1 Kings 19:1-8

For Reading and Meditation:     Psalm 69:1-12

Having shared with us the conviction that God is good, the psalmist now proceeds to tell us what caused him to move away from that belief so that his soul became filled with such desolating doubt: "But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the...

All the strength supplied to us by our gracious God is meant for service, not for wantonness or boasting. When the prophet Elijah found the cake baked on the coals, and the cruse of water placed at his head, as he lay under the juniper tree, he was no gentleman to be gratified with dainty fare that he might stretch himself at his ease; far otherwise, he was commissioned to go forty days and forty nights in the strength of it, journeying towards Horeb, the mount of God. When the Master...

It was a remarkable thing that the man who was never to die, for whom God had ordained an infinitely better lot, the man who should be carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and be translated, that he should not see death-should thus pray, "Let me die, I am no better than my fathers." We have here a memorable proof that God does not always answer prayer in kind, though he always does in effect. He gave Elias something better than that which he asked for, and thus really heard and answered...

It is not uncommon for God's people to suffer from nervous depression, just as Elijah did. Moses and Jonah also wished they could die (Exodus 32:32; Jonah 4:3). The Lord has never promised believers exemption from this type of trouble. Neither does the presence of this affliction necessarily indicate a lack of faith or spirituality. It could happen to any one of us.

When it does strike, it is...

1 Kings 19:1-16

It is little wonder that Jezebel was furious, when she learned from Ahab - of the slaughter of her priests. She vowed vengeance upon Elijah. "May the gods also kill me if by this time tomorrow I have failed to take your life like those whom you killed!" It was a trying hour for Elijah, and for once he flinched.

"So you intend to be a reformer, young man?" asked an old peer of young Wilberforce. "That is the end of...