Daily Meditations for October

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October 21

KNOWING THE POWER OF GOD'S WRATH
Psalm 90:10,11

    There were times when men lived to be hundreds of years old. Adam was 930 years old when he died. Methuselah reached 969, and Noah died when he was 950 years old. But after the flood, things changed quickly. Abraham did live until he was 175 years old, and Moses, even though he lived to be 120 yearn old, spoke the truth when in Psalm 90 he said, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow: for it is soon cut off, and we fly away," Psalm 90:10.

    But the question Moses then asks is an important one. In verse 11 he asks, "Who knoweth the power of Thine anger? even according to Thy fear, so is Thy wrath." We do well to note that the words "so is" are in italics, which means that they do not appear in the original Hebrew. A better translation is, "Who knoweth the fierceness of Thy anger and Thy wrath according to Thy fear?" The idea is that those who fear God, that is, have faith in Him, are aware of the fierceness of His wrath and can know the power of it and of God's anger.

    The unbelievers die, and sometimes take their own lives without fear, because they do not believe that there is a God Whom they will face, and to Whom they must give answer for all their deeds. They think that death is relief and ends all their miseries, rather than that by the power of God they will have to face awful, unending misery in the lake of fire. Therefore they continue in their sins and add to the punishment they are going to suffer.

    No, we must know the power of God's wrath; and we ought to sing:

    For threescore years and ten we wait,
    Or fourscore years if strength be great;
    But grief and toil attend life's day,
    And soon our spirits fly away;
    O who with true and reverent thought
    Can fear Thy anger as he ought?

    What folly the unbeliever displays! Stand in awe before that power.

Read: Psalm 39
Psalter versification: 245:5
 
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 200
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 37 ; Jeremiah 38:1-28
1 Timothy 6:1-21
Psalm 89:38-52
Proverbs 25:28

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Quote for Reflection:

"The Lord sitteth upon the flood..." (Psalm 29:10) No deluge can undermine the foundation of His throne. He is calm and unmoved, however much the deep may roar and be troubled. ..Far out on the wild waste of waters, Jehovah "plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm." Power was displayed in the hurricane whose course this Psalm so grandly pictures; and now in the cool calm after the storm, that power is promised to be the strength of the chosen. He who wings the unerring bolt, will give to His redeemed the wings of eagles; He who shakes the earth with His voice, will terrify the enemies of His saints, and give His children peace. Why are we so weak when we have divine strength to flee to? Why are we troubled when the Lord's own peace is ours?" Charles Spurgeon  


October 22

A WISE PRAYER
Psalm 90:12

    In the eyes of the world we seem foolish, because we deny ourselves so many pleasures that they seek and enjoy. They shake their heads when on the Sabbath we go to God's house to sing His praises and to meet Him in His word preached. To them life is way too short for man to cut himself off from worldly pleasures; and a good time here below should be gotten while we still can. Get out of life what you can!

    However, we are not fools but wise; and they are fools. For it is God Who through Moses teaches us in Psalm 90:12 to pray, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

    This is a very important prayer. We are desperately in need of being taught to number our days. No, we cannot count ahead to see how many we will still get. Nor do we need to count back to see how many we have had. But we should be taught to appreciate what a short time we have here below, and to be taught to live in the consciousness of the fact that this life's end means the beginning of another life. And that this one will be an everlasting life in heaven or in hell!

    Our present afflictions and impending death must show us the seriousness of the end of our life. We must know and believe that our present woes point to what we deserve, and that if it were not for God's mercy in Christ, we now have a foretaste of what is coming after death. We must then also count how valuable that cross of Christ is, and how much we need it, if we are going to have the joy of life with God in heavenly glory.

    Sing then this prayer as we have it versified in these words:

    O teach Thou us to count our days
    And set our hearts on wisdom's ways;
    Turn, Lord, to us in our distress,
    In pity now Thy servant bless;
    Let mercy's dawn dispel our night,
    And all our day with joy be bright.

    In sanctified wisdom make that your daily prayer.

Read: Psalm 14
Psalter versification: 246:1
 
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 245
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 39 ; Jeremiah 40 ; Jeremiah 41:1-18
2 Timothy 1:1-18
Psalm 90 ; Psalm 91:1-16
Proverbs 26:1-2

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Quote for Reflection:

Calvin on Psalm 139:17: "The Prophet has properly placed this righteousness after goodness, as being the effect of goodness. He also asserts that it extends to the children and children’s children, according to these words in Deut. 7:9, ‘God keepeth mercy to a thousand generations.’ It is a singular proof of His love that He not only receives each of us individually into His favour, but also herein associates with us our offspring, as it were by hereditary right, that they may be partakers of the same adoption. How shall He cast us off, who, in receiving our children and children’s children into His protection, shows to us in their persons how precious our salvation is in his sight?"

Calvin: "He who is envious of another will have the greatest difficulty in keeping out of some kind of trouble or quarrel with him" (Sermons on II Samuel, p. 125). 


October 23

UNDERSTANDING OUR AFFLICTIONS
Psalm 90:16

    It is not uplifting to watch men tear down an old decrepit building. It is far more interesting to see a new, well-constructed and beautiful new building rise up in its place. And Moses having given us a picture of the house in which our souls dwell, and how God, step by step, is breaking it down, now writes this significant prayer in Psalm 90:16: "Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children." That work, according to verse 14, is the work of God in Christ. For there he wrote: "O satisfy us early with Thy mercy." God's mercy is all in Christ. Apart from Him there is no mercy or grace of God.

    As Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:1, the earthly house in which we live, that is, our bodies, is being dissolved. For those outside of Christ this is in God's holy wrath. For those in Christ it is that work of God's mercy according to which He is building an everlasting and beautiful house for our souls, the new resurrected body.

    Seeing that work of God during our pilgrimage here below, we still have aches and pains and ultimately death. But with the eye of faith we understand and have joy during these miseries of this life and sing:

    O send the day of joy and light,
    For long has been our sorrow's night;
    Afflicted through the weary years,
    We wait until Thy help appears;
    With us and with our sons abide,
    In us let God be glorified.

    We can be sure that God will hear our prayers. We can be sure because He gave us the light of the face of Christ and His cross which blotted out our guilt. In His word which He moved men to write, and which all these years He preserved for us, we will see that when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, we will have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

    And we will see the glory of God as He in Christ glorifies us. Those bodies will be made so that they can and do reflect the glory of God. That is the ultimate purpose of our salvation. Glory must be to God in the highest. Our glory must be a reflection of His glory.

Read: II Corinthians 5
Psalter versification: 246:2
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 367
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 42 ; Jeremiah 43 ; Jeremiah 44:1-23
2 Timothy 2:1-21
Psalm 92:1-93
Proverbs 26:3-5

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Quote for Reflection:

Every true prayer is a trumpet against secularism and an opening of the door to the reality of the glory of the power of the risen Christ to flood into our entire situation.  The key to life’s meaning and the key to true prayer is God first, mankind second.    (D. Kelly) 


October 24

IN GLORY ESTABLISHED
Psalm 90:17

    The temple that Solomon built was a picture of the house that God is building and wherein He will dwell. That house is His church of which Christ is the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2:20. That house will be finished the day that Christ returns. Today God is cutting, shaping, polishing, and assembling the material He is pleased to use in building this house.

    This cutting, shaping, and polishing hurts. As Moses wrote in Psalm 90, we are filled with sorrow and fly away. For to no degree are we fit to be stones in God's holy temple. By nature we are not fit even for the lowest place in that house. Our bodies with their old man of sin must therefore be returned to the dust in order to be changed. It is in His mercy that God is changing us to bring us the glad days of life with Him in heavenly glory.

    However, we must bear in mind that in this house we will be lively stones, not dead, senseless, irrational beings. I Peter 2:5. The beauty of God is going to shine through our thinking, willing, and acting. Our speech will reflect God's glory. But our hands also will glorify God. All we do in the new Jerusalem will show forth God's glory and beauty. That is why what Moses wrote may be versified thus:

    So let there be on us bestowed
    The beauty of the Lord our God;
    The work accomplished by our hand
    Establish Thou and make it stand
    Yea, let our hopeful labor be
    Established evermore by Thee.

    Moses wrote it thus: "And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it." Psalm 90:17.

    Our works are going to be made firm. All that which we will do with our resurrected bodies will glorify God. All that which we will do in the new Jerusalem is going to glorify God consciously and willingly.

    How important it is that we make this our prayer as Moses made it his.

Read: I Peter 2
Psalter versification: 246:3
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 420
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 44:24-30 ; Jeremiah 45 ; Jeremiah 46 ; Jeremiah 47:1-7
2 Timothy 2:22-26 ; 2 Timothy 3:1-17
Psalm 94:1-23
Proverbs 26:6-8

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Quote for Reflection:

            It is the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous man that prevails. But what renders prayer “effectual”? Not its length, nor its vehemence, nor its eloquence, nor its passion, but simply the living sympathy which is established between the soul pleading in the closet, and the Savior interceding in the heavens.

            This is secured through the intervention of the Divine Spirit. He takes the desires which are in the heart of Jesus Christ, and works them into our hearts so that they become our desires.  He takes the plea which is upon the lips of the great Advocate above, and seals it upon our lips as our prayer in Christ’s blessed name. It is this sweet, but secret, correspondence between our head and ourselves that makes true prayer at all.  Aside from this, all is mere posture and the mutter of incantations. 


October 25

CALLING GOD'S COMMANDMENTS GOOD
Psalm 119:137,138

    When all goes well as far as our flesh is concerned, it is easy to say that God is good. When things go against our flesh, however, we find it difficult to thank and praise God for what has happened. There is a virtue of God which means that He is good, that we find very difficult to confess, even when things go well with our flesh.

    What the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:137-138 reveals this truth. We read: "Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and upright are Thy judgments. Thy testimonies that Thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful."

    That God is righteous means that He is good. He is ethically, morally good. There is no sin in Him. And there is no sin either in His law. In fact, that law reveals how righteous He is and how faithful He is to Himself. Our calling is to say by walking in His law that He is good. The minute we sin we say that God has not given us a good law, and thus there is evil in Him. When we sin we disagree with God as to what is good for us. Then we cannot honestly sing:

    O Lord, Thy perfect righteousness
    Is in Thy judgments shown;
    In Thy unchanging faithfulness
    Thy truth Thou hast made known.

    It is true that God's law is good for our neighbor. It keeps him from hurting or killing us, from stealing what is ours, and from putting us to shame. But that is not the whole picture. Our calling is to say that God's law is good for us to keep, and that it serves our spiritual good.

    In verse 140 the psalmist rightly called himself God's servant. That we are, and the good thing for a servant to do is to obey his master fully and always.. And if the life of Christ is in us we will see the good of God's law.

    Jesus said that to the devil when He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." That is a good reply, and serving God is a good work.

    Be careful then today so that you do not by sins say that God is not good and that you have a better idea of what is good.

Read: Psalm 119:137-152
Psalter versification: 338:1
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 380
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 48 ; Jeremiah 49:1-22
2 Timothy 4:1-22
Psalm 95 ; Psalm 96:1-13
Proverbs 26:9-12

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Quote for Reflection:

… yet a universal doctrine may be understood as taught here, — that if we desire to form our life aright, we must especially strive to restrain the tongue, for no part of man does more harm.  – John Calvin 


October 26

GREATLY TROUBLED SOULS
Psalm 119:139-140

    Are you jealous? Well, you should be. No, you may not be jealous of what your neighbor has. God's law, which is righteous, forbids us to covet anything the neighbor has. And the first table of the law forbids us to be jealous of God's glory. Our calling is to want Him to have all the glory.

    The word "zeal" in Psalm 119:139 in this sentence does mean to be jealous: "My zeal hath consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Thy words." That his jealousy consumed him means that the sins of the enemies destroyed his joy. And that explains why in the next verse he writes, "Thy word is very pure; therefore Thy servant loveth it."

    Now jealousy is exacting, exclusive devotion, intolerant rivalry. In that sense God says in His law that He is a jealous God; and we had better not forget that. He is exclusively devoted to His own glory and has a perfect right to be so devoted, for He is God, and there is no God besides Him. The psalmist's zeal or jealousy is his exclusive devotion to God's glorification. Therefore, seeing his enemies forgetting God's law takes from him all his joy. For he loves God. That he loves God is plain from the fact that he loves His word. You cannot love God and not love His law or word.

    Whether we believe that God is righteous and that His law is upright will manifest itself in how much we are bothered, and our joy is taken away, when we see God's law broken. If we are greatly disturbed we will sing these words:

    Because Thy foes forget Thy law
    My soul is greatly stirred;
    Thy servant loves the purity
    Of Thy most holy word.

    Now if the psalmist was touched that way in his day, what ought to be the case with us today? Sin has developed tremendously. And soon the Man of Sin will     appear. II Thessalonians 2:3.

    Search your soul today. Do all the sins both of the first and second table of God's law bother you? Stand before the mirror of God's law to see whether you love Him and sin troubles your soul.

Read: Romans 7
Psalter versification: 338:2
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 336
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 49:23-39 ; Jeremiah 50:1-46
Titus 1:1-16
Psalm 97 ; Psalm 98:1-9
Proverbs 26:13-16

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Quote for Reflection:

 … severe censors discover their own virulence, which they suddenly vomit forth against their brethren whatever curses they can imagine, after having in sweet strains offered praises to God. Were any one to object and say, that the image of God in human nature has been blotted out by the sin of Adam; we must, indeed, confess that it has been miserably deformed, but in such a way that some of its lineaments still appear. Righteousness and rectitude, and the freedom of choosing what is good, have been lost; but many excellent endowments, by which we excel the brutes, still remain. He, then, who truly worships and honors God, will be afraid to speak slanderously of man.       - John Calvin


October 27

AN HONORABLE HUMILIATION
Psalm 119:141-142

    Because we are inclined to forget that which does not interest us, we need to have certain things repeated. But even when we have not forgotten a truth, there are times when it needs to be stated again for emphasis. That is what the psalmist does in Psalm 119:142.

    He had in verse 138 written that God's testimonies are righteous and faithful. In verse 140 he wrote that God's word is very pure. And now in verse 142 he states, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth." To that we had better hold on with both hands. God's law is truth, is pure and ever faithful.

    If by God's grace you believe this and live according to that law of God, you can depend upon it that what he wrote in verse 141 will be true of you. He wrote, "I am small and despised; yet do I not forget Thy precepts."

    That word small has the idea of being humiliated. If we keep that word, as we find in the KJV, we must understand it as meaning that in the eyes of the unbelievers he is insignificant, a man they look down upon and therefore despise. Our versification has it thus:

    Tho' I am humble and despised,
    I strive Thy will to do;
    Eternal is Thy righteousness,
    And all Thy law is true.

    The question for us is whether that is the world's opinion of us. If we do not forget God's law and do walk in it before the world, we are going to be looked down upon as fools and despised as trouble makers. The question is whether we are eager to be extolled by the world, or to be pleasing in God's sight. It is a case of either. . . or.

    When humiliation and being despised because you walk in love before God is your lot, you have reason to rejoice. If this is not the case you must in love be rebuked.

    Our Savior was laughed at and hung in shame upon His cross because He loved God and His law. He was despised and spit upon, taunted and mocked. If you are born again with His life you can expect ridicule and shame, but also when He returns, elevation and honor before God.

Read: Isaiah 53
Psalter versification: 338:3
 
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 106
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 51 ; Jeremiah 52 ; Jeremiah 53
Titus 2:1-15
Psalm 99:1-9
Proverbs 26:17

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Quote for Reflection:

  … If you are very desirous to keep a law, Christ enjoins on you a law which you are bound to prefer to all others, and that is, to cherish kindness towards each other. He who has not this has nothing. On the other hand, he tells us, that, when every one compassionately assists his neighbor, the law of Christ is ‘fulfilled’; by which he intimates that every thing which does not proceed from love is superfluous. - John Calvin


October 28

UNDERSTANDING GOD'S TESTIMONIES
Psalm 119: 143, 144

    If the world looks down on you and despises you because you love God's commandments, and show this before their eyes, you may be sure that you are going to be troubled and have anguish. The psalmist experienced this and wrote in Psalm 119:143, "Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me: yet Thy commandments are my delight." One of the reasons why we have it so good for our flesh is that we do not show our faith in God as clearly as we should.

    Ask yourself how often and clearly your light shone yesterday before the world. Can the world tell by your speech and by your dress, by your actions and by what you refuse to do, that God's commandments are your delight? It is not simply a question of what you do outwardly. But do you delight in God's law?

    There surely is much room for us and great need that we pray with the psalmist: "Give me understanding, and I shall live" Psalm 119:144. For we must understand what the law of God means and requires of us in every circumstance of life, there is no denying of the fact that our lives today are so much more complicated than they were in the days of the psalmist. With magazines and books, radio and television, automobiles and airplanes we can do so much more, and the world is so much closer to us.

    So much that is called Christian today is actually anti-christian. So much is allowed by churches that was rightfully called sin in ages gone by and by those who did indeed delight in Gods law. We do indeed need to pray for understanding. Well may we sing:

    Delight amid distress and pain
    Do Thy commandments give:
    Thy word is righteous evermore,
    Teach me that I may live.

    The idea is that we live when we walk in God's holy law. Any works outside God's law are acts of spiritual death. And if we live in God's law now in this life, we have the assurance that we will have everlasting life in the kingdom of heaven when Christ returns. All our enemies will be far removed from us forever.

Read: II Corinthians 6    
Psalter versification: 338:4
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 276
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 51:54-64 ;   Jeremiah 52:1-34
Titus 3:1-15
Psalm 100:1-5
Proverbs 26:18-19

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Quote for Reflection:

Standing before God as beggars, we will find that He fulfills our every need, the greatest need being the knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ. Receiving this, you and I are blessed, yea, happy, for being poor in spirit we are eternally rich. — R. Miersma, The Standard Bearer, vol. 77, p. 4


October 29

A CRY FOR HELP
Psalm 119:145-146

The truth we must hold on to with all our might is the teaching of Scripture that salvation from beginning to end, in every part, and from every point of view, is God's work. That we must be saved means that even the desire for salvation is God's gift to us. We do not save ourselves from the lack of desire. No man can make us change our minds about salvation. God will have to do that. If we desire it, that is because God wrought the desire in us and gave us the life to do so.

    Scripture teaches us this in the words of the psalmist in Psalm 119:145-146 in these words: "I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord: I will keep Thy statutes. I cried unto Thee; save me, and I shall keep Thy testimonies." Or as we may sing this truth:

    O Lord, my earnest cry
   Thy listening ear has heard;
    With Thy salvation answer me,
    And I will keep Thy word.

    Did you notice that the psalmist states that if God saves him, he will keep His testimonies? The reason for this is that God said to Adam that the day he sinned he would die. He did die spiritually that day, and every one of his descendants comes into this world spiritually dead, Ephesians 2:1. God must begin salvation by implanting in us that seed of a new life, if there is going to be any salvation from the love of sin and the desire to serve God.

    It is important that we keep this in mind. We are often ridiculed, looked down upon, and despised for teaching this truth. But that is what God teaches.

    Always we need God's help for our salvation, as surely as we need His power to keep our hearts beating. Only God can make alive what has died.

    Every morning then pray that God will save you from sinning against Him in the day that lies ahead of you. Cry with your whole heart as the psalmist did. And when you do, be sure to thank Him for working that desire for salvation and its holy walk in you. He gives you the strength and desire to make this your prayer.

Read: Psalm 119:145-160
Psalter versification: 339:1
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 405
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Lamentations 1 ; Lamentations 2:1-22
Philemon 1:1-25
Psalm 101:1-8
Proverbs 26:20

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Quote for Reflection:

  "As long as this duty (catechizing) was faithfully performed by parents, the darkness of ignorance and idolatry were prevented, but as soon as it fell into neglect, error and vice must have been the consequence. ...And what upon earth is so worthy of time and pains as the knowledge of God's Word, and the doctrines of his wonderful love and grace?" A. Alexander


October 30

TIME FOR THE THINGS SPIRITUAL
Psalm 119:147-148

    As time passes by, words obtain new meanings. When the queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon we read in I Kings 10:2, "And she came to Jerusalem with a great train." Surely what we call a train today is quite different. So the word prevent, as used in Scripture, has a different meaning from what we have in mind when we use it today. To prevent, for us, is to keep from happening. In Scripture it has the meaning of the two words from which it comes, namely before and come. Thus when in Psalm 119:147-148 we read, "1 prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in Thy word. Mine eyes prevent the night watches that I might meditate in Thy word," a better translation would be, "I came before the dawning of the morning and cried: I hoped in Thy word. Mine eyes came before the night watches to meditate in Thy word."  The idea is that he filled the day as fully as be could in meditating in God's word and praying for understanding of God's law. Our versification has it thus:

    At early dawn I prayed,
    Thy promises my trust;
    At night I thought upon Thy word,
    Most holy and most just.

    What an example he sets here for us! In serious illnesses and when dangers arise we will pray. We may ask God to bless our food before we eat it and afterward give thanks to Him for it. But how often do we pray for a clearer understanding of what His law requires of us, and what our duty is in the particular present situation in which we find ourselves?

    We think that physical exercises are important for our bodies. There are times when we are convinced that we should have a vacation so that we can get from under the strain. But do we consider reading and studying God's word important? Do we want to see Christ and His blessings more richly? Is our newspaper and are our news casts more important than God's word? Do we spend as much time with God's word as with books and magazines?

    Truly we have a great deal to learn from the psalmist.

Read: Matthew 6:19-34
Psalter versification: 339:2
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
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Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 58
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Lamentations 3:1-66
Hebrews 1:1-14
Psalm 102:1-28
Proverbs 26:21-22

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Quote for Reflection:

"When, therefore, standing on Mount Zion, in the new Jerusalem, as the redeemed and sanctified people of God, we hear the name of Jehovah our God, a holy fear and reverence fills our hearts and minds. It is in that name that He has covenant fellowship with us. It is in the name of Jehovah Salvation, revealed unto us in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, that we approach Him, enter into His sanctuary, pour out our hearts before Him in prayer and supplication, praise and adore Him, seek our refuge in Him, and hope for His salvation. " Herman Hoeksema


October 31

A PRAYER FOR NEEDFUL QUICKENING
Psalm 119:150-151

    As the saying goes, "Forewarned is forearmed." If we knew that the enemy is planning to attack us, we can get ready to defend ourselves and will not be caught by surprise. And the more we know about the enemy and his plans the better we can prepare.

    For us today forewarned means that we are made aware of the fact that Satan intends to attack us through the antichrist. In fact it means that we are aware that already there are many antichrists (I John 2:18), even though he has not come yet in his last and most dreadful form. We do have a description of him in Psalm 119:150 where we read: "They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from Thy law."

        The word mischief means crafty, deceitful. And much there is today that calls itself Christian but is antichristian and is against Christ and His church, They come with teachings that corrupt the truth about Christ and why He came. They are far from God's law.

    We need to know the way to be protected against them. As the psalmist did, so must we cry out, "Hear my voice according to Thy loving kindness: O Lord, quicken me according to Thy judgment." For our only hope and only protection is God in His only begotten Son. We need to be quickened, that is, be kept spiritually alive and active. And God must perform this work upon us. He is our defense and our strength.

    It is important that we remember that all our spiritual life comes from God in His loving kindness, that is, in Christ and through His cross and Spirit. He implants a new life, but He must also keep it there and make it active. We must then pray for a needful quickening so that we continue to fight the good fight of faith.

    Our flesh wants to stop to escape ridicule, hardships, and persecution. We like to lay down our spiritual life for the advantage of our natural life. But be wise and follow the psalmist's example.

    Pray and sing these words:

    O hear me in Thy grace
     In mercy quicken me;
    The wicked plan to do me harm,
     But they are far from Thee.

Read: Psalm 144
Psalter versification: 339:3
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Daily  Meditations
 on the
Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 411
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Lamentations 4 ; Lamentations 5:1-22
Hebrews 2:1-18
Psalm 103:1-22
Proverbs 26:23

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Quote for Reflection:

R. C. H. Lenski: "Anything that is wrong in God’s sight grieves a heart that is full of love, not merely because the wrong hurts the one to whom it is done, but especially because God is displeased with the wrong and must punish the wrongdoer. Instead of rejoicing over the wrong, love grieves over the wrong ... Unrighteousness prevails where the heart has pleasure in it, loves it, and thus rejoices in it. There the love that Paul describes is absent. But where the heart ‘rejoices with the truth,’ embraces it gladly, finds pleasure in possessing it, there unrighteousness is driven out ... This love finds pleasure in every progress which the truth makes in the hearts of men, namely in every bit of their conduct which shows that they love and obey this truth." 


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Last modified, 05-Sep-2007