The Lord reproves him whom he loves.
"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand."--"I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."--"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord."
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her."--As a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.--For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.--Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Prov. 3:12; Deut. 32:39; Jer. 29:11; Isa. 55:8; Hos. 2:14; Deut. 8:5; Heb. 12:11; 1 Pet. 5:6; Ps. 119:75
EVENINGThe earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
"She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold. Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax."--"All things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance . . . comes from your hand and is all your own."--From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.--Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Ps. 24:1; Hos. 2:8, 9; 1 Chron. 29:14-16; Rom. 11:36; 1 Tim. 6:17; 1 Tim. 4:4, 5; Phil. 4:19
