THANKFUL FOR EVERY BENEFIT
Psalm 103:2
An athlete makes a name for himself by the records he breaks and the amazing statistics that his activities produce. The Lord, our God, however, does not make a name for Himself. He does reveal His name to us in wonderful works; but He competes with no one, does not develop in skills and abilities. He is today what He eternally is. His name, therefore, is eternal and eternally the same. That name is holy because it is set apart from all other names of creatures, since of Him, through Him, and unto Him are all things. He is high above all creation.
David, in Psalm 103:1, tells us to bless His name, and then in verse 2 continues: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Here he brings us another amazing truth, namely, His name declares Him to be the one from Whom all that we are and have came. Name something you have that pleases you — it came from God, and you have a reason to bless and thank Him. You just cannot mention an earthly object that you have that did not come from Him. Every day and every minute of your life came from Him, and calls for you to bless Him.
We avoid this and fail to do so. We have joyful experiences. We have much that we call benefits. But we fail to see God in them. Sometimes we will utter a few hasty words of thanks: but the moments wherein we have this joyful experience are hundreds of times more than those in which we blessed God for giving them to us. Or the experience itself is so delightful that God, the Giver, never enters into our thoughts. Well, then may we listen to the psalmist as he writes and we sing:
O praise and bless the Lord, my soul,
And ever thankful be;
Forget not all His benefits
He has bestowed on thee.
Learn these words. Commit them to memory and put them into practice. There is a reason why David begins the first two verses with the call to bless the Lord, and then ends the Psalm with the last three verses also exhorting not only angels but all His works to bless the Lord. There is so much for which to bless God and so much that reveals that His name is holy as our Great benefactor.
Read:
Psalm 104
Psalter versification: 277:2
(Words and Music of
the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
****
Song for Meditation: Psalter number
233
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Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
****
Isaiah
37;
Isaiah 38:1-22
Galatians 5:13-26
Psalm 64:1-10
Proverbs 23:24
Quote for Reflection:
"As long as we consider the things of this present life, the success and progress, the advancement and the prosperity of the wicked well-doer, as blessings of God upon him, gifts of His grace which the Most High bestows upon him in order that he should enjoy them for a time; as long as we separate the things of this present time from their eternal purpose and end, we shall never understand that even the reward of the wicked well-doer is a curse. But as soon as we see all things in their true light and relation, this becomes very clear. For, when the wicked well-doer is successful, increases his wealth, enlarges his place, gains in power and influence, he merely enhances his obligation to serve God. For the things of this present time are God’s capital, entrusted to us, placing us under the obligation to serve and glorify the Most High with it all. But the wicked cannot and will not employ all things in His service. To him the things of this present time are means to satisfy the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. And, therefore, the more he increases his substance and position, the greater sinner he becomes, the more he aggravates his judgment, the severer will be his eternal punishment" (The Curse-Reward of the Wicked Well-Doer, p. 19). -- Herman Hoeksema
BLEST WITH THE BASIC BENEFIT
Psalm 103:3
As the saying goes: "First things come first." We can err in that respect and often fail to mention or list first what ought to be brought to the attention of our hearers. But God never slips or makes mistakes. Having been told that, we should bless Him for all the benefits which He bestowed upon us, He now in verse 3 of Psalm 103, through David, lists first of all the benefit of the forgiveness of our sins.
There just is no benefit as important as that one. If we do not receive it, we cannot be given the healing of our diseases; we cannot be redeemed from destruction, be crowned with loving kindness and tender mercy, have our mouths satisfied with good things and our youth renewed like the eagle's. We sing correctly:
He freely pardons all thy sins,
And He is strong to save:
He heals thy sickness, soothes thy pain,
And ransoms from the grave.
In the forgiving of our sins our salvation is begun. If God does not give us this benefit we have no right to any benefit of any kind. God may and does give men food and drink, life and talents, joyful experiences and the like. He gives life and talents also to the devil and his host. But these are not blessings to them, and therefore are not benefits. They are that which they must receive to do what God decreed in His counsel that they should do; but we err if we think that these are works of His loving kindness and tender mercies. Unless He forgives our sins, what He gives us is not a work of His grace. His grace falls only on those whose sins are blotted out by the blood of Christ. There just is no legal basis for the righteous God to bestow His grace on those whose sins are not blotted out.
Since He does forgive our sins, giving us that very important benefit, we surely should bless His name. Forget not all His benefits: but, by all means, do not forget that tremendous gift of forgiveness. You just cannot bless Him too much for that!
Read:
Romans 5
Psalter versification: 277:3
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
****
Song for Meditation: Psalter number
376
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Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
****
Isaiah
39;
Isaiah 40;
Isaiah 41:1-16
Ephesians 1:1-23
Psalm 66:1-20
Proverbs 23:25-28
Quote for Reflection:
“After having roused us to the struggle by the consideration of the enemy, and entirely removed every apology for slothfulness, He again confirms and strengthens our mind by reminding us of the King, whom we faithfully serve, and by showing that He is more powerful than all. THINE, he says, IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY. If the kingdom is His, we have nothing to fear, there being none that can oppose it, or wrest from Him the government. When He says, Thine is the kingdom, He shows that our antagonist is also subject to Him, although, so far as God permits, he makes opposition. For he is one of the number of God’s servants, though he belongs to the guilty and wicked; and he will not venture, in a single instance, to attack a fellow-servant, till he has received power to do so from the Lord of all.” (Chrysostom)
ADDED REASONS FOR BLESSING GOD'S NAME
Psalm 103:3-5
With our iniquities forgiven, because Christ suffered the punishment which we deserve, and performed the works of love we failed to bring to God, we may and must bless God "Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psalm 103:3-5). And we can sing:
He heals thy sickness, soothes thy pain,
And ransoms from the grave.
He crowns thee with His grace and love,
And with His strength endued,
Thou mountest up with eagle's wings,
Thy joyous youth renewed.
Add it all up! Let the fact of it all sink deeply into your soul, and you will understand David's words in verse two, namely, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."
Do we really have to be exhorted to do this? Do we forget these benefits? Yes, that is the sad truth of the matter. We so often fail to see God's holy name. His name Savior is far out of our minds so often. We look rather upon Him as our servant. We are so eager to have Him serve us in healing our diseases, keeping our lives from destruction, making us taste His tender mercy, and in the twilight of our lives to have our youth renewed. That matter of the forgiveness of our sins is so often so far removed from our thoughts. The truth that He is our Savior in Christ and forgives our sins fails to make us bless His name.
Urgent and important then it is that we be exhorted to bless His name in our prayers, and not simply in them to ask for benefits. Did Jesus not teach us to begin our prayers with, "Hallowed be Thy name"? Is this not to control our prayers for bread?
Examine your prayers, and if they lack blessing His name, and contain only requests for things of this life, by all means, change them! Make it an important element in your prayers that you request the ability and desire to bless His name, and that your spiritual life be renewed so that you may soar high in blessing His name.
Read:
Exodus 15
Psalter versification: 277:3,4
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
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Heidelberg Catechism
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Song for Meditation: Psalter number
409
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Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Isaiah 41:17-29;
Isaiah
42;
Isaiah 43
Ephesians 2:1-22
Psalm 67:1-7
Proverbs 23:29-35
****
Quote for Reflection:
On the expression “thine they were” in John 17:6 Rainsford writes: “’Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.’ He is not speaking of the heavens given to Him; of the earth given to Him; of the thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers, and crowns given to Him; but ‘Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.’ Given to Him to be His charge, doubt not He will take care of them; given in trust to Him, He will keep them, He will teach them, He will qualify them, He will clothe them, He will wash them, He will present them without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, to the everlasting praise of the glory of His love.”
A PARTICULAR BLESSEDNESS
Psalm 103:6,7
The day is coming when the antichrist will rule the whole world. Then those that believe in Christ will be oppressed with starvation, not being able to buy or sell (Rev. 13:15-17). They will, however, have every reason in that day to sing:
The Lord will judge in righteousness
For all that are oppressed;
To all His saints His gracious acts
And ways are manifest.
God Himself through David wrote this in Psalm 108:6,7 in these words: "The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel."
We may note, however, how particular God's love and grace are. Israel was oppressed by Egypt. Therefore "all that are oppressed" does not include those that oppress, namely the Egyptians. God's love and grace come not to all men. He does not love everybody; and His grace is only upon those that belong to Christ. Christ is The Israel. That name means Prince of God, and Christ is The Prince of Peace. The "children of Israel" then are the children of Christ, the believers.
What is more, "the Lord executeth righteousness and judgment." That means that those who are not judged to be righteous in Christ are guilty and worthy of everlasting punishment. They may not have God's love and grace for even one minute.
It is true that all men are oppressed, being under the curse because of Adam's sin. But here is a special oppression. Israel was oppressed by Egypt, and Egypt was not under this oppression. So it is that, as Jesus said, "I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:14,15). He died for the oppression of a particular group of people. God's love and grace are only for them.
Let us then bless God for that cross of Christ. Because of it, God judges us to be righteous; and then the first benefit, namely the forgiveness of our sins, was realized. Now, out of it all the blessings of salvation flow. Do not forget to bless God for this particular blessing of being made righteous in Christ.
Read:
John 10:1-30
Psalter versification: 277:5
(Words and Music of the
Psalter)
Daily Meditations
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the
Heidelberg Catechism
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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 140
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Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Isaiah 43:14-28;
Isaiah
44;
Isaiah 45:1-10
Ephesians 3:1-21
Psalm 68:1-18
Proverbs 24:1-2
****
Quote for Reflection:
… Peter’s tears, which he shed in secret, testified before God and the angels that his repentance was true; for, having withdrawn from the eyes of men, he places before him God and the angels; and, therefore, those tears flow from the deep feelings of his heart. This deserves our attention; for we see many who shed tears purposely, so long as they are beheld by others, but who have no sooner retired than they have dry eyes. Now there is no room to doubt that tears, which do not flow on account of the judgment of God, are often drawn forth by ambition and hypocrisy. – John Calvin
THE MEETING OF MERCY AND TRUTH
Psalm 103:8
The judge may be full of pity for a man whom he must sentence; but he may not in any way and to any degree minimize the sentence that the law of the land requires. If he does, he is breaking the law and deserves to be punished. There is then only one explanation for the seeming contradiction which David wrote in Psalm 103:6-8. He wrote that God executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. And now in verse eight he adds, "the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy."
Bear in mind that although the Israelites were taken from underneath the bondage and oppression of the Egyptians, these Israelites soon showed all manner of sins and deserved to be cast into the greater oppression of hell fire. How then could the psalmist speak of the God of righteousness and judgment being gracious and plenteous in His mercy toward them?
Really there is no contradiction here. The cross of Christ stands between those two facts and truths. Yea, the cross stands between God and these sinners of Israel who are dealt with in tender mercy and in abundant grace.
Because Christ was our covenant Head, God poured out upon Him all the punishment that we deserve. Seeing us in Him God, in strictest righteousness and judgment, declared that all the punishment which we deserve was fully suffered. Not the slightest fraction of the punishment the law required was withheld. Because of this God can in righteous judgment deal with us graciously and mercifully. It is so very true that:
The Lord is ever merciful
And unto anger slow;
His loving-kindness and His grace
In rich abundance flow.
We can and must say that God's mercy and grace are upon us, not in spite of His righteousness and judgment, or contrary to them, but due to that righteousness and judgment.
Bless His name then for that cross of Christ, in whom mercy and truth are met together and righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Read:
Psalm 85
Psalter versification: 277:6
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
****
Song for Meditation: Psalter number
28
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
****
Isaiah 45:11-25;
Isaiah
46;
Isaiah 47;
Isaiah 48:1-11
Ephesians 4:1-16
Psalm 68:19-35
Proverbs 24:3-4
Quote for Reflection:
“It is well, therefore, that we never forget the proper place of the law in Reformed preaching. I always must serve only as a rule for a life of thankfulness to God for the great salvation which He has sovereignly wrought in Christ Jesus, and equally sovereignly bestowed upon His people. The effect of the preaching of the law may never be that the people of God attempt to add to the righteousness which they have in Christ, and that they begin to imagine that their own good works have anything to do with their salvation, except as a fruit of thankfulness wrought by the grace of God in their hearts. The righteousness of Christ is perfect. No one can ever add to it. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved. Such is the truth. No preaching of the law can or ever may detract from that truth. ...The fruit of such preaching is rather, in the first place, a deepening of the knowledge of sin and a more earnest appreciation by faith of the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, in Whom we have reconciliation and the forgiveness of sin and perfect righteousness. ...Secondly, the proper preaching of the law has through the grace of God a sanctifying influence upon the Christian.” -- Herman Hoeksema
GOD'S ABIDING LOVE AND GRACE
Psalm 103:9, 10
The child of God may be thankful and bless God's name when God is angry with him and chides him in His anger. Anger does not always mean hatred. Parents who love their children become angry, when the children walk in sin, exactly because they love them. Anger can very well mean that you love the person whom you chide. Listen to what David wrote in Psalm 103:9: "He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever." Take note also of our versification that sings:
Yea, the Lord is full of mercy
And compassion for distress
Slow to anger and abundant
In His grace and tenderness.
He will not be angry alway,
Nor will He forever chide;
Though we oft have sinned against Him
Still His love and grace abide.
You see, to chide is to reprove, rebuke, or admonish, and it is that work of God's mercy whereby He corrects us and improves our spiritual lives. He is angry when we sin. He is displeased. But because of what Christ did for us "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us after our iniquities" (verse 10). He does not chide us because He hates us. His love for us moves Him to chide and correct us.
But get this and let it comfort you when He rebukes you in your sins: The day is coming when He will no longer chide us, for He will have brought us, with a body completely delivered from the power of sin, before His face in glory. Now already He has blotted out all our sins; but He will also take from us our old man of sin, with which we fall so easily into sin. That makes rebukes necessary. But the moment we die, all need for chiding is gone. Then we will never see His anger again, and instead will see the smile on His face. And fully we will experience all this in a resurrected, spiritual body that has no sin. He will not always chide. We will be sinless and pleasing in His sight.
Our sins were blotted out in His love. Bless Him for that! But bless Him also for rebuking you when you fall into sin. It means that He intends to bring you to sinlessness and a richer taste of His love in a sin-free creation.
Read:
Psalm 145
Psalter versification: 280:3
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
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the
Heidelberg Catechism
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Song for Meditation: Psalter number 125
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Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Isaiah 48:12-22;
Isaiah
49;
Isaiah 50:1-11
Ephesians 4:17-32
Psalm 69:1-18
Proverbs 24:5-6
****
Quote for Reflection:
The Power of Sin: “…the sun shining into a neglected room does not create the dust and cobwebs, but simply reveals them. Thus it is with the Christian. The more the light of the Spirit is turned upon him inwardly, the more he discovers the horrible plague of his heart (1 Kings 8:38), and the more he realizes what a wretched failure he is. The fact is, dear discouraged soul, that the more you are growing out of love with yourself, the more you are being saved from the power of sin. Wherein lies its fearful potency? Why, in its power to deceive us. It lies to us. It did so to Adam and Eve. It gives us false estimates of values so that we mistake the tinsel for real gold. To be saved from the power of sin, is to have our eyes opened so that we see things in God’s light: it is to know the truth about things all around us, and the truth about ourselves. Satan has blinded the minds of them that believe not, but the Holy Spirit hath shined in our hearts "unto the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:4, 6).” -A. Pink
IMMEASURABLE MERCY
Psalm 103:11,12
Man has gone far into outer space and found ways to measure the distance from the earth to heavenly bodies that are far, far away. But man cannot tell us how far space extends beyond the farthest star that he has measured. Much less can he measure God's mercy. It is as big as God is; and He is infinite. Never is it possible that the church will run out of mercy from God. Nowhere can we go and be cut off from it. As David states it in Psalm 103:11: "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him."
This mercy is so great because, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us" (verse 12). Consider the fact that you can go eastward as far as you want; but you will not get one step closer to the west. The earth is a globe, so that if you travel eastward you will always be facing eastward no matter how far you go. So it is also that you will never reach a point where you will again come in contact with your sins that God took away by the blood of His Son, Christ our Savior.Well may we daily sing these words of our versification:
As heaven is high above the earth,
So great His mercy proves;
As far from us as east from west
He all our sin removes.
It is for that reason that we can be so sure that we are redeemed from destruction, and that all the benefits David listed in the first part of this Psalm are everlastingly ours in Christ. Because we can never reach these sins, which He took off our backs, and no one else can find them and attach them to us once again, we can be sure of the immeasurable mercy of God being upon us everlastingly.
Remember that truth when you get aches and pains, bereavements and persecutions, losses and disappointments. God's mercy is still there. These do not come as punishment upon your sins. That lofty mercy is polishing you, working all things together for your good so that you may be lifted to a glory you can never measure. Bless God's name for that truth and comfort.
Read:
II Corinthians 4
Psalter versification: 277:8
(Words and Music of
the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
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Song for Meditation: Psalter number
428
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Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Isaiah
51;
Isaiah 52;
Isaiah 53:1-12
Ephesians 5:1-33
Psalm 69:19-36
Proverbs 24:7
****
Quote for Reflection
Christian Warfare: “Believers are plainly taught to use active personal exertion, and are addressed as responsible for doing energetically what Christ would have them do, and are not told to 'yield themselves' up as passive agents and sit still, but to arise and work. A holy violence, a conflict, a warfare, a fight, a soldier's life, a wrestling, are spoken of as characteristic of the true Christian." -J. Ryle
FEARING BUT NOT AFRAID
Psalm 103:13
It might seem strange that in Psalm 103 David mentions all the benefits that God's loving kindness and mercy be stow upon us, and then states in verse 13: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him."
Why should we fear the God Whose mercy is as high as the heavens and has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west? Is our versification right when it sings thus?
The tender love a father has
For all His children dear,
Such love the Lord bestows on them
Who worship Him in fear.
That word worship seems to modify things a bit. But we still have that word fear. Why fear God when He does all this for us? Well, we are not afraid of God with Christ and His cross standing between us and God. Our guilt is all gone! And He loves us in Him. But the fear that is here meant is the fear of reverence and awe. In the Old Testament Scriptures the word fear is used so very often as faith. Only twice — in Habakkuk 2:4 and in Deuteronomy 32:20 —will you find the word faith. Amazing is it not? It is those who believe in Him Whom God pities as a father pities his children.
While we are still in this vale of tears God pities us because our sins are blotted out by His Son. But we still live where the curse rests since Adam's sin. We have sicknesses and pain, bereavements and losses, enemies and persecution. In all this God pities us, and our faith in Him is a sign to us that He pities us and that in that pity He is going to remove the curse completely from us, That faith or fear means that we have already been born again, begotten unto a lively hope.
Being the holy, unchangeable God, His pity far outshines that of a human father. We have, therefore, no reason to be afraid that He will cast us into the lake of fire, but we can be sure that He will bring us into the curse-free, curseless new Jerusalem. We need not be one whit afraid of the day when Christ returns. That is the day of our glory, the day when all fear of His wrath is forever behind us.
Read:
Revelation 22
Psalter versification: 278:1
(Words and Music of
the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
****
Song for Meditation: Psalter number
375
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Isaiah
54;
Isaiah 55;
Isaiah
56;
Isaiah 57:1-14
Ephesians 6:1-24
Psalm 70:1-5
Proverbs 24:8
Quote for Reflection:
… In short, in order to walk uprightly, we must necessarily put away ‘respect of persons’, which obscures the light and perverts right judgment, as God frequently inculcates in the Law, (Deuteronomy 1:16;16:19,) and as experience also points out. - John Calvin
MERCY AMID MISERIES
Psalm 103: 15, 16
One thing in life that is sure is death. We do not know what day we are going to die. A particular disease may tell us that it will be soon. But death is not only all around us. It is in us. In Psalm 108:15, 16 we read: "As for man, his days are as grass: as the flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more."
This David wrote after stating that God knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. All this we sing beautiful ly in this versification:
The Lord remembers we are dust,
And all our frailty knows.
Man's days are like the tender grass,
And as the flower he grows.
The flower is withered by the wind
That smites with blighting breath;
So man is quickly swept away
Before the blast of death.
All this stands in connection with the truth that we are to bless God and remember all His benefits. But in that connection comes the comforting assurance, that rich truth, that like as a father pitieth his children, so God pities us.
Before us then is the blessed truth that our fading and withering does not hurt us but serves us. God knows our frame and that we are dust. Our afflictions do not surprise Him. He sends them, and at the right time sends us death. And He sent His Son into our death in order to bore a hole through it and the grave, so that we can be lifted up from this sin-cursed world and into His glorious kingdom. All this comes in lovingkindness and tender mercies.
Until the day we arrive in that glory, God does have compassion on us. He does not forget us. He sends no misery that is not necessary for our particular place in glory. Our light afflictions which are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (II Corinthians 4:17).
Read:
II Corinthians 4
Psalter versification: 278:2,3
(Words and Music of the
Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
****
Song for Meditation: Psalter number
278
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Isaiah 57:15-21;
Isaiah
58;
Isaiah 59:1-21
Philippians 1:1-26
Psalm 71:1-24
Proverbs 24:9-10
Quote for Reflection:
… the reason why God deals with such liberality towards us is, that we may be led to celebrate his praise; but at the same time he condemns our inconstancy, which hurries us away to any other object rather than to God. -- John Calvin
EVERLASTING MERCY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
Psalm 103:17
There can be no thunder without lightning, and no rainbow in the sky without sunlight. Similarly there can be no mercy for God to show us without a righteousness which He gave us in Christ. And both of these David mentioned in Psalm 108:17. He wrote: "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children."
David had said the same thing in Psalm 85:16 where he spoke prophetically of the cross of Christ. There he stated, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." Now righteousness is truth, and peace comes only in God's mercy, so that we may state it this way: "Mercy and righteousness are met together; at the cross of Christ they have kissed each other."
We do well to note that in Psalm 108:17 David made a contrast between the truth of God's mercy and righteousness and the fact that God knows that we are like grass that is here today and gone tomorrow. Our stay here is brief, while God's mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. And though we will soon be gone, God's righteousness will be on our children and grandchildren.
Beautifully we sing this truth as follows:
Unchanging is the love of God,
From age to age the same,
Displayed to all who do His will
And reverence His name.
Those who His gracious covenant keep
The Lord will ever bless;
Their children's children shall rejoice
To see His righteousness.
We will die sooner or later; but we will die in God's mercy. For that mercy is from everlasting to everlasting upon us. And in that mercy our children will be in the place we left behind and receive God's righteousness that is in Christ; and therefore also will be dealt with in God's mercy.
Be assured from God's word that His mercy will bring you to the everlasting blessedness that He has prepared for you. And that He will keep His covenant promises and also bring our children there.
Read:
Genesis 17:1-8
Psalter versification: 281:3, 4
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
****
Song for Meditation: Psalter number
400
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Isaiah
60;
Isaiah 61;
Isaiah 62:1-5
Philippians 1:27-30;
Philippians 2:1-18
Psalm 72:1-20
Proverbs 24:11-12
****
Quote for Reflection:
… We do not want to throw the lambs to the wolves. In the Christian school, we are preparing them for the inevitable conflict that is coming. There is a war going on. It is not a carnal war, not a war "after the flesh," as the apostle writes in II Corinthians 10: 3ff., but a war that is spiritual, a war that has to do with "imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God." It is a war of ideas; of thoughts: of doctrines; of teachings. These are the great issues and battlefronts: the sovereignty of man versus the sovereignty of God; the reign of Antichrist versus the reign of Jesus the Christ; the authority of man's word versus the authority of God's Word, Holy Scripture; a life of pleasure-madness versus a life of holiness; despair versus hope; the worship of the totalitarian State versus the worship of God, the Father of Jesus Christ. -- David Engelsma