If your sins are blotted out, and you know it because of the faith and love for God that always is bestowed upon those for whom Christ died, you will also love God's whole church. If you hate sin, you love God. And if you love God, you will love His whole church.
That is why David, having prayed for the blotting out of his sins in God's mercy, is concerned with His mercy upon His whole church. And having prayed for the forgiveness of his own sins, David in concern for the whole church of God prays in Psalm 51:18, "Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem. Our versification goes thus:
Do good to Zion in Thy grace,
Her ruined walls restore:
Then sacrifice of righteousness
Shall please Thee as of yore.
Thy people then with willing hands
And hearts that Thou has blessed
Shall bring in thankful sacrifice
Their choicest gifts and best.
It is true that David had set a very bad example before the whole church of that day, here called Zion and Jerusalem. The versification speaks of ruined walls. Walls in that day protected the city. David had broken down the walls, so that Satan now had easy access to the whole church, because of that bad example which he set. Therefore David prays that God will do good to Zion, protecting His church from Satan's arrows and causing the church to bring sacrifices of righteousness.
The question is whether your sins bother you in that way. The sins you committed before others in your family, at work, among the members of God's church, did they make you sad in the thought that you may have encouraged others to walk in your sins?
Confess your sins before God, but also before men. Never defend them. And pray that your sins may not break down the walls of your church and give Satan easy access to the hearts of the members of your church. Go then, as David did, to God and pray that He may protect His church from the sins you performed before her members, and that they may bring their choicest and best gifts of thanksgiving and praise to Him.
Read: Psalm 4
Psalter versification: 144:5-6
Devotions on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter number 230
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus 15:19-27 ; Exodus 16; Exodus 17:1-7
Matthew 22:1-33
Psalm 27:1-26
Proverbs 6:20-26
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Quote for Reflection:
“Always, there are benefits of doing the will of God. The benefits far outweigh the costs. In Christian education, as in every other aspect of the life of the child of God, the principle is, be willing to sacrifice and pay a high cost in doing God's will, as a disciple of Christ, and God will greatly reward you, both in this life and in the life to come. There are rewards. They are rewards of grace; but there are rewards. These are incentives, because the work of the Lord always goes forward with much difficulty in this world.” -David Engelsma
Additional Info
- Date: 2-February
