Psalm 131:1

    Psalm 131 is another brief Psalm being only one verse more than Psalm 117 which is the shortest chapter in the Bible. And in verse 1 the psalmist declares, "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or things too high for me." Our versification helps us understand this when it says (PRC Psalter):

    Not haughty is my heart,
    Not lofty is my pride;
    I do not seek to know the things
    God's wisdom has denied.

    The things "too high for me'' are things God's wisdom had denied him knowledge of in this life. And to be haughty and proud is to act and think that we know better than God what ought to happen,

    How about it? Were you fully satisfied with what God did yesterday? Are you willing to leave all things up to Him today? We must bow before His will. We do, without much thought, often pray "Thy by will be done,'' but only a few minutes later we are so apt to pray that He will change things to satisfy our plans and ambitions.

    Yet when God performs works which we do not understand, we should go in our thoughts to the cross of Christ. Many devout children of God stood around that cross wondering why it had to happen and wishing it had not taken place. But after the day of Pentecost they understood; and so do we.

    There are those events that we call accidents. There are works of God that touch our families and lives and seem to deny His love and make us question His wisdom. But by all means do not in haughtiness and pride think for one moment that you could have run the world better, or ordered in greater wisdom the things in your life. Be sure that all God's works are wrought n inscrutable wisdom. Never did He make a mistake. Never did things slip out of His control.

    There are things too high for us. But in childlike meekness leave all things in God's hands. He knows the best means and the best way to fulfill all His promises to us. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Read: Romans 8:28-39 
Psalter versification: #366:1

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
II Samuel 14 
II Samuel 15:1-22 
  John 18:1-24 
Psalm 119:97-112 
Proverbs 16:8-9

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Quote for Reflection:

"This aspect of obedience to the Fourth Commandment is threatened today. There are leaks in the dike. There are those who attend only infrequently, missing entire Sundays or consistently missing one of the services every Sunday ("oncers"). There is the growing practice of missing the worship services, now and then, because they interfere with our pleasures, e.g., our vacation-plans. The Lord's Day is completely forgotten. It is used for traveling or for sightseeing, just as though it did not belong to the risen Christ, but to ourselves. The strange notion is found in the Church that the Fourth Commandment may be broken occasionally. Men suppose that, if they remember the Lord's Day 51 weeks of the year, they are warranted in forgetting it one week. What would these same people say if others would adopt this thinking in regard to the commandment against stealing, or the commandment against murder?

"But the Lord's Day gets in the way of my pleasures," says the man determined to enjoy his weekend vacation. Yes, the Law of God has a way of doing this. Throughout the Old Testament, the Sabbath-Commandment "interfered" with Israel's pleasures; and for this reason they broke it (cf. Isaiah 58:13 and Amos 8:5). May we bend and twist the Law to suit our pleasures? Or are we to plan our lives according to the law and to find our pleasure in doing what it says?

Our would-be vacationer persists, "But I work hard during the year, and I need some rest." To be sure, we need rest; and this needed rest is the rest of the Lord's house and the Lord's Word."

"Remembering the Lord's Day", Prof. David Engelsma

Psalm 9:11

    David began Psalm 9 by declaring that he would praise God with his whole heart. But now in verse 11 he writes, "Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion; declare among the people His doings.''  Plainly he is calling others to do what he had been given grace to do. And the truth behind this is that if we truly are singing Gods praises wholeheartedly, we will want others to do so as well.

    A question we must answer therefore is whether we do sing God's praises with our whole heart. The question is not whether we sing His praises with our voices and tongues. There are many who hate God, and never enter into His house of prayer to worship Him, who will sing certain hymns or oratorios because they like the music or are seeking the praise of men. And a pointed and important question is, "What are your favorite songs?'' Are they the songs of men, or songs of praise to God? And is this one your favorite song because of the words, the truth expressed in it that praises God, or is it because of the smooth flowing melody and rich harmony?

    Another question is whether we are singing to men or to God.  Do we have God in our thoughts when we sing? Are we perhaps singing so rapidly that we cannot even give thought to the truth we express with our lips? Notice the versification of this Psalm (PRC Psalter):

    Sing praises to the Lord Most High,
    To Him Who doth in Zion dwell:
    Declare His mighty deeds abroad,
    His deeds among the nations tell.

    Here is a call to sing praises unto God as well as of God. We must declare His mighty deeds abroad, but in a way that we direct our praise to God.  We must do it in a way that teaches others to praise Him. We must want others to know what He did for us in His Son, but our deepest concern must be that others confess Him, and with us praise Him as the one of Whom, through Whom, and unto Whom are all things. We must be interested in their salvation, but chiefly because we want God to have all the praise that is due unto His name. Then we will sing only that which is based on true Biblical doctrine.

Read: Psalm 107:1-31 
Psalter versification: #17:5

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
II Samuel 13 
  John 17 
Psalm 119:81-96 
Proverbs 16:6-7

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Quote for Reflection:

     … The end of the pilgrim’s journey that starts outside of the gate and on the which you are called to bear the reproach of the Sufferer of Golgotha, is the beautiful City of God.

     And it is about to come. . .

     Yet a little patience, and a little suffering, yet a little struggle and a little battle and the end of your journey shall have been reached.

     A very light affliction, quickly passing.

     And then eternal joy!

     Seek that City!

     Press on!    – Herman Hoeksema (Standard Bearer - Vol. 2, pg. 99)

Psalm 9:10

    Although it may not look that way because we closed our eyes, yet God is always faithful and can be trusted to do fully all that which He promised us. Even though on a cloudy night we cannot see the moon or the stars, they are there above us in the sky; and it is folly to say that they are not there, just because we cannot see them. Yet so often we go by what our fleshly eyes see or cannot see and behave as though what the eye of faith sees does not exist. For we have closed our eye of faith and judge all things by what our fleshly eye sees.

    David warns us against this when in Psalm 9:10 he writes, "And they that have known Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, 0 Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.''  David here uses the name Elohim, the Almighty One, and that name says that all the creatures have strength only when and in the measure that God gives it to them. And therefore knowing God's name means that we know and see Him with the eye of faith as the one Who has every creature large or small, animate or inanimate, in the angel world or in the world of men, completely under His control. They can only do what He eternally decreed that they would do, and what He gives them the strength to do.

    No wonder then that David says that those who know God's name can trust Him and see that He never forsakes one of His children. And with David we can sing (PRC Psalter):

    All they, O Lord, that know Thy name
    Their confidence in Thee will place,
    For Thou hast ne'er forsaken them
    Who earnestly have sought Thy face.

    Consider then that, since our God is almighty, no one can prevent Him from doing what He promised us, and no one has the strength to make Him change His mind. See Him then in that name, with your eye of faith, as an unchangeably faithful God Who will destroy all your enemies and bring you to glory. And when things look bad, as far as the eye of flesh is concerned, look at Him with the eye of faith.

Read: Revelation 20 
Psalter versification: #17:2 

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
II Samuel 12 
  John 16 
Psalm 119:65-80 
Proverbs 16:4-5

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Quote for Reflection:

 "…And assuredly, when we consider that the sluggishness of our flesh hinders us from elevating our minds to the height of the divine majesty, in vain would God call us to himself, did he not at the same time, on his part, come down to us; or, did he not at least, by the interposition of means, stretch out his hand to us, so to speak, in order to lift us up to himself."   –  John Calvin