Quiet Time
Sample
0 MIN READ
Welcome to Quiet Time!
We define a Quiet Time as the habit to spend (daily) time with God, to read His Word, to think about what it means, and to apply it to your life.
The Bible itself gives the following definition:
Deuteronomy 17:19. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them.
QuietTime is uniquely designed to help you do just that. It has a recommended reading plan that will take you through the entire Bible in about a year, and a commentary that will explain the text on your journey. The typical reading for each day looks like this page, with Proverbs, Psalms, and a main Bible Text. Each of those sections has an Observation, an Application, and a Prayer.
There may also be some additional resources under Digging Deeper.
So, let’s get started with your first Quiet Time!
Proverbs 1:1-6 - Wisdom and Understanding
The Beginning of Knowledge
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight, 3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity; 4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth— 5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance, 6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
Observation
The Proverbs were written by king Solomon, who was the wisest person that ever lived (1 Kings 3:12, 1 Kings 4:20). They are beneficial for us all.
Solomon explains that he wrote the proverbs to give people wisdom, knowledge, understanding, prudence, and discretion.
Application
A Proverb a day will keep the fool away.
Prayer
Lord, help me value your wisdom and give me the desire to seek it in your Word every day.
Psalm 1:1-2 Delighting in God's Word
The Two Paths
1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Observation
It has been said that if you want to know wisdom, read the Proverbs, but if you want to know God, read the Psalms. In that lights, its interesting to see that the very first word of the Psalms is "blessed". God delights to bless people!
However we can observe that He does not bless arbitrarily but that there are certain requirements. He blesses those people who chose not to hang out with wicked sinning scoffers but spend their time reading and meditating on God's Word instead.
Application
We will learn to delight in God's Word and meditate on it often, once we realize and experience that God blesses those who do.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for teaching me that in life there are generally two paths, but only one of those leads to blessing. Please give me the delight that comes from knowing you through your Word, so that I will mediate on it day and night.
Why have a daily Quiet Time?
The main text today focuses on a key lesson from the Old Testament, that having a daily Quiet Time is a really good idea.
Deuteronomy 17:14-20
These few verses contain Moses' instructions for the future kings of Israel.
Election and Duties of Kings
14 “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.Observation
1 Kings 10:14-29
Now that we know what the kings of Israel should do, let's look at king Solomon, and see if he followed the instructions.
Solomon's Riches
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15 besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. 16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. 17 And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 18 The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 20 while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. 21 All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. 23 Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 24 And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 25 Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28 And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price. 29 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king's traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.Observation
Solomon not only exceeded everyone in wisdom, but also in wealth, amassing unprecedented amounts of gold. He made silver a plentiful as stones.
Ditto for horses and chariots, a symbol of military might. Solomon even got an expensive imported Egyptian sports model (maybe to impress the girls in the next chapter?). God warned of the danger of prosperity. When a person or people is in need, they rely upon God and are careful to limit their desires in order to do His desire. But when their needs are satisfied, they become independent of God in the pursuit of their own desires. Remember, independence is the essence of sin. If Solomon had built an ice-skating rink, the ice would be very thin.
1 Kings 11:1-13
Solomon's Foreign Wives
1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.God's Anger against Solomon
9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. 11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”Observation
Solomon not only built a temple for Yahweh, he built ones for other gods. He married a herd of women and had a flock of concubines, from the peoples God had said: “Stay Away! They'll turn your heart away from Me.” The wives turned his heart away from Yahweh, who had blessed him beyond measure. Note that he didn't turn their hearts toward Yahweh, but they were able to contaminate him. There had to be demonic deception at work for him to go and serve the gods Israel had defeated. Even the world's wisest man can be an idiot. Why did he blow it? Before we answer that, let's look at the consequences.
God is angry at Solomon's sin, even though He let it go on for a while. Eventually (as it always happens) God delivers the judgment. The kingdom will be torn away from Solomon, and given to one of his servants, but not in his lifetime, for David's sake, and not totally, for Jerusalem's sake. The house of David of Judah would have one tribe with them (Benjamin).
Application
Why did Solomon sin? Could it be because He didn't have a daily quiet time? We know that Solomon was the world's wisest person, and he also had more cash, cars, and cuties than anyone on earth. And that's the key for understanding his failure.
We read above that there were three explicit commands for the king: don't multiply cars, cuties, nor cash. The king was supposed to write a copy of Deuteronomy and read it every day. When he got to chapter 17, he'd say: “Hmmmm, I wonder what God has to say to me today...Oh, look, there's a passage with my name on it; it says, 'king', that's me: 'Kings shall not multiply cars, cuties nor cash. And they definitely shouldn't get one of those imported Egyptian models.' Drats, I guess I'd better cancel that order. Hey, there's a promise: 'The kingdom will be prolonged for me and my kids.' Good deal.”
Unfortunately, Solomon didn't invest daily time in God's word, and his heart turned away from the God who loved him, chose him, and prospered him above all others.
Now if the world's wisest man did not end well, what hope is there fore mere mortals like us? We can only learn from his example, and decide for ourselves to have a daily quiet time, for the rest of our lives. Read God's Word, meditate on it, do it, and get blessed (on earth and especially in heaven).
Prayer
Lord, thank you for making it so abundantly clear that having a daily quiet time is just simply a really good idea. Give me the desire and diligence to spend time with you every day. Teach me your wisdom and show me how to follow you. Thank you for everything. Amen.
Digging Deeper
The most important part of Quiet Time is the daily reading section. To move to the reading for the next day, simply click on the right arrow in the bottom of this page.
But Quiet Time contains more tools for your daily quiet times, for example to help you Journal, Pray, and Memorize Scripture.
Quiet Time is both a website and also a mobile app (iOS only for now). To see a full list of the features that are available on each platform, click here.
To learn more about how each of these features work in detail, please check our 'How it Works' section here.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
Users may not copy or download more than 500 verses of the ESV Bible or more than one-half of any book of the ESV Bible.
The king was to make his own copy of the law and read it every day, (just like DailyTruthbase), so he would fear God and prosper. Three specific prohibitions: no multiplying cars (horses, especially imported ones), cuties, and cash (Power, Pleasure, Possessions). Solomon was the world's wisest man, because of the wisdom God gave him. Do you think he had a daily quiet time? He did it all, had it all, and knew it all (see Ecclesiastes) yet he ceased fearing God, and lost it all.