Psalm 126:1-3

Yesterday we were reminded of the fact that God is our Redeemer, and that we should praise and thank Him more emphatically in regard to the spiritual gifts of our salvation.

This truth is expressed again in Psalm 126:1-3, where the psalmist writes, "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord bath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.''

Although this captivity was physical, when the Israelites were taken into Babylon, the return, of which the Psalm speaks, was a type and shadow of our deliverance from the captivity and bondage of Satan. It was a picture of our redemption through the cross of Christ. And although the church's deliverance from the bondage of Satan does not in this life bring us all the joy that it should and calls for, we will in the day of Christ, when our bodies and souls together are freed from all sin and the curse, sing of this blessedness in these words:

When Zion in her low estate
Was brought from bondage by the Lord,
In ecstasy we sang for joy,
By grace and wondrous love restored.
The Lord in greatly blessing us
Before the world His power displays:
Yea, great things God has done for us 
And filled our hearts with joy and praise. (PRC Psalter)

That laughter, and that singing, give evidence that we have the beginning of that deliverance from Satan's bondage. And then, indeed, the Lord has done great things for us. Let your mind dwell on that spiritual deliverance today. The Captain of our salvation has wrought a wonderful victory for us. Let your mouth be filled with laughter that will not cease, but will in the new Jerusalem increase and never end.

Read: Psalm 126 
Psalter versification: #357:1, 2

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #53
Sing along!!

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus 32 ; Exodus 33:1-23 
Matthew 26:69-72 ; Matthew 27:1-14 
Psalm 33:1-11 
Proverbs 8:33-36 
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Quote for Reflection:

“As the saving doctrine of Christ is the soul of the church, so does discipline serve as its sinews, through which the members of the body hold together, each in its own place.”  -- John Calvin

Psalm 19:14

When our lives are spared, in what we call a miraculous way; when a loved one recovers remarkably after serious surgery; when things go exceptionally well for our flesh; the words of our mouths often are, "O God, how good Thou art." We need no prodding or exhortation to do that. When we receive earthly treasures and fleshly joys, we, as believers, recognize this as His work, see His glory and give expression to it.

Sad to say, however, that same enthusiasm, that same loose tongue, often is not there when we taste God's work of saving us from our sins. We are ready to confess Him as our strength when all goes well physically, but we are not so enthusiastic and ready to confess Him as our redeemer. The smile on our faces is not as broad when we speak of our salvation.

How happy are you in the knowledge that your sins are forgiven? How much is your soul thrilled when you think of what Christ did for you on His cross? How enthusiastically can you pray, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly''? Is there not so much that you still want to enjoy in this life?

The need is there, but is there the desire to pray with David, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer" , Psalm 19:14.

There is indeed so much room for us to pray, as versified, those words of Psalm 19:14 (from the Psalter):

    The words which from my mouth proceed,
    The thoughts within my heart,
    Accept O Lord, for Thou my Rock
    And my redeemer art.

Sing of God as your Redeemer as well as your strength. And pray for the grace to see His glory as your Redeemer. Pray that the things here below do not make you forget the washing away of your guilt, and the precious gift of a God-glorifying life like that of His Son. Pray that you may be more and move spiritual, to seek the things above, and be pleasing in God's sight in all that you do.

Read: Revelation 7 
Psalter versification: #41:7

Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #247
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus 30:11-38 ; Exodus 31:1-18 
Matthew 26:47-68 
Psalm 32:1-11 
Proverbs 8:27-32 
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Quote for Reflection:

These promises of the covenant concern Christ as the representative Head of His elect, and therefore apply to them all. The promises for their salvation they receive out of the hand of Christ, in whom all promises are yea and Amen unto the glory of God. (II Cor. 1:20). Indeed, no promise is firm if it is not sealed in Christ, the Head of the covenant. The promises given would be lost because of the severe assaults of Satan, the inveterate enmity of the world, and the incessant wandering of God's people, but they are firm in Christ and unto eternal life. — G. H. Kersten

Psalm 19:14

The heavens declare the glory of God, but in a way that they are not heard by the human ear. Man, however, was created in such a way that he could, with words that his fellow men could hear, speak of the glory of God. And he who truly hears the heavens declare God's glory will with his mouth speak words that glorify Him. The more he hears the heavens declare God's glory, the more he will want strength and desire to open his mouth to extol God for that glory. He will with David pray, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer" , Psalm 19:14.

David gets to the heart of the matter when he prays that the meditations of his heart may be acceptable to God. Words that are simply spoken by the mouth, and that come not out of a heart that loves God, are mockery and do not glorify God. Simply speaking the words with the lips is doing less than the heavens, for such words are spoken for the glory of self and not of God.

The heart is the spiritual center of our being; and our glorifying of God must come from that center and move the lips, or we sin against God by our words. Then we are by no means acceptable in His sight by the words we speak. And our prayer must be for the desire and strength to glorify Him from the bottom of our hearts.

David expresses this when he prays to God as his strength and redeemer. As our Strength He must give us the ability. As our Redeemer He must deliver us from seeking self, and fill us with the life that desires to glorify Him.

How important, as well as beautiful, it is for us, in the midst of a world that denies God, to confess Him and His glory. And to do this, not only on the Sabbath in His house of prayer, but daily before the family and neighbors. Make this then your prayer (from PRC Psalter):

I pray that my words and my thoughts
May all with Thy precepts accord,
And ever be pleasing to Thee,
My Rock, my Redeemer my Lord.

Read: James 3 
Psalter versification: #40:6

Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #229
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus 29 ; Exodus 30:1-10 
Matthew 26:14-46 
Psalm 31:19-24 
Proverbs 8:14-26 
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Quote for Reflection:

 "The Lord does not begin a totally new work with the appearance of Abram on the stage of history. It is not a new covenant that is established with Abram, but the same covenant that God had established with Shem and with Noah and with the prediluvian patriarchs, dating back to the protevangel immediately after the fall. God’s covenant is always the relation of friendship between himself and his people, and is essentially the same covenant throughout history. That covenant of God certainly passes through a history. The nature of that history, however, is not that it consists of several separate works or dispensations, totally unrelated to one another. Rather, the history of God’s covenant is characterized by the fact that the covenant advances and develops and increasingly approximates its ultimate realization as determined in God’s eternal counsel. God’s final purpose is to bring his covenant to the highest conceivable glory; toward that goal all the history of his covenant must lead." (Unfolding Covenant History, vol. 2, p. 101).  --Homer C. Hoeksema

Psalm 19:11

Warnings protect our lives. The buzzing sound of the smoke detector, the screaming of the siren of the fire engine speeding towards us from behind, and the red light indicating that the automobile ahead has its brakes applied, all serve to make us aware of danger. These warnings are given to keep us from possible harm. Unless we are foolish, we are thankful that there are such devices for our protection.

But do you react with thankfulness because God gave us His law? Are you thankful when relatives, or friends, or office bearers warn you when you are breaking one of God's laws, and that in light of the fact that the wages of sin is death?

One who warns you is concerned with your well-being. Even more so, God displays His love when He warns us in His testimonies and statutes. Never lose sight of the fact that the admonitions, or warnings, in His Word have been put there in His love to spare us the punishment that the transgression of His law demands.

Still more, God sets His law before us because in His grace He rewards our works of love toward Him. He gave us His law for our good, not for our harm; in love and not in hatred. And when you thank Him for food and drink, for life and health, be sure to thank Him also for His law, which shows us how to keep from harm, and what works He in His grace rewards.

Say it with David, "By these is Thy servant warned: and in keeping of them is great reward" Psalm 19:11. Sing it with these words (PRC Psalter):

    They warn from ways of wickedness
    Displeasing to the Lord,
    And in the keeping of His Word
    There is a great reward.

The reward His Son earned for us through His death and perfect obedience. There is a reward for those who keep God's law, because their guilt has been removed by His Son's cross, and He earned blessedness for His people.

Thank God for His law, and for His law-abiding Son.

Read: Matthew 6:19-34 
Psalter versification: #41:4

Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #320
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus 28:1-43 
Matthew 25:31-46 ; Matthew 26:1-13 
Psalm 31:9-18 
Proverbs 8:12-13 
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Quote for Reflection:

"Abram was not renowned, either as a conqueror, a law-giver or an inventor of useful and ingenious arts: he was neither a monarch, a genius, a philosopher, nor so much as an author of any sort, but a plain man, dwelling in tents, and feeding cattle all his days. Yet perhaps no mere man has been so widely and permanently had in honor!" -- Thomas Scott