Sanctified Haste

Psalm 119:59,60

As the saying goes, " haste makes waste.'' But there is one way in which haste reveals grace. The psalmist spoke of this in Psalm 119:59,60, when he said, "I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments.''

Or as our versification has it (PRC Psalter):

I thought upon my ways,
Thy testimonies learned;
With earnest haste, and waiting not,
To Thy commands I turned.

When you find yourself walking in sin — and how often is that not the case? — delay not but with all haste get back into the law of God. You just cannot get back too quickly! Take your time about it, and you are adding to your sin. For you are still saying that walking in sin is good, and that leaving it behind is losing something you deem precious.

What is more, we cannot think upon our ways in the light of God's law too quickly. We may be quick to look into a mirror to see if our hair is combed, whether it is turning gray, or whether our face is clean; but why are we so slow in looking into God's law?

The psalmist did so quickly because of the temptations that surrounded him. He had enemies that ridiculed him, taunted him, and made a fool of him. And he was eager, because of his old sinful nature, to stop this derision by hiding his faith. And we have the same problem, so that we do not think on the way God wants us to walk, but on the way that pleases our sinful flesh. And we too need to be reminded to give serious thought every hour of the day to God's law, and to seek to find out whether we are walking in God's way or in our own fleshly way.

When we find any violation of God's law, we must not hesitate to turn from it and go back to the way God would have us walk.

How about it? Are you carrying a sin with you, thinking that when you get older, you will drop it? Do not think so for a moment! The longer you walk in it, the harder it will become to break from it. Be quick to turn from it, and your spiritual muscles will be strengthened so you can walk more firmly in a way that pleases God.

Read Luke 15:11-24
Psalter versification: #328:2

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #120
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
1 Chronicles 11
1 Chronicles 12:1-18
Acts 28:1-31
Psalm 9:1-12
Proverbs 19:1-3
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Quote for Reflection:

“Blessed are they in whose ears that terrible trumpet always sounds, ‘Arise ye dead, and come to judgment.’ From this the presence of that Judge coming to judgment is perpetually borne in mind, lest at his sight they be confounded with the wicked (Rev. 6:16 ), but that they may be found worthy to stand before the Son of Man.” ~Francis Turretin (1623-1687) Pastor of Geneva