Psalm 75:9,10
A thankful heart will sing praises, as we saw. For to give thanks is to declare that someone has done something good. Therefore, having thanked God for His wondrous work of salvation, Asaph in Psalm 75:9,10 writes, "But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.''
Because God, as the righteous judge, will punish all the enemies of His church, and in Christ has blotted out the sins of all His people so that He can, in His righteous judgment, bring them to everlasting glory, Asaph will not question God's goodness but will praise Him.
The child of God is not however, going to be idle. He will cut off the horns of the wicked. He will not fight them with the arm of flesh, but he will fight the lie they foster, and the sins in which they walk. This he will do in the assurance that God will exalt the horns of the righteous. In fact that is the wondrous work of God for which he praises Him. But note the change of subjects. He will cut off the horns of the enemies, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted by God.
Our versification expresses this truth thus (PRC Psalter):
The God of Israel I will praise
And all His glory show;
The righteous He will high exalt
And lay the wicked low.
What a joyful praise that is! Asaph says that he will sing God's praises, and that means that it comes out of his heart. He began saying that he would declare these praises, and now quickly explains that he will sing them, so full of joy is his heart.
Do that today and every day. In His church sing His praises but also before those who never go to church. Sing before them of God's wondrous work of saving us through the blood and Spirit of His Son. Such praise is the fruit and evidence that salvation has been begun in us, and that we will be exalted to the glory of His house of many mansions.
Read: Psalm 89:1-18
Psalter versification: #206:5
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #121
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
1 Kings 14
1 Kings 15:1-24
Acts 10:1-23
Psalm 133:1-3
Proverbs 17:7-8
****
Quote for Reflection:
"By a faithful observance of Family-Worship, you will be employing a daily means towards the eternal salvation of your household. No prayers, indeed, considered as so much work wrought, will effectually save those souls; but we know no means which tend more directly to this end, than domestic worship, and the duties to which it leads. Are you willing to hazard so great a neglect? ....Family-prayer is a duty of every householder, binding on him every day of his life.... Fly at once, with your household, to the throne of grace! Cease to consider it as a matter of indifference, or an affair of variable custom. The neglect is most serious. It is your loss,and the loss of your offspring." --James W. Alexander, "Thoughts on Family Worship"
Additional Info
- Date: 15-June
Heys, John A.
Rev. John A. Heys was born on March 16, 1910 in Grand Rapids, MI. He was ordained and installed into the ministry at Hope, Walker, MI in 1941. He later served at Hull, Iowa beginning in 1955. In 1959 he accepted the call to serve the South Holland, IL Protestant Reformed Church. He received and accepted the call to Holland, Michigan Protestant Reformed Church in 1967. He retired from the active ministry in 1980. He entered into glory on February 16, 1998.