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Divinely Formed for Divine Praises

Psalm 61:7, 8

    On Mars Hill the apostle Paul stated the profound truth that in God we live and move and have all our being. That is true of every creature that lives and moves, but also of the inanimate creatures. They also have all their being in God.

    Although there are those who deny that all our spiritual living, moving, and being is in God, so it surely is. We do nothing spiritually good unless God gives us a new life with its strength. God does not invite spiritually dead men to "accept" Christ. A dead tree cannot bring forth fruit, and a spiritually dead person cannot want salvation.

    Listen to what David says in Psalm 61:7, 8: "He shall abide before God forever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto Thy name forever, that I may daily perform my vows."

    David had prophetically spoken of Christ, Who in the line of David's descendants would become the everlasting King. And it is in God's mercy and truth in Christ that we receive life, strength, and spiritual existence, so that we not only vow but keep the vows of praising God's name.

    Praise is important. God said in Isaiah 43:21, "This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise." We were made and saved so that God may be praised. And it all is God's work upon us. He does not foolishly wait for dead men to decide whether they want to be saved.

    If there is anything about which we ought to praise God it is that our salvation is one hundred percent His work in us. From the desire for it to the full enjoyment in the new Jerusalem, it is God's work that gives us all this. He makes us sing with joy in our souls (PRC Psalter):

    Before Thy face shall I abide;
    O God Thy truth and grace provide
    To guard me in the way;
    So will I make Thy praises known,
    And humbly bending at Thy throne,
    My vows will daily pay.

    Praise Him then as the one in Whom you live and move and have all your spiritual being.

Read: Ephesians 2 
Psalter versification: #159:4
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

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Song for Meditation: Psalter #187
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 14:11-22 ; Jeremiah 15 ; Jeremiah 16:1-15 
1 Thessalonians 2:9-20 ; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 
Psalm 80:1-19 
Proverbs 25:1-5 
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Quote for Reflection:

"…In heaven alone is known the number of times God’s people have turned to God’s Word in all the sorrows and sufferings and have found peace. Scripture is the cooling fountain of an oasis in the desert of this life, from which God’s people have drunk deeply and longingly to quench their parched souls."

The words of Theodore Beza to the Duke of Guise, though referring to Christ’s church, can be applied to the senseless and wicked attacks on Scripture by the higher critics: “Sire, I would have you know that it is an anvil which has worn out many an hammer.” - Herman Hanko – June 2006 Standard Bearer

Last modified on 09 October 2019

Additional Info

  • Date: 10-October
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.