This special meditation has been prepared by PRC home missionary, Rev. Aud Spriensma.

Meditation on Job 19: 25,26

Confidence in the Midst of Calamities

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

Job was in the midst of calamities. In one day, everything was taken away. All his children died. His servants were killed or stolen. He had a dreadful disease in his body: an awful breath, he was skin and bones, sores all over his body. Job was an outcast of society. His wife told him to commit suicide, and his friends despised him as a terrible sinner. He is reproached and persecuted. Job was all alone! What a terrible condition.

But Job had hope. He made an amazing confession. “I know that my redeemer liveth!’ He knew that he suffered this at God’s hand even though he did not know why (vs. 6ff). Let’s look at Job’s confession.

“Redeemer”: the Hebrew word has the idea of a vindicator, one who takes up the cause for another. There are many examples of this in the Old Testament. If someone murdered a member of your family, you could appoint a person to avenge the blood that was taken. If a family was sold into slavery because of debts owed, one like a Boaz came so that the household of Naomi and Ruth could be freed from bondage. It was a near kinsman who took care of Naomi and Ruth by allowing them to glean in his fields. He would take their land and harvest the crops for them. He would marry Ruth, so that there would be children. Without children, the woman would be cut off from God’s promise and inheritance. In Boaz’s marriage, Naomi and Ruth had a rich lineage, resulting in the Christ.

There was nothing that Job could do to stop his calamity, persecution, rebuke, or the accusations made against him. He clung to the One who would vindicate him and his righteousness: God in Christ Jesus. Job clung to his righteousness in Christ. While the dark clouds of calamity swirled around him, he lifted his eyes heavenward. “I know that my redeemer liveth.”

“My redeemer lives!” What a confession. While Job saw his own death (“though after my skin worms destroy this body”), he saw that his redeemer lives. He saw two things by faith. First, he confessed the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Job’s faith was like the faith of Abraham, when Abraham was called to kill his only son, Isaac, he knew that God was able to raise his son back to life (Hebrews 11:17-19). Second, Job knew that this vindicator “shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.” Over against what Satan, Job’s so-called friends, or the world had to say, his vindicator would declare Job righteous in God’s court. This was Job’s hope. He had a vindicator who would pay for his sins, who would take up his cause. Although accused as a terrible sinner by his three friends, Job knew that one day the redeemer would stand as Judge, declaring him righteous. He would be declared righteous, not by his own works but by the work of his redeemer. By the grace of God, Job had faith in this redeemer: one who would take up his cause before God himself! It is the promised seed of the woman, promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. One would come who would pay the debt for his sins.

The beauty and significance of this confession is found in how personal it is. Job speaks of “my redeemer.” Not only is there a redeemer, but he is mine! He will stand up for me and vindicate me. That means that Job was certain that God declares him righteous. God is for Job even though his so-called friends and society were against him. Notice the words, “I know that my redeemer lives.” “I know!” Not, “I think so” or “I hope so.” There is no certainty in that at all. Can you say, “I know that my redeemer lives”? Surely, if Job who lived in the time of types and shadows could have this certainty, how much more can we who have the completed Scriptures and who live after the fact of Jesus’ birth, suffering, death, and resurrection! “I know that my redeemer lives.” No ifs, buts, or perhaps; that would surely rob us of peace and comfort!

Job, facing his own death had the certainty of life afterwards. “And though after skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” They say that there are only two certainties in life: taxes and death. But for the child of God, there is the certainty of life after death. We shall see God. How? God is Spirit and therefore invisible. The answer is that we shall see God in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ. We shall dwell in his beauty and love and fellowship. Is this what you desire?

Job did not know why God had so afflicted him. You and I should not ask, “Why are these troubles coming to me? Why does God allow or cause it?” Know this, child of God; affliction is for our profit. By it, God is testing us. He is also weaning us from this life and all it has to offer, to the world which is to come. He is saying to us, “Look to me.” We are taught to live as those who desire to see God’s face. When is the last time that you have included in your prayers the petition, “Come Lord Jesus, yea, come quickly”?

I know my Redeemer lives. Therefore, I shall see God! This statement shows the indestructible nature of true, saving faith. In the midst of circumstances that Job did not understand, he nevertheless fell back on the most basic truth of the gospel: his redeemer lives! Redemption brings to mind the glorious truth that the Christian is owned by God, purchased with his own blood, declared righteous with the righteousness that God freely gives to him by grace alone through faith. Can you say, “I know that my Redeemer lives”?

This special meditation has been prepared by PRC home missionary, Rev. Aud Spriensma.

Meditation on Numbers 14: 1,2

Murmuring or Singing?

“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured...”

God’s people were standing at the border of Canaan, the promised land! This was a time for celebration and praise to the God who had delivered them from the bondage of Egypt and led them through the wilderness. They were right on the border of blessing. But they were faced with another crisis of faith. The twelve spies had returned from the land with vivid proof that the land was all God had promised it would be.

There was a majority report and a minority report. The majority report of the ten made no mention of God. Rather they reported: “The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitant thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

The minority report declared: “the land that we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it unto us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.”

Both reports acknowledged that the land will only be taken by fighting and conquest. Certainly, it would not be easy to conquer the land. It was not lying there vacant, ready to be taken. There were many and strong people there, and Israel could not simply walk in and possess it. They would have to fight. (In reality, there was no need for the spies to scout the land, but we read in Deuteronomy 1:21,22, when Moses set before the people the land that the LORD had promised them, they demanded of Moses to send men before them to search out the land. This was in itself an act of unbelief.) The first report was evil, because it was given with an evil purpose and great exaggeration. The report of the majority of the spies intended to impress one thing on the minds of the people. “We be not able to go up against the people” (Numb.13:3). It did not take into account the power of the unseen God. It did not remember the mighty deliverance out of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the manna that fell from heaven, or the many deliverances the Lord had given them. The manna was still there, as was the cloud that still overshadows them by day or that blazes above them by night. We read that all the congregation cried, all of the people wept, all the children of Israel murmured. Theirs was the sin of self-pity, unbelief, and disobedience. They wish to die in the wilderness, or go back to the bondage of Egypt.

In contrast was the faith of men like Joshua and Caleb over against the unbelief of the rest of the children of Israel. We read “all the congregation cried” and “all the children of Israel murmured”. Of course, this does not refer to every individual. We know that there were those who did not murmur. There is always a small remnant such as those like Joshua and Caleb whose voices are drowned out by the noise of the whole. They speak of the glory and sureness of God’s promise and His help in the battles to come. For victory comes only by way of struggle and fighting. “They took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us…The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes” (Deut. 1:25,30). There was no need for fear or dismay, no reason to weep and wail. They were near the promised land. God was with them; he had fulfilled all his promises! Over against the lies of the ten spies, Caleb and Joshua bore witness to the truth. They warned the people not to rebel against the LORD. “The LORD is with us.”

Dear reader, do you today murmur in unbelief or sing praises in faith? What is your response when forced to stay home, or not able to work, or perhaps seeing your stock portfolio crumble? We are near the land of promise, heaven. Jesus is coming, coming soon. In the world, we can expect tribulation and trouble. The victory is gained not without a fight, the battle of faith. How are you dealing with the trial set before you? God is with His people. As He has so wonderfully delivered us in the past, led us all the way through our wilderness, do you cling and believe His promise? We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. We have a greater leader than Moses or Joshua. Our Lord Jesus has conquered sin, Satan, and death by His own death on the cross. He will give us the good land flowing with milk and honey! Sing and shout His praises. Stand firm in unwavering faith and hope. The LORD is with us: fear not! Not murmuring but singing!

This special meditation has been prepared by PRC home missionary, Rev. Aud Spriensma.

Meditation on Psalm 4:6-8

Who Will Show Any Good?

“There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.”

Once again, a sharp contrast is presented in these verses! It is a contrast between many who seek happiness in the things of this world and the spiritual joy given to the godly. Which are you? The blind person, outside of Jesus Christ, ignorant of what is truly good, is filled with a longing and desire for earthly things: “their corn and their wine increased.” Corn and wine represent both what is necessary and that is luxurious in life. Therein they will be happy. Of these, the Psalmist says, “There be many who say, Who will show us any good?” Over against these, the godly join with one another seeking God’s favor and love. “LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.”

As we learn in our last meditation on Jer. 17:5-8, the green tree produces faith, joy, and peace. We see these three things in this Psalm. What is good? The person outside of Christ asks this in the midst of the necessities, trials, and difficulties of our lives. Have you asked this same question, perhaps in the political and economic upheavals these last months? Perhaps you were unable to work. You were unable to go to school or be involved in sports. You or a loved one were sick and laid up in the hospital, unable to have family with you. You are an aged person in a rest home, and the children and friends could not visit with you. “Who will show us any good?”

What do you mean by good? The Bible tells us that none but God are good. We read in Micah 6:8,” He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” There you have a definition of good. If you have that, you are happy now in our pilgrimage and in eternity.

Faith looks up. In contrast with the wicked looking all round them in the world, the child of God prays. “LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.” We desire and pray for the smile of God’s face in favor and love. But how can we experience that favor? We are not just, loving mercy, nor walking humbly with God. Instead, we are just the opposite. How can we be reconciled with this God? The answer is in one person whom God has given for us, his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of what God requires of a person. Jesus did justly all his life, never wavering. All of his life up to his hanging on the cross, he took the punishment for our sins and fulfilled all righteousness. Oh, how he loved and showed mercy, having compassion on the crowds who were like sheep without a shepherd. He has brought his sheep out of the pit of despair and set their feet upon the rock of ages. We hear Jesus say to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn thee. Go, sin no more.” Did you hear Jesus’ answer to the thief on the cross who cried, “Lord, remember me when thou comest to thy kingdom.” Jesus walked humbly with his God and cried out, “Not my will but thy will be done.” Our faith stands in our God in Christ Jesus.

What joy this gives us, even in the midst of difficulties and trials! “Thou hast put gladness in my heart.” The best that the world can give us is corn and wine, staples of a luxurious living. You can smile when you belly is full of food and your cup is full of wine, making glad the heart of man. But do not build anything on that gladness. It only lasts until the crops fail and the economy drops. When the LORD lifts our hearts with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then there is gladness that is overwhelming and eternal! It will fill all your real needs, even if the corn and wine fail.

We have peace. There is terrible anxiety in the hearts and lives of many today over their jobs, stocks, and future. They worry and worry and maybe cannot sleep at night. Those who have the light of God’s countenance upon them have peace. The Psalmist says, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. When you know that all your needs are fulfilled, you are at peace. If you know that God is for you, who then could ever be against you? God did not spare his only begotten Son but gave him up for me; what can then be against me? No, all things work together for good unto those that love God. We can sing:

“In God’s love abiding, I have joy and peace, More than all the wicked, though their wealth increase. In his care confiding, I will safely sleep, for the Lord my Savior, will in safety keep.” (Psalter #7, Stanza 3

This special meditation has been prepared by PRC home missionary, Rev. Aud Spriensma.

Meditation on Jer. 17:5-8         

In Whom Do You Trust?

“Thus saith the LORD; cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh the flesh his arm, and whose heart departed from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

What a sharp contrast is presented in these verses! It is a contrast between a person who trusts in man and his abilities and the person who trusts in Jehovah. It is the contrast between a brown lifeless shrub in the desert and a green fruitful tree planted by waters. It is a contrast between a person who is cursed by God and the person who is blessed by God.

Although the question is not stated, it is implied: “In whom do you trust?” This question demands a response. Jeremiah writes to the Old Testament church, Judah. In the threat posed by the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon, there were those who trusted in themselves or in the help of  the nation of Egypt. These were terrible times. Do you look to the arm of flesh, or do you look and trust in God’s mighty arm? We may ask in these current troublesome days the same questions. Do you trust in the economy, politicians, scientists, hospitals, health care, or government policies and handouts? Or do you rest and have confidence in Jehovah who is sovereign and does all things well? The question arises out of the text.

How foolish and weak is the arm of flesh. The economy changes. Governors and presidents can threaten or make promises. Scientists can maybe find a vaccine that works but also can create viruses that kill. Money can be given out by the government, but it is not free. It will have to come from somewhere, namely new taxes. The arm of flesh is sinful and mortal. The person who trusts in man is the one “whose heart departed from the LORD.” Do you see, there is no possibility of trusting in both man and God? It is either/or. It is a matter of taking our eyes off from the LORD and putting them instead on our own abilities. One is able to have a correct knowledge of God in one’s head, but not in his heart.  

In whom do you trust? God’s word says, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.” How dreadful! The person that lives and dies in unbelief is cursed, under God’s wrath and hatred. God’s curse is a powerful and effective word that brings death. The figure is given of a brown scrub in the desert. This shrub never gives any fruit, and even if rain comes, it has no roots to drink it up. What a picture of the person who does not know and love God!

The contrast is the child of God who trusts, has saving faith, depends upon the LORD. That person has hope, which means confidence. Why do we have this confidence even in difficult times? The reason is that the LORD is the God of our salvation. He loves us. He will work all things for good to them that love him, who are the called according to his purpose. He has provided for our salvation in his Son, Jesus Christ! Our eyes, our mind, and our heart are stayed upon him. Jeremiah’s confession is found in vs. 17, “thou art my hope in the day of evil.” May we say with the Psalmist, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me” (Ps. 56:3,4).

The person that trusts in Jehovah is compared to a green and fruitful tree. He is planted by the waters. He is planted there by God himself. He is given deep roots, roots that keep on spreading by the river. Christ Jesus is that water of life. Christ’s life flows to us by the Holy Spirit. When times of trouble come, the person who trusts in God does not shrivel up or become unfruitful. Rather, his roots sink further and deeper into Jesus Christ and his Word. He becomes stronger. He is not anxious in these troublesome times but has the fruit of joy and peace. God’s Word says that God blesses those who trust in him!

So once more the question comes, “In whom do you trust?” The Psalmist Asaph once doubted and was anxious and despairing. But God led and taught him, and he was able to say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee… it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works” (Ps. 73:25,28).

May the trials and difficulties we currently face cause us to draw closer to our God in Christ Jesus in faith and confidence.