Daily Meditations for June

1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 17| 18| 19| 20| 21| 22| 23| 24| 25| 26| 27| 28| 29| 30

June 11

ENCIRCLED BY THE LOVE OF GOD
Psalm 75:1

    To give thanks unto a person is to say that he is good and has performed a good deed. The Hebrew word for giving thanks is to throw out the hand, that is, to point to one, to point him out as one who has done something good. Therefore if there is anyone who should be thanked it is God. No matter what He does, He always does what is good. That is why the psalmist writes in Psalm 75:1 , "Unto Thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto Thee do we give thanks: for that Thy name is near Thy wondrous works declare.''   Here he is pointing to God and His wondrous works.

    Now that God's name is near means that God Himself is near us, embracing us with His love. For us this ought certainly to be clear, for by faith we have seen His wondrous works of His Son's virgin birth, blotting out of our sins by His cross, rising from the dead and ascending to God's right hand, and obtaining power over all things in heaven and on earth, so that heavenly goodness is prepared for us in God's house. And that we are so different spiritually from the unbelievers ought to cause us to point to Him and say, "O God, how good and great Thou art!"

    We have every reason to sing:

    To Thee, O God, we render thanks.
    To Thee give thanks sincere,
    Because Thy wondrous works declare
    That Thou art ever near.

    You and I must point to God and tell others that He is good.   But we must also go to Him with our words in prayer, telling Him that He is good and that His work of salvation in Christ is wonderful.

    We must tell our families but also the unbelievers with whom we work. We must be faithful witnesses of Him, the God of all good. And by all means, every night before we close our eyes in sleep, we must thank Him for encircling us with His love all during the day.  Yea, we must thank Him for giving us thankful hearts. That too is a wondrous work and one that He wrought in us by His Spirit. No wonder that the psalmist in this verse says twice that we give thanks to this wonder-working God.

Read: Psalm 75
Psalter versification: 206:1

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 172
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 8:1-66
Acts 7:51-60
Acts 8:1-13
Psalm 129:1-8
Proverbs 17:1

****
Quote for Reflection:

Of one thing our children must never be in any doubt; of one thing they must be sure, absolutely sure--our love for them.  Assurance of the parents' love for them as covenant children of God gives a sturdy security; a healthy self-love and sense of worth, in Christ; and a right knowledge of the Father in heaven. --D. J. Engelsma, "As a Father Pitieth his Children"


June 12

SAVED IN RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
Psalm 75:2,3

    God is near to His people encircling them in His love.  And when the time is ripe He will judge the wicked and cast them into everlasting punishment. For His name is the Almighty One, and He can and does perform the wondrous work of saving His people. But His name is also the Holy God, and He can stand no sin before His eyes. That is why the psalmist writes in Psalm 75:2, 3 , ''When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars thereof."

    To us it may not look that way at times.  Surely in the days when the antichrist shall try to starve us to death, while the wicked have a life far better than man ever had since Adam and Eve were driven out of paradise, it will be hard to believe that God is good to His church and is near her in His love.

    But God has set a definite day and minute when He will bring His whole church into glory and will judge the wicked rightly by putting them in everlasting punishment. Therefore we have reason to sing:

    Thy righteous judgment Thou hast said,
    Shall in due time appear,
    And Thou Who didst establish it
    Wilt fill the earth with fear.

    Then we shall see the goodness of God as we never before saw it.  God will bring His church, or as here called, the congregation, the multitude He gathered as the body of Christ, into heavenly glory. Then the earth will be filled with the fear of God.

    No, we will not be afraid either of the wicked or of God. Satan and his kingdom shall be "dissolved,"   that is, removed from this earth. And we will have fear in the sense of respect and awe. For that word ''fear'' is the one used in the Old Testament for faith in God.

    In a righteous judgment God delivers us from all our enemies and brings us through Christ out of all our guilt, and free from the power of sin that is now in our flesh. Surely we have every reason to say that He is good. We will do so when we reach that glory; but we have reason to thank Him now and in every circumstance of life.

Read: Revelation 7
Psalter versification: 206:2

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 110
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 9
1 Kings 10:1-29
Acts 8:14-40
Psalm 130:1-8
Proverbs 17:2-3

****
Quote for Reflection:

"In the infinite wisdom of the Lord of all the earth, each event falls with exact precision into its proper place in the unfolding of His divine plan. Nothing, however small, however strange, occurs without His ordering, or without its particular fitness for its place in the working out of His purpose; and the end of all shall be the manifestation of His GLORY, and the accumulation of His PRAISE."      Benjamin Warfield


June 13

OUR SURE VICTORY
Psalm 75:4,5

    Peter tells us that Satan goes about as a roaring lion. But there are times when his followers attack us as an angered bull that charges with its horns to try to gore the one that irritated it. And keep in mind that the unbelievers are irritated when we hold God, His law, and His Christ before them. Was not Cain angry when Abel called his attention to his sinful sacrifice? And did he not kill Abel in anger?

    This bears out the truth written in Psalm 75:4,5 , where we read, "I said unto the fools, deal not foolishly; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.'' And plainly the horn mentioned here is not a musical instrument but the hard, pointed weapon of defense upon the head of a bull. Just call the unbeliever's attention to his sin and warn him of God's wrath, and he will, as the bull, lift up his horn to injure and drive you away from him. Not having the grace of God in his heart the unbeliever will stiffen himself in his sin, and, as the text states, he will lift up his stiff neck to gore us.

    Therefore the psalmist continues with, ''For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another." And by promotion he plainly means lifting up to what is truly good. Thus we sing:

    Thou teachest meekness to the proud,
    And maketh sinners know
    That none is judge but God alone,
    To honor and bring low.

    Never mind then when the world tries to push you aside and humble you physically and materially. God is judge, and He shall in us own time put down the whole world of wicked and lift His faithful children up to heavenly glory,

    Let nothing and no one make you for one moment question God's love for His church. He will because He judges us in Christ, lift us above all our enemies and unto Himself in His grace. The world's attack upon God's church is folly. We have a sure victory in Christ.

Read: Revelation 22
Psalter versification: 206:3

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 158
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 11
1 Kings 12:1-19
Acts 9:1-25
Psalm 131:1-3
Proverbs 17:4-5

****
Quote for Reflection:

If edification of the church proceeds from Christ alone, he has surely a right to prescribe in what manner it shall be edified. But Paul expressly states, that, according to the command of Christ, no real union or perfection is attained, but by the outward preaching. We must allow ourselves to be ruled and taught by men. This is the universal rule, which extends equally to the highest and to the lowest. The church is the common mother of all the godly, which bears, nourishes, and brings up children to God, kings and peasants alike; and this is done by the ministry. Those who neglect or despise this order choose to be wiser than Christ. Woe to the pride of such men! It is, no doubt, a thing in itself possible that divine influence alone should make us perfect without human assistance. But the present inquiry is not what the power of God can accomplish, but what is the will of God and the appointment of Christ. In employing human instruments for accomplishing their salvation, God has conferred on men no ordinary favor. Nor can any exercise be found better adapted to promote unity than to gather around the common doctrine — the standard of our General.
— John Calvin, on Ephesians 4:12
 


June 14

A CUP WITH DEATH IN IT
Psalm 75:8

    In this vale of tears and sorrows, and especially as we approach the days when the antichrist will be here to persecute the true church of Christ, we do well to take hold of the comfort of God's word as Asaph wrote it in Psalm 75:8 . There we read, "For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and He poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.''

    Our versification explains it thus:

    Jehovah holds a cup of wrath,
    And holds it not in vain,
    For all the wicked of the earth
    Its bitter dregs shell drain.

    The idea here very plainly is that the ungodly are not going to get away with their evil which brought them so much fleshly pleasure. And surely all the attacks of the world upon the church are going to cost them much.

    It reminds us of drugs that at first give the flesh a pleasant, delightful sensation hut destroy the body and bring the dope addict to his grave. This is also so very true of sin no matter in what form or size it comes. The mockers and persecutors of God's church may have fleshly pleasure in this life; but they are dealing with a cup of God's wrath, and are opening the gates of hell and the lake of fire.

    Solomon in his wisdom, and God through him, in Proverbs 20:1 wrote: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Be wise and apply this also to sin. It is a mocker and raging, and those deceived by it are fools. Sin is like wine. It is a mocker that brings untold woe.

    Sin will give the flesh a good time for a few moments; but it calls for everlasting misery as its punishment. When the world attacks the church, it is not going to get away with it.

    Wisdom will move God's children to flee to the cross of Christ for refuge from the seed of the serpent, but also from their own sins into which they have fallen.

Read: Revelation 14
Psalter versification: 206:4

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 240
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 12:20-33
1 Kings 13:1-34
Acts 9:26-43
Psalm 132:1-18
Proverbs 17:6

****
Quote for Reflection:

It is a sad loss all round: a loss to the austere parent, who loses the cream of domestic joy in thus shutting out from his bosom the young prattler, who should make the sweetness of love spring, like honey, out of the rock itself; and a deeper, sadder loss to the child, who is every day cheated of its birth-right.  It is the climax of parental tact, when the faculty is possessed of letting one's self down into the very heart of childhood, in fresh and genial sympathy with all it finds there.  Such a parent governs easily and well, and governs almost without curb or rein.  --B.M. Palmer, "The Family"


June 15

GOD'S PRAISES JOYFULLY SUNG
Psalm 75:9,10

    A thankful heart will sing praises, as we saw. For to give thanks is to declare that someone has done something good. Therefore, having thanked God for His wondrous work of salvation, Asaph in Psalm 75:9,10 writes, "I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.''

    Because God, as the righteous judge, will punish all the enemies of His church, and in Christ has blotted out the sins of all His people so that He can, in His righteous judgment, bring them to everlasting glory,  Asaph will not question God's goodness but will praise Him.

    The child of God is not however, going to be idle. He will cut off the horns of the wicked.  He will not fight them with the arm of flesh, but he will fight the lie they   foster, and the sins in which they walk. This he will do in the assurance that God will exalt the horns of the righteous. In fact that is the wondrous work of God for which he praises Him.  But note the change of subjects. He will cut off the horns of the enemies, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted by God.

    Our versification expresses this truth thus:

    The God of Israel I will praise
    And all His glory show;
    The righteous He will high exalt
    And lay the wicked low.

    What a joyful praise that is! Asaph says that he will sing God's praises, and that means that it comes out of his heart. He began saying that he would declare these praises, and now quickly explains that he will sing them, so full of joy is his heart.

    Do that today and every day. In His church sing His praises but also before those who never go to church. Sing before them of God's wondrous work of saving us through the blood and Spirit of His Son. Such praise is the fruit and evidence that salvation has been begun in us, and that we will be exalted to the glory of His house of many mansions.

Read: Psalm 89:1-18
Psalter versification: 206:5

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 121
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 14
1 Kings 15:1-24
Acts 10:1-23
Psalm 133:1-3
Proverbs 17:7-8

****
Quote for Reflection:

By a faithful oabservance of Family-Worship, you will be employing a daily means towards the eternal salvation of your household.  No prayers, indeed, considered as so much work wrought, will effectually save those souls; but we know no means which tend more directly to this end, than domestic worship, and the duties to which it leads.  Are you willing to hazard so great a neglect?  ....Family-prayer is a duty of every householder, binding on him every day of his life....  Fly at once, with your household, to the throne of grace!  Cease to consider it as a matter of indifference, or an affair of variable custom.  The neglect is most serious.  It is your loss,and the loss of your offspring.
--James W. Alexander, "Thoughts on Family Worship"


June 16

STRENGTHENED TO WITHSTAND MOCKERY
Psalm 119:41, 42

    If you are a child of God, you have to one degree or another, and at one time or another, suffered mockery and ridicule. The gift of salvation makes a night and day difference between us and the world. Jesus once said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." This means that we ourselves will know by our works, and by our reaction to the mockery of the world, whether we in God's mercy have salvation begun in us.

    Now mockery, ridicule, derision, and sneering are not pleasant. And the child of God knows that, because he has only a small beginning of that new obedience, he can easily fall into hiding his faith to have a more pleasant life, or respond to the mockery in a sinful way. Therefore the psalmist prays in Psalm 119:41,42 , ''Let Thy mercies also come unto me, O Lord, even Thy salvation, according to Thy word.   So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word."  And we sing:

    Thy promised mercies send to me,
    Thy great salvation, Lord;
    So shall I answer those who scoff;
    My trust is in Thy word

    Now that which the psalmist prays for is not that he may be kept from that mockery and derision. Notice that he prays first for God's mercy, and calls it salvation. Plainly he wants to continue to walk publicly as a child of God before the unbelievers. And he wants to answer them, not for fleshly advantage, but in order that he may defend the truth and be a living witness of the God of his salvation.

    Consider also that to watch our tongue, and to be careful that we do not sin in our reaction to this ridicule and scoffing, we need the mercy of God. In fact, we need salvation.  In His mercy God must give us that part of our salvation that is called sanctification. We need the Spirit of Christ not only to encourage us, but to hold and keep us faithful no matter how fiercely we are ridiculed and mocked.

    We do trust in God's word, but only because of His mercy. And we will continue to be faithful only as He in His mercy continues the work of salvation in us.

Read: Psalm 119:41-46
Psalter versification: 326:1

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 233
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 15:25-34
1 Kings 17:1-24
Acts 10:24-48
Psalm 134:1-3
Proverbs 17:9-11

****
Quote for Reflection:

All were filled!  The entire gathering; the whole Church! And all were filled.         For the Holy Spirit always lays hold of the entire man, filling him according to his capacity, his mind and will and his desires, dwelling in his inmost heart…        What a tremendous, what a blessed change these men and women must have experienced when of a sudden they were translated from the old dispensation into the new, from the law into freedom, from servants to sons!  Is it a wonder that they spoke?  And shall we, then, not speak of the marvellous work of God?  He is our God forever!  The God of our salvation!”
                                              --Herman Hoeksema, on Acts 2:1-4


June 17

MOUTHS FULL OF THE TRUTH
Psalm 119:43,44

    When the unbelievers heap ridicule and scorn upon us, it is so easy to respond with sarcasm and with other sinful deeds. For that reason the psalmist asks God in Psalm 119:43, 44 , "And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in Thy judgments. So shall I keep Thy law continually for ever and ever."  This is in harmony with what we read in James 3:2 , ''If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body."  If there is one member of our bodies wherewith we sin, it is our tongue. And it is not only what we say, but often also what we fail to say that is sin.

    With our tongues we are ready to defend our own honor, rather than the honor of God. We come with our own words instead of coming, as Jesus did to the devil, with the written word of God. Or we remain silent instead of instructing the mocker in the truth of God's word. We all, therefore, do wisely when we pray these words of our versification:

    My hope is in Thy judgment, Lord;
    Take not Thy truth from me,
    And in Thy law for evermore
    My daily walk shall be.

    God must hold in our mouths His truth. Even as He must keep our hearts beating after they began months before we were born, so He must keep spiritual life in us by keeping the truth in our hearts and mouths.

    If God does this, we will walk in His commandments when we are ridiculed — and presently are persecuted by the world — no matter how severe that mockery may be. We will continue to hope, that is, wait in silence for Him to come in judgment on the evil doers that deride us.

    If, then, you are ridiculed, bring God's law to those who break that law. But be silent as far as trying to get even with them is concerned. Such trying to get even is not waiting for His judgment. And it is ceasing to walk in His law.

    Instead of doing that, pray God that He keep His truth in your mouth as well as in your heart.

Read: James 3
Psalter versification: 326:2

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 376
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 18:1-46
Acts 11:1-30
Psalm 135:1-21
Proverbs 17:12-13

****
Quote for Reflection:

"This work of conversion is most beautifully and accurately described in the Canons of Dordrecht, III, IV, 10-12, part of which we already quoted before. In Article 10 we read: "But that others who are called by the gospel, obey the call, and are converted, is not to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby one distinguishes himself above others, equally furnished with grace sufficient for faith and conversations, as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains; but it must be wholly ascribed to God, who as he has chosen his own from eternity in Christ, so he confers upon them faith and repentance, rescues them from the power of darkness, and translates them in to the kingdom of his own Son, that they may show forth the praises of him, who hath called them out of darkness into his marvelous light; and may glory not in themselves, but in the Lord, according to the testimony of the apostles in various places." We may note here that the article ascribes the whole of conversation to God. There is nothing of man in it. To say that conversion is the work of man, or partly the work of man, is Pelagianism. We may note that while the article emphatically speaks of conversion as the work of God, nevertheless also speaks of the fruit of that work in us, the fruit being the same as the purpose for which God works conversion in His people, namely, that they may show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light, and may glory not in themselves, but in the Lord. Further, it is also evident from this article that this work of conversion by God is rooted in, or based upon, eternal election. God chose them whom He converts. And none but the elect are ever converted. It is a work of God's sovereign grace, bestowed only upon those whom He has chosen in Christ. It consists in this, that God bestows upon His elect both faith and repentance, and that He translates them from the power of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son.  An Excerpt from "The Triple Knowledge"  in Lord's Day 33 by Rev. Herman Hoeksema


June 18

BLEST WITH THE BOLDNESS OF FAITH
Psalm 119:45,46

    That a man is bold and fearless before other men does not necessarily mean that he has the boldness of faith.  Boldly Korah, Dathan, and Abiram challenged Moses and Aaron.  And Gehazi lied boldly before his master, Elisha. But God punished them for works of unbelief.

    The boldness of faith is in us when God puts the truth of His word in our mouths. Then as the psalmist writes, after having written that he wanted God's word in his mouth, "And I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts. I will speak of Thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed" Psalm 119:45,46 .

    Walking at liberty means that his flesh does not hold him back in fear of ridicule and mockery. But more than that, the child of God blest with the boldness or faith, because he has a firm grip on God's word and can quote it freely, will be bold to witness to God's glory.  As we sing:

    And I will walk at liberty
    Because Thy truth I seek;
    Thy truth before the kings of earth
    With boldness I will speak.

    We do well to note that one must be well versed in the Scriptures. We must have something to say. And when we have a firm grip on God's word and see Him as our King, we will have no fear of earthly kings. They have power to imprison and kill, but the truth assures us that all is well. No worldly power can keep us from entering the kingdom of heaven with all its blessedness.

    How necessary then that we every day get a firmer grip on Gods word. How important is it not that we teach our children to commit to memory specific passages of Holy Writ, and that we also commit them to memory.

    Search the Scriptures. Look closely and daily at Christ our King of kings.  See Him in His glory and with the salvation He has prepared for us, and you have every reason not to be ashamed but to be bold before all men, no matter what political and physical power they have.

Read: Matthew 10:16-33
Psalter versification: 326:3

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 409
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 19:1-21
Acts 12:1-23
Psalm 136:1-26
Proverbs 17:14-15

****
Quote for Reflection:

William Hendrikson on Colossians 1:20 : "Harmony, accordingly, has been restored. Peace was made. Through Christ and his cross the universe is brought back or restored to its proper relationship to God in the sense that as a just reward for his obedience Christ was exalted to the Father’s right hand, from which position of authority and power He rules the entire universe in the interest of the church and to the glory of God."


June 19

 DELIGHTING IN GOD'S COMMANDMENTS
Psalm 119:47,48

    It is one thing to keep a law. It is quite a different thing to do with joy what that law demands. In fact, then it does not even seem like a law. And the question is whether we keep God's law because we must, or because we find delight in doing so.

    Then, too, it is one thing to demand something of some one else and quite another thing to find pleasure in doing so yourself. If then we find joy in doing what God's law sets forth, all the ridicule and derision the world heaps upon us will not stop us from doing what pleases God.  That was the case with the psalmist, and he expresses that in Psalm 119:47,48 in these words, "And I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto Thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in Thy statutes.''

    This we can do when we love God. Then we will also love His law. We will do what it demands because in love to God we want to please and serve Him. And note that the psalmist says twice that he loves God's law, which is impossible, if we do not love God. Not only must we not be ashamed of doing that which brings us ridicule; but we must want to continue walking in God's law because we delight in His commandments.

    In fact, if we love God, and therefore love His law, we will meditate in it to see how we can be more pleasing in His sight than we are at the moment. We will lift our hands, that is, stretch them out unto His commandments, even as we sing:

    The Lord's commands which I have loved
    Shall still new joy impart;
    With reverence I will hear Thy laws
    And keep them in my heart.

    If ridicule and mockery make us stop keeping God's law, we may not say that we love God, but we show love for our flesh and seek to please ourselves, rather than striving to please God.

    Look then in the mirror of God's law. Do you see one interested in pleasing God? Do you find one who wants to pray, "Take not the word of truth out of my mouth"?

Read: James 1:13-27
Psalter versification: 326:4

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 140
Why not sing along?

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 20
1 Kings 21:1-29
Acts 12
Acts 13:1-15
Psalm 137:1-9
Proverbs 17:16

****
Quote for Reflection:

Herman Bavinck: "Scripture knows no independent creatures ... God cares for all his creatures: for animals ( Gen 1:30 ; 6:19; 7:2; 9:10; Job 38:41 ; Pss. 36:7; 104:27; 147:9; Joel 1:20 ; Matt. 6:26 , etc.), and particularly for humans. He sees them all ( Job 34:21 ; Ps. 33:13 , 14; Prov. 15:3 ); fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds ( Ps. 33:15 ; Prov. 5:21 ); they are all the works of his hands ( Job 34:19 ), the rich as well as the poor ( Prov. 22:2 ). He determines the boundaries of their habitation ( Deut. 32:8 ; Acts 17:26 ), inclines the hearts of all ( Prov. 21:1 ), directs the steps of all ( Prov. 3:21 ; 16:9; 19:21; Jer. 10:23 , etc.), and deals according to his will with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth ( Dan. 4:35 ). They are in his hands as clay in the hands of a potter, and as a saw in the hand of one who pulls it ( Isa. 29:16 ; 45:9; Jer. 18:5 ; Rom. 9:21, 21 ) " (In the Beginning, p. 230).


June 20

SAVED BY GOD'S NAME
Psalm 54:1,2

    Well may we ask, ''What is there in a name?" Our names seldom say what we truly are. Mr. Long may be far shorter than others in his age group and race. Mr. Brown may have white skin, and a man named Daniel — which name means "my judge is God" — may be a man who walks in a way that reveals anything but trust in God as his judge.

    But when we consider God's name, we must insist that He is everything that His name declares. He is the Almighty One, the self-sufficient Jehovah Who needs nothing and no one outside of Himself. And He is Lord and must not simply be called such.

    It is for that reason that David in Psalm 54:1, 2 writes, "Save me, O God, by Thy name, and judge me by Thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth."  For there is nothing and no one from whom He cannot save us. David uses His name Elohim here, which means the Almighty One. That not only makes our prayer wise, but it gives us the confidence that God can save us.

    Therefore our versification has it thus:

    O save me by Thy name
    And judge me in Thy might;
    O God now grant my urgent claim,
    Acceptance in Thy sight.

    And the salvation for which David prays is not merely from the enemies of flesh and blood, but also from Satan and his host, and thus also from the power and love of sin that holds us as we are by nature, and because of which we deserve to be judged worthy of the same punishment as that to be given to Satan, the fallen angels, and all unbelievers.

    But consider that God's name also is Savior. And when we pray to Him to save us and judge us by His name, we are asking for the benefits of the cross of Christ, namely the full blotting out of our sins.  Then we need not fear God's wrath, nor anything Satan and his host can do to us.

    Never, then, no never forget in your prayers to ask for salvation from sin. And never, no never approach the almighty God in any other way than through His Son, Who earned the right of salvation for us.

Read: Psalm 54
Psalter versification: 147:1

Daily  Meditations
 
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 28
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:


1 Kings 22:1-53
Acts 13:16-41
Psalm 138:1-8
Proverbs 17:17-18

****
Quote for Reflection:

“Once more the sword of the world-power shall be turned against the saints of Christ.  They shall be killed.  And besides, they shall be allowed no room in that empire of Antichrist.  Social and economic outcasts they shall be.  In the literal sense of the word they shall be cast out. For they shall not be allowed to buy or sell unless they worship the beast and his image.  All this will literally be realized in the period of the Antichristian dominion.  No one can escape this persecution.  And hence, there will be great tribulation, such as the world has never seen before.                     Herman Hoeksema
 


Return to the list of meditations.
Last modified, 28-Apr-2007