Psalm 90:16
It is not uplifting to watch men tear down an old decrepit building. It is far more interesting to see a new, well-constructed and beautiful new building rise up in its place. And Moses having given us a picture of the house in which our souls dwell, and how God, step by step, is breaking it down, now writes this significant prayer in Psalm 90:16: "Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children." That work, according to verse 14, is the work of God in Christ. For there he wrote: "O satisfy us early with Thy mercy." God's mercy is all in Christ. Apart from Him there is no mercy or grace of God.
As Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:1, the earthly house in which we live, that is, our bodies, is being dissolved. For those outside of Christ this is in God's holy wrath. For those in Christ it is that work of God's mercy according to which He is building an everlasting and beautiful house for our souls, the new resurrected body.
Seeing that work of God during our pilgrimage here below, we still have aches and pains and ultimately death. But with the eye of faith we understand and have joy during these miseries of this life and sing (PRC Psalter):
O send the day of joy and light,
For long has been our sorrow's night;
Afflicted through the weary years,
We wait until Thy help appears;
With us and with our sons abide,
In us let God be glorified.
We can be sure that God will hear our prayers. We can be sure because He gave us the light of the face of Christ and His cross which blotted out our guilt. In His word which He moved men to write, and which all these years He preserved for us, we will see that when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, we will have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
And we will see the glory of God as He in Christ glorifies us. Those bodies will be made so that they can and do reflect the glory of God. That is the ultimate purpose of our salvation. Glory must be to God in the highest. Our glory must be a reflection of His glory.
Read: II Corinthians 5
Psalter versification: #246:2
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
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Song for Meditation: Psalter #367
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Jeremiah 42 ; Jeremiah 43 ; Jeremiah 44:1-23
2 Timothy 2:1-21
Psalm 92:1-93
Proverbs 26:3-5
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Quote for Reflection:
"Every true prayer is a trumpet against secularism and an opening of the door to the reality of the glory of the power of the risen Christ to flood into our entire situation. The key to life’s meaning and the key to true prayer is God first, mankind second." ~ D. Kelly
Additional Info
- Date: 23-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.