A
SACRIFICE OF THANKFULNESS
Psalm
51:16
One truth taught throughout Scripture is that salvation is a gift, and that we can not buy the smallest part of it. We are aware of the fact that in a time of drought we can not buy one drop of rain. Much less can we buy one drop of the blood of Christ to wash away even the smallest part of one sin.
When then in Psalm 51:16 David writes, "For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it Thee; Thou delightest not in burnt offering, '' he plainly is speaking of sacrifices we make and of burnt offerings which we present, and which can not buy any part of salvation from God.
There are however sacrifices and offerings that do please Him and in which God does find delight. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross God not only desired and delighted in, but He decreed it for our salvation. And by it He did pay the full price of our salvation and satisfied fully His justice.
Another sacrifice that pleases Him David speaks of in the next verse in Psalm 51. Our versification which we sing presents it thus:
A broken spirit is to God a
pleasing sacrifice:
A broken and a contrite heart
Thou, Lord, wilt not despise.
For here we deal not with a sacrifice to obtain salvation, but with sacrifices and offerings that express thankfulness for salvation that has been obtained, because God graciously gave it to us.
This pleases God because it renders to Him the praise that is due to His name. It acknowledges Him as the merciful Giver and not as the demanding seller of salvation. And today we had better have that cross of Christ clearly before our eyes. In the measure that we see the sacrifice that God made for our salvation, we will bring to Him offerings of praise and thanksgiving. We will cry out, "O God, how good Thou art!"
The question is not as to how well you fared in earthly things yesterday. The question is not how well you were physically and what your flesh enjoyed. The question is whether you appreciate as much as you should and thank God for the salvation He freely gives.
Read: Psalm
34
Psalter versification: 144:4
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 71
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
13:17-22 ; Exodus
14; Exodus
15:1-18
Matthew
21:23-46
Psalm
26:1-12
Proverbs
6:16-19
Quote for Reflection:
… final perfection and deliverance from the evil one and from all evil, from all sin and corruption and from all the effects of sin, does not come until the day of the Lord, when He shall raise our corruptible and mortal bodies into the glory of incorruptibility and immortality, and give us a place forever in the heavenly tabernacle of God in the new creation. – Herman Hoeksema
CONCERN
FOR
Psalm
51:18
If your sins are blotted out, and you know it because of the faith and love for God that always is bestowed upon those for whom Christ died, you will also love God's whole church. If you hate sin, you love God. And if you love God, you will love His whole church.
That is why David, having prayed for the blotting out of his sins in God's mercy, is concerned with His mercy upon His whole church. And having prayed for the forgiveness of his own sins, David in concern for the whole church of God prays in Psalm 51:18, "Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem. Our versification goes thus:
Do good to
Her ruined walls restore:
Then sacrifice of righteousness
Shall please Thee as of yore.
Thy people then with willing hands
And hearts that Thou has blessed
Shall bring in thankful sacrifice
Their choicest gifts and best.
It is true that David had set a very bad example before the whole church of
that day, here called
The question is whether your sins bother you in that way. The sins you committed before others in your family, at work, among the members of God's church, did they make you sad in the thought that you may have encouraged others to walk in your sins?
Confess your sins before God, but also before men. Never defend them. And pray that your sins may not break down the walls of your church and give Satan easy access to the hearts of the members of your church. Go then, as David did, to God and pray that He may protect His church from the sins you performed before her members, and that they may bring their choicest and best gifts of thanksgiving and praise to Him.
Read: Psalm 4
Psalter versification: 144:5-6
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 230
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
15:19-27 ; Exodus
16; Exodus
17:1-7
Matthew
22:1-33
Psalm
27:1-26
Proverbs
6:20-26
Quote for Reflection:
“Always, there are benefits of doing the will of God. The benefits far outweigh the costs. In Christian education, as in every other aspect of the life of the child of God, the principle is, be willing to sacrifice and pay a high cost in doing God's will, as a disciple of Christ, and God will greatly reward you, both in this life and in the life to come. There are rewards. They are rewards of grace; but there are rewards. These are incentives, because the work of the Lord always goes forward with much difficulty in this world.” -David Engelsma
OUR
GOD, THE GOD OF ALL GLORY
Psalm
19:1
Glory is the radiation or shining forth of virtue, so that when you see virtue, you see glory. Solomon says this plainly when in Proverbs 20:29 he writes, "The glory of young men is their strength.'' Thus when they display their strength, they show forth their glory.
God's glory shines forth also when He reveals His strength, wisdom, love, mercy, and grace, and all His other virtues. Of His glory David speaks in Psalm 19:1 when he declares, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth forth His handiwork." And the idea is that the heavens, that is, the heavenly bodies, show God's glory because they show His wisdom and power, for it is His handiwork. Indeed what a wisdom and power the heavens do reveal!
That glory of God may be summed up in one word, namely, that He is God. That above all is His glory. The name of God that David uses here is the Mighty One. And what a might and wisdom it took to bring forth and uphold that vast expanse that we call the heavens! What creature could do that? What idol made by man's hands could make and hold all those heavenly bodies in their exact courses? Indeed, the God of Scripture is God alone.
Our versification of the Psalm speaks of this glory thus:
The heavens in their splendor
declare
The might and the glory of God:
For day unto day speaks His praise,
And night tells His wisdom abroad.
Look at the sky today and tonight, and let no one tell you, or teach your children, that all this came by an evolutionistic process! We reckon time by the position of the heavenly bodies. Upon them we depend and receive our seasons. And how well we know that we cannot move or remove these bodies, nor alter their courses through the heavens. How amazing it also is that we can today state when the sun will arise and the moon be full at any future date that man may pick. What wisdom and what power God reveals! How loudly He shouts to the whole human race that He is God!
Do you hear Him, and do you see His glory every day?
Read: Psalm
19
Psalter
versification: 39:1
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 264
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
17:8-16 ; Exodus
18; Exodus
19:1-15
Matthew
22:34-46 ; Matthew
23:1-12
Psalm
27:7-14
Proverbs
6:27-35
Quote for Reflection:
“Thy will be
done. Grant, O Father in heaven, that I
may always and everywhere live as before Thy face, in Thy presence, and in the
consciousness of my calling to be Thy servant …. Give unto me, give unto all Thy people, Thy
Spirit and grace to know and to do Thy will.
And hasten the day when the workers of iniquity shall be no more, and
all shall be in perfect harmony with Thy will, which is only good. Thy will be done. Amen.” Herman Hoeksema
A
CALL TO PRAISE GOD
Psalm
19:2-4
In Psalm 19:2-4 David speaking of the heavens, states that "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line goeth out through all the earth'' Correctly our versification of these lines sings:
They speak not with audible words.
Yet clear is the message they send:
Their witness goes out through the earth,
Their words to the world's farthest end.
And another versification presents this significant addition:
Yet through the world the truth they bear
And their Creator's power declare.
Even as a red traffic light speaks, even though it utters no word that you can hear, so the heavens speak with words that are without sound. And what is important for us to maintain and hold on to is that they speak the truth not only of God's power, but of the fact that He is God alone upon Whom all creatures depend, and Who must be served and worshipped.
That truth is spoken on both sides of the earth, the sun declaring it on one side while, at the same time, the moon and stars declare it on the other side.
Because of this fact no man has an excuse for not serving and worshipping Him every split-second of life. Even as the red traffic light says to you that you are guilty of sin if you do not stop as it demands, so no man anywhere at any time can escape the truth that he must serve and worship God day and night.
We cannot make God richer, and we have nothing that He needs. But He delights in having man, because he depends so completely upon God, serve and worship Him, rendering Him praise and thanksgiving.
The heavens declare His glory, but do you? The heavens do with words that are not audible. Do you sound out His praises? Do the songs you sing render Him the praise that is due unto His name? Listen to the heavens sing His praises to you, and then with audible words sing those praises to God.
Read: Psalm
147
Psalter versification: 39:2, 37:2
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 161
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
19:16-25 ; Exodus
20; Exodus
21:1-21
Matthew
23:13-39
Psalm
28:1-9
Proverbs
7:1-5
Quote for Reflection:
… for God will never find in us anything which he ought to love, but he loves us because he is good and merciful. Besides, although he testifies his goodness and love to all, yet we know it by faith only, when he declares himself to be our Father in Christ. - John Calvin
SOULS
THAT GLORIFY GOD
Psalm 19:7
There is not a man on earth who does not hear the speech of the heavens. Powerfully the sun comes up to every man every day. Nothing is hid from its heat. All men know therefore that there is a God Who made that sun and moves it exactly according to a predetermined schedule of time and on a predetermined course.
Knowing that there is a God, all men must live according to His law. No one is a law unto himself. The heavenly bodies all move according to a law set down by God. And man, made in the image of God, as a thinking, willing creature, must live according to God's ethical, moral, spiritual law. In other words he must love God, and in that love serve Him day and night, He must glorify God by his works as well as by his words.
And having fallen into sin man needs God's law to teach him how to serve and
glorify the one true God of Whom the heavens speak. David therefore wrote in Psalm
19:7 , "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony
of the Lord is sure making wise the simple." When
man came from the hand of God in paradise, he did see God's glory and did
glorify Him by his walk and words. But man fell and now needs to be converted
and made wise in regard to Satan's lie and his own God-given calling. And in
His grace God has given us that perfect law. It shows us perfectly our calling;
and it serves to make us perfect.
Consider that the heavens declare the glory of God, because it is God Who is
speaking through them. The same is true of His law.
It is His law and He speaks through it.
Therefore we can be sure that this law is perfect,
making wise the simple, to give them souls that
glorify God.
When we sin, we say that God's law is imperfect and foolish. What shameful pride sin displays! Let us instead with David sing:
Most perfect is the law of God,
Restoring those that stray;
His testimony is most sure
Proclaiming wisdom's way.
Read: Psalm
111
Psalter versification: 42:1
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 266
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
21:22-36 ; Exodus
22; Exodus
23:1-13
Matthew
24:1-28
Psalm
29:1-11
Proverbs
7:6-23
Quote for Reflection:
¼
The ascension of
Christ is as vital and cardinal a part of the Truth as is His death and
resurrection, and provides the same rich food for faith to feed upon. As it was
not possible for death to hold Him, so it was not fitting for the earth to
retain Christ. He who humbled Himself and became obedient unto death has been
“highly exalted and given a name which is above every name.” (Philippians
2:9). – Arthur Pink
APPRECIATING
GOD'S LAW
Psalm
19:8
Man fell into sin when he accepted Satan's
word and rejected God's. Then he was no longer able to hear
God speak through the heavenly bodies. But then he also lost all ability to
keep God's law according to which he was created. Satan taught man to think
only of his own glory and to turn his back upon God's holy law.
But in His grace God came to speak to man and to restore
him to his calling to glorify God. And the reborn child of
God who listens to that law of God becomes wise. His eyes are enlightened by
that law, and his heart rejoices. Serving God does not become a painful
chore but a delightful work.
David says that in Psalm
19:8 with these words, "The
statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes."
However, David is not simply thinking of the Ten Commandments.
He has in mind God's Word, the Scriptures wherein the law given at
The question is whether we listen to that Word and want to listen to
Him speak to us from it. The question is whether we can sincerely sing:
The precepts of the Lord are right;
With joy they fill the heart;
The Lords commandments all
are pure
And clearest light impart.
Only as we hear God speak in His law are we able to hear Him speak through heavenly bodies. That is why only in His church do you find those who confess Him to be God, and do so with delight. Here is a sign that you have been born again, if your heart is filled with joy when you hear God's law, the life of Christ has been instilled in you. He delighted in that law and gives that delight to those whom the Father gave Him. And you will sing: "O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation day and night." Then you, as well as the heavens, will declare the glory of God.
Read: Psalm
119:97-120
Psalter versification: 41:2
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 156
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
23:14-33 ; Exodus
24; Exodus
25:1-40
Matthew
24:29-51
Psalm
30:10-12
Proverbs
7:24-27
****
Quote for Reflection:
THE
UPWARD LOOK
Psalm
19:10, 11
The god that is worshiped by most men is gold. And if gold is not in the literal sense that for which they live, their god is that which gold can buy. And the sweetest thing that they know is honey. Such people cannot agree with David when in Psalm 19:10-11 he writes concerning God's judgments, "More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is Thy servant warned: and in keeping of them is great reward." By judgments David means that which God judges to be true and righteous. In other words His law, His statutes are a very precious possession. If we have them in our hearts, we are very rich. If we delight in them, they are sweeter to us than any earthly food or drink of this earth.
Made in God's image, and created to glorify Him, man, when his soul is converted by the Spirit of God's Son, will see gold and all that it can buy, and all the food delicacies of this earth, as God-given means to serve and glorify Him. He will look beyond the gold and honey. He will desire the gold only as an instrument wherewith to serve and glorify God. Tasting the sweet delicacies God gave him, he will taste the richer love and grace of God in Christ. These earthly creatures, when God's law has made us perfect and converted our souls, will cause us to lift our eyes above these temporary creatures to look through the heavens to the God Who made all things for His own glory.
By that law man will be warned not to make gold his god, and not to live for the pleasures of the flesh. He will be given the upward look, so that his enlightened eyes see the Creator and not simply the creatures which He made for His own transcendent glory. And of these judgments of God he will sing:
They are to be desired
Above the finest gold;
Than honey from the comb
More sweetness far they hold;
With warnings they
Thy servant guard,
In keeping them is great reward.
Read: Joshua
7
Psalter versification: 38:3
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 360
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
26 ; Exodus
27:1-21
Matthew
25:1-30
Psalm
31:1-8
Proverbs
8:1-11
Quote for Reflection:
...How can a Christian know that he is righteous before God? Not when he
looks at himself! When he looks at himself, there is nothing but sin, corruption,
and unrighteousness. We are corrupt, and we deserve to die.
How, then, can we be conscious that we are righteous before God?
By looking away from self! By looking away from the things that are seen! By
looking to God who raised up Jesus from the dead! The moment I may look away
from self and may look to God as He shows His face in the resurrection of
Christ, I can say, “I am righteous.” — Herman Hoeksema, Righteous By Faith Alone, p. 181
WARNED
AND REWARDED
Psalm
19:11
Warnings protect our lives. The buzzing sound of the smoke detector, the screaming of the siren of the fire engine speeding towards us from behind, and the red light indicating that the automobile ahead has its brakes applied, all serve to make us aware of danger. These warnings are given to keep us from possible harm. Unless we are foolish, we are thankful that there are such devices for our protection.
But do you react with thankfulness because God gave us His law? Are you thankful when relatives, or friends, or office bearers warn you when you are breaking one of God's laws, and that in light of the fact that the wages of sin is death?
One who warns you is concerned with your well-being. Even more so, God displays His love when He warns us in His testimonies and statutes. Never lose sight of the fact that the admonitions, or warnings, in His Word have been put there in His love to spare us the punishment that the transgression of His law demands.
Still more, God sets His law before us because in His grace He rewards our works of love toward Him. He gave us His law for our good, not for our harm; in love and not in hatred. And when you thank Him for food and drink, for life and health, be sure to thank Him also for His law, which shows us how to keep from harm, and what works He in His grace rewards.
Say it with David, "By these is Thy servant warned: and in keeping of them is great reward" Psalm 19:11. Sing it with these words:
They warn from ways of wickedness
Displeasing to the Lord,
And in the keeping of His Word
There is a great reward.
The reward His Son earned for us through His death and perfect obedience. There is a reward for those who keep God's law, because their guilt has been removed by His Son's cross, and He earned blessedness for His people.
Thank God for His law, and for His law-abiding Son.
Read: Matthew
6:19-34
Psalter versification: 41:4
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 320
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
28:1-43
Matthew
25:31-46 ; Matthew
26:1-13
Psalm
31:9-18
Proverbs
8:12-13
Quote for Reflection:
"Abram was not renowned,
either as a conqueror, a law-giver or an inventor of useful and ingenious arts:
he was neither a monarch, a genius, a philosopher, nor so much as an author of
any sort, but a plain man, dwelling in tents, and feeding cattle all his days.
Yet perhaps no mere man has been so widely and permanently had in honor!"
--
ACCEPTABLE
IN GOD'S SIGHT
Psalm
19:14
The heavens declare the glory of God, but in a way that they are not heard by the human ear. Man, however, was created in such a way that he could, with words that his fellow men could hear, speak of the glory of God. And he who truly hears the heavens declare God's glory will with his mouth speak words that glorify Him. The more he hears the heavens declare God's glory, the more he will want strength and desire to open his mouth to extol God for that glory. He will with David pray, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer" Psalm 19:14.
David gets to the heart of the matter when he prays that the meditations of his heart may be acceptable to God. Words that are simply spoken by the mouth, and that come not out of a heart that loves God, are mockery and do not glorify God. Simply speaking the words with the lips is doing less than the heavens, for such words are spoken for the glory of self and not of God.
The heart is the spiritual center of our being; and our glorifying of God must come from that center and move the lips, or we sin against God by our words. Then we are by no means acceptable in His sight by the words we speak. And our prayer must be for the desire and strength to glorify Him from the bottom of our hearts.
David expresses this when he prays to God as his strength and redeemer. As our strength He must give us the ability. As our redeemer He must deliver us from seeking self, and fill us with the life that desires to glorify Him.
How important, as well as beautiful, it is for us, in the midst of a world that denies God, to confess Him and His glory. And to do this, not only on the Sabbath in His house of prayer, but daily before the family and neighbors. Make this then your prayer:
I pray that my words and my
thoughts
May all with Thy precepts accord,
And ever be pleasing to Thee,
My Rock, my Redeemer my Lord.
Read: James 3
Psalter versification: 40:6
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 229
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
29 ; Exodus
30:1-10
Matthew
26:14-46
Psalm
31:19-24
Proverbs
8:14-26
Quote for Reflection:
"The Lord does not begin a totally new work with the
appearance of Abram on the stage of history. It is not a new covenant that is
established with Abram, but the same covenant that God had established with
Shem and with Noah and with the prediluvian patriarchs, dating back to the
protevangel immediately after the fall. God’s covenant is always the relation
of friendship between himself and his people, and is essentially the same
covenant throughout history. That covenant of God certainly passes through a
history. The nature of that history, however, is not that it consists of
several separate works or dispensations, totally unrelated to one another.
Rather, the history of God’s covenant is characterized by the fact that the
covenant advances and develops and increasingly approximates its ultimate
realization as determined in God’s eternal counsel. God’s final purpose is to
bring his covenant to the highest conceivable glory; toward that goal all the
history of his covenant must lead." (Unfolding
Covenant History, vol. 2, p. 101).
SEEING
OUR REDEEMER'S GLORY
Psalm
19:14
When our lives are spared, in what we call a miraculous way; when a loved one recovers remarkably after serious surgery; when things go exceptionally well for our flesh; the words of our mouths often are, "O God, how good Thou art." We need no prodding or exhortation to do that. When we receive earthly treasures and fleshly joys, we, as believers, recognize this as His work, see His glory and give expression to it.
Sad to say, however, that same enthusiasm, that same loose tongue, often is not there when we taste God's work of saving us from our sins. We are ready to confess Him as our strength when all goes well physically, but we are not so enthusiastic and ready to confess Him as our redeemer. The smile on our faces is not as broad when we speak of our salvation.
How happy are you in the knowledge that your sins are forgiven? How much is your soul thrilled when you think of what Christ did for you on His cross? How enthusiastically can you pray, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly''? Is there not so much that you still want to enjoy in this life?
The need is there, but is there the desire to pray with David, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer" Psalm 19:14.
There is indeed so much room for us to pray, as versified, those words of Psalm 19:14:
The words which from my mouth proceed,
The thoughts within my heart,
Accept O Lord, for Thou my Rock
And my redeemer art.
Sing of God as your Redeemer as well as your strength. And pray for the grace to see His glory as your Redeemer. Pray that the things here below do not make you forget the washing away of your guilt, and the precious gift of a God-glorifying life like that of His Son. Pray that you may be more and move spiritual, to seek the things above, and be pleasing in God's sight in all that you do.
Read: Revelation
7
Psalter versification: 41:7
Daily
Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 247
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus
30:11-38 ; Exodus
31:1-18
Matthew
26:47-68
Psalm
32:1-11
Proverbs
8:27-32
Quote for Reflection:
These promises of the covenant concern Christ as the
representative Head of His elect, and therefore apply to them all. The promises
for their salvation they receive out of the hand of Christ, in whom all
promises are yea and Amen unto the glory of God. (II
Cor. 1:20). Indeed, no promise is firm if it is not sealed in Christ, the
Head of the covenant. The promises given would be lost because of the severe
assaults of Satan, the inveterate enmity of the world, and the incessant
wandering of God's people, but they are firm in Christ and unto eternal life. —
G. H. Kersten
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