Psalm 1:1,2
Regardless of our occupation, and whether we be man or woman, we either walk, stand, or sit to perform our work. And it is also while walking, sitting, or standing that we commit our sins. That is why David in Psalm 1:1, 2 declares, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night."
The positive side of this is walking in God's counsel, standing in the way of the righteous, and sitting with those who praise God and delight in His law. Now God's counsel is His advice; and that advice you will find in His law. The advice there is that you love Him with all your being. The way of the righteous is to do that — love Him — every moment of your life. And sitting with those who praise Him and delight in His Word is being friends with those who walk according to His advice and stand four-square upon His holy law. It is enjoying their company and seeing eye to eye with them, working with them to praise and extol God's name. It is meditating in God's law day and night.
Shame should cover our faces then when we realize how little there is of this in our lives. By God's grace there is a small beginning. Therefore, we are able to sing sincerely (PRC Psalter, #2):
Blest is he who loves God's precepts,
Who from sin restrains his feet,
He who will not stand with sinners,
He who shuns the scorner's seat.
Blest is he who makes the statutes
Of the Lord his chief delight,
In God's law, divinely perfect,
Meditating day and night.
We do well therefore to examine ourselves to see how true this is of us. It will be there to some degree in every believer. But we must find growth through the years. We should strive to walk more vigorously in the counsel of Jehovah, to stand more firmly in His law with the righteous, and sit down meaningfully with those who praise and extol His holy name.
Never, no never, should we be satisfied until we are perfect, and our walking, standing, and sitting please God every moment of our lives.
Read: Proverbs 4
Psalter versification: #2:1-2
Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #219
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Genesis 26:17-35 ; Genesis 27:1-46
Matthew 9:1-17
Psalm 10:16-18
Proverbs 3:9-10
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Quote for Reflection:
…this aspect of the Truth is utterly ignored by the great majority of preachers and “Bible teachers” today, who instead of pressing the holy claims of God and rebuking self-indulgence, are seeking either to amuse or soothe their hearers in their sins. It is not that we are inculcating a strange doctrine, introducing that which opposes divine grace. No, those servants of God in the past who most extolled the grace of God, also maintained the requirements of His righteousness. – Arthur W. Pink
Additional Info
- Date: 12-January
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.