Would you call it wise for a couple to put their children to bed, and then also themselves retire, even though they know that a tornado or earthquake is going to destroy their house in about an hour? Would you then call it an act of wisdom for one who knows that he is going to die to continue to walk in unbelief and sin, when death for such means entrance into an everlasting torment?
No, man does wisely when he with the psalmist declares, "O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through Thy commandments hast made me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me." Psalm 119:97-98. Plainly, true wisdom comes through knowing and loving God's commandments.
Loving God's law means loving God, for that is what His law reveals is our calling. And loving God means that we are by Him assured that death brings us closer to Him, with a more blessed covenant life with treasures that are everlasting. The world may know how to gather earthly treasures and pleasures. In fact in Daniel 12:4 we read that in the last days knowledge will increase. Surely man today knows much more than a couple of decades ago. And he will learn much more than computers, satellites, laser beams, and the like.
But the child of God knows about everlasting blessedness through Christ and is truly wise when be chooses to walk in God's law. How important is it not that we sing:
How I love Thy law, O Lord!
Daily joy its truths afford;
In its constant light I go,
Wise to conquer every foe.
Yes, in the measure that we meditate in God's law we are wise and we learn how to walk wisely and seek what has true, lasting value. Sin may bring fleshly pleasure: but it is the height of folly to walk in it.
The question is not whether we can amass earthly things which are going to be taken from us when we die. The question is whether we love God and therefore love His law. Meditating in that law we will see the need for Christ: and one who sees that need is truly wise. Him God will assure that in His love He sent Christ to bring us where we in love of God's law will walk perfectly in it in sweet communion with God.
Read: Psalm 119:97-112
Psalter Versification #333
(Words and music of the Psalter)
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #54
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Song of Solomon 5 ; Song of Solomon 6 ; Song of Solomon 7 ; Song of Solomon 8:1-14
2 Corinthians 9:1-15
Psalm 51:1-19
Proverbs 22:24-25
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Quote for Reflection:
… We do not want to throw the lambs to the wolves. In the Christian school, we are preparing them for the inevitable conflict that is coming. There is a war going on. It is not a carnal war, not a war "after the flesh," as the apostle writes in II Corinthians 10: 3ff., but a war that is spiritual, a war that has to do with "imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God." It is a war of ideas; of thoughts: of doctrines; of teachings. These are the great issues and battlefronts: the sovereignty of man versus the sovereignty of God; the reign of Antichrist versus the reign of Jesus the Christ; the authority of man's word versus the authority of God's Word, Holy Scripture; a life of pleasure-madness versus a life of holiness; despair versus hope; the worship of the totalitarian State versus the worship of God, the Father of Jesus Christ. - David Engelsma
Additional Info
- Date: 7-September