV)
The Beloved
5 I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice;
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
(To His Friends)
Eat, O friends!
Drink, yes, drink deeply,
O beloved ones!
The Shulamite's Troubled Evening
The Shulamite
2
I sleep, but my heart is awake;
It is the voice of my beloved!
He knocks, saying,
"Open for me, my sister, my love,
My dove, my perfect one;
For my head is covered with dew,
My locks with the drops of the night."
3
I have taken off my robe;
How can I put it on again?
I have washed my feet;
How can I defile them?
4
My beloved put his hand
By the latch of the door,
And my heart yearned for him.
5
I arose to open for my beloved,
And my hands dripped with myrrh,
My fingers with liquid myrrh,
On the handles of the lock.
6
I opened for my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away and was gone.
My heart leaped up when he spoke.
I sought him, but I could not find him;
I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7
The watchmen who went about the city found me.
They struck me, they wounded me;
The keepers of the walls
Took my veil away from me.
8
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
That you tell him I am lovesick!
The Daughters of Jerusalem
9
What is your beloved
More than another beloved,
O fairest among women?
What is your beloved
More than another beloved,
That you so charge us?
The Shulamite
10
My beloved is white and ruddy,
Chief among ten thousand.
11
His head is like the finest gold;
His locks are wavy,
And black as a raven.
12
His eyes are like doves
By the rivers of waters,
Washed with milk,
And fitly set.
13
His cheeks are like a bed of spices,
Banks of scented herbs.
His lips are lilies,
Dripping liquid myrrh.
14
His hands are rods of gold
Set with beryl.
His body is carved ivory
Inlaid with sapphires.
15
His legs are pillars of marble
Set on bases of fine gold.
His countenance is like Lebanon,
Excellent as the cedars.
16
His mouth is most sweet,
Yes, he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved,
And this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem!
The Daughters of Jerusalem
6 Where has your beloved gone,
O fairest among women?
Where has your beloved turned aside,
That we may seek him with you?
The Shulamite
2
My beloved has gone to his garden,
To the beds of spices,
To feed his flock in the gardens,
And to gather lilies.
3
I am my beloved's,
And my beloved is mine.
He feeds his flock among the lilies.
Praise of the Shulamite's Beauty
The Beloved
4
O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,
Lovely as Jerusalem,
Awesome as an army with banners!
5
Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have overcome me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
Going down from Gilead.
6
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
Which have come up from the washing;
Every one bears twins,
And none is barren among them.
7
Like a piece of pomegranate
Are your temples behind your veil.
8
There are sixty queens
And eighty concubines,
And virgins without number.
9
My dove, my perfect one,
Is the only one,
The only one of her mother,
The favorite of the one who bore her.
The daughters saw her
And called her blessed,
The queens and the concubines,
And they praised her.
10
Who is she who looks forth as the morning,
Fair as the moon,
Clear as the sun,
Awesome as an army with banners?
The Shulamite
11
I went down to the garden of nuts
To see the verdure of the valley,
To see whether the vine had budded
And the pomegranates had bloomed.
12
Before I was even aware,
My soul had made me
As the chariots of my noble people.[a]
The Beloved and His Friends
13
Return, return, O Shulamite;
Return, return, that we may look upon you!
The Shulamite
What would you see in the Shulamite-
As it were, the dance of the two camps?[b]
Expressions of Praise
The Beloved
7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince's daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
The work of the hands of a skillful workman.
2
Your navel is a rounded goblet;
It lacks no blended beverage.
Your waist is a heap of wheat
Set about with lilies.
3
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
4
Your neck is like an ivory tower,
Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon
By the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
Which looks toward Damascus.
5
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
And the hair of your head is like purple;
A king is held captive by your tresses.
6
How fair and how pleasant you are,
O love, with your delights!
7
This stature of yours is like a palm tree,
And your breasts like its clusters.
8
I said, "I will go up to the palm tree,
I will take hold of its branches."
Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
The fragrance of your breath like apples,
9
And the roof of your mouth like the best wine.
The Shulamite
The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved,
Moving gently the lips of sleepers.[c]
10
I am my beloved's,
And his desire is toward me.
11
Come, my beloved,
Let us go forth to the field;
Let us lodge in the villages.
12
Let us get up early to the vineyards;
Let us see if the vine has budded,
Whether the grape blossoms are open,
And the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13
The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
And at our gates are pleasant fruits,
All manner, new and old,
Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.
8 Oh, that you were like my brother,
Who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I should find you outside,
I would kiss you;
I would not be despised.
2
I would lead you and bring you
Into the house of my mother,
She who used to instruct me.
I would cause you to drink of spiced wine,
Of the juice of my pomegranate.
(To the Daughters of Jerusalem)
3
His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand embraces me.
4
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.
Love Renewed in Lebanon
A Relative
5
Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
Leaning upon her beloved?
I awakened you under the apple tree.
There your mother brought you forth;
There she who bore you brought you forth.
The Shulamite to Her Beloved
6
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
As a seal upon your arm;
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy as cruel as the grave;[d]
Its flames are flames of fire,
A most vehement[e] flame.
7
Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can the floods drown it.
If a man would give for love
All the wealth of his house,
It would be utterly despised.
The Shulamite's Brothers
8
We have a little sister,
And she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
In the day when she is spoken for?
9
If she is a wall,
We will build upon her
A battlement of silver;
And if she is a door,
We will enclose her
With boards of cedar.
The Shulamite
10
I am a wall,
And my breasts like towers;
Then I became in his eyes
As one who found peace.
11
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;
He leased the vineyard to keepers;
Everyone was to bring for its fruit
A thousand silver coins.
(To Solomon)
12
My own vineyard is before me.
You, O Solomon, may have a thousand,
And those who tend its fruit two hundred.
The Beloved
13
You who dwell in the gardens,
The companions listen for your voice-
Let me hear it!
The Shulamite
14
Make haste, my beloved,
And be like a gazelle
Or a young stag
On the mountains of spices.
Footnotes:
a.Song of Solomon 6:12 Hebrew Ammi Nadib
b.Song of Solomon 6:13 Hebrew Mahanaim
c.Song of Solomon 7:9 Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read lips and teeth.
d.Song of Solomon 8:6 Or Sheol
e.Song of Solomon 8:6 Literally A flame of YAH (a poetic form of YHWH, the
Lord)
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James VersionR. Copyright C 1982 by Thomas
Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
