A Life That Praises God

Psalm 119:163-164

    Did it ever occur to you that every time we break God's law, we tell a lie? We do. Whenever we sin, we say by that deed that we do not need to obey the God Who made us in His own image, with the calling to serve Him with all His creation every minute of our lives.

    In fact, every time we sin we bear false witness against God. We not only tell a lie about Him, but by our actions, which speak louder than words, we lie unto Him, telling Him that He is not God and has no right to tell us what to do.

    That is why the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:163-164, "I hate and abhor lying: but Thy law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise Thee because of Thy righteous judgments."

    Plainly, although our calling is to praise Him as God, whenever we sin we say that He is not worthy of that praise. The psalmist then has a reason for linking up lying and praising God as two opposites. We are doing the one or the other and never both at the same time.

    Since praising God is extolling Him for His virtues, the psalmist also in these verses links up loving God's law and believing that His judgments are righteous. He praises God seven times a day because God is righteous. Whenever we sin, we by that deed say the opposite, namely, that God is not righteous but we are. He has no right to tell us what to do. Did Adam not believe that God told a lie, when He said that to sin would bring death? He found that Satan did the lying. But by his act Adam said that God was not righteous; and he did not praise Him.

    Strive then to keep that law of God. Pray that God may enable you to sing sincerely (PRC Psalter):

    Deceit and falsehood I abhor,
    But in Thy law delight;
    Throughout the day I praise Thy name,
    For all Thy ways are right.

    The psalmist praises God seven times a day. As our versification has it, he praises God throughout the day. Our lives must be full of praise, for our lives must be full of walking in God's law even as His Son did when He came in our flesh.

Read: Psalm 147 
Psalter versification: #341:2
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #353
Why not sing along??

****

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Ezekiel 23:1-49 
Hebrews 10:18-39 
Psalm 109:1-31 
Proverbs 27:13

****

Quote for Reflection:

"What is the highest perfection of Christians? How is that perfection attained? Full manhood is found in Christ; for foolish men do not, in a proper manner, seek their perfection in Christ. It ought to be held as a fixed principle among us, that all that is out of Christ is hurtful and destructive." John Calvin on Ephesians 4:13