PRAISING GOD FOR HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS
Psalm 48:9-10
A truth that ought to receive more emphasis today is the righteousness of God. There is so much talk about His love that completely ignores and even denies His righteousness. But the psalmist, being guided by God Himself, does not do that. He had spoken of God's greatness and worthiness of great praise, and had written about the safety of God's church. Then he wrote: "We have thought of Thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of Thy temple. According to Thy name, O God, so is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth: Thy right hand is full of righteousness" Psalm 48:9-10.
Speaking of God's lovingkindness the psalmist does not ignore His righteousness. For God has no lovingkindness, no mercy, and no grace, apart from His righteousness. It is all based on His righteousness. The temple in Jerusalem declared that in its altar and bloody sacrifices. And Christ, Who is at God's right hand in heaven, manifests that righteousness.
God's righteousness demands full payment of the debt which we owe Him. The everlasting punishment for our sins must be suffered fully; and all the work of love which we did not bring to Him must still be brought in full measure. Until and unless that is done, there is no lovingkindness that God can show us. He is the righteous God.
All this Christ did for us. He is that right hand of God that saves us and because of which God's love, mercy, and grace come down upon us. He made us to be righteous. This we ought to see more clearly than the Old Testament saints who had the altar in the temple to show it.
Surely then we should sing meaningfully:
Within Thy temple, Lord,
In that most holy place,
We on Thy loving kindness dwell,
The wonders of Thy grace.
Men sing Thy praise, O God,
Where'er Thy name is known;
By every deed Thy hand hath wrought
Thy righteousness is shown.
Praise God for His righteousness. That belongs to His greatness. And that makes His grace, mercy, and love to us possible.
Read:
Isaiah 53
Psalter versification: 134:1
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 264
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Ezekiel 42
;
Ezekiel 43:1-27
James 5:1-20
Psalm 119:1-16
Proverbs 28:6-7
****
Quote for Reflection:
"The vast majority of our fellows live as though there were no eternity to come, no judgment day when they must appear before God, give an account of the deeds they have done in the body, and be sentenced according to their works. They know full well how brief and uncertain this life is: at short intervals their companions are cut down by the hand of death, but no lasting serious impressions are made upon them. Instead, they continue in their pleasure-loving whirl, impervious to the divine threatenings, deaf to the voice of conscience, disregarding any entreaties or admonitions which they may receive from Christian friends or the servants of God. --A.W. Pink, The Life of David, (pg. 220)
JUDGMENT DAY JOY
Psalm 48:11
When a judge announces his decision, it is always in one party's favor and against another party. Both sides await the judge's decision; but only one side will be glad and rejoice in the decision. When God in His righteousness announces His decision in the day of Christ, His whole church is going to rejoice and sing in gladness.
Of this we read in Psalm 48:11 in these words: "Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of Thy judgments." Mount Zion here refers to the entire church of God. God's people everywhere. All the believers are going to and have reason to sing:
Thy hand is full of righteousness
Let Zion's gladness then be great,
And let her daughters sing for joy
And all Thy judgments celebrate.
In the day when Christ returns, this will be realized in full. But in this life already we have reason to be glad and rejoice in God's judgments. The cross of Christ, His resurrection, and ascension up into heaven announced God's judgment in our favor. That cross declared that He was forsaken of God because of our sins. His resurrection reveals that He succeeded in blotting them out. His ascension up into heaven tells us where we are going to go. We are not there yet: but God has clearly announced His judgment that we will be with Him in glory.
Now we do have fears and doubts, because we still have our old man of sin whose works God in righteous judgment condemns. When, however, we by faith look at Christ both as far as what He did and where He now is, we have reason to rejoice and be glad. We know that we can anticipate judgment day joy that will be forever and will be boundless.
Listen then to the words of the psalmist when be tells us to rejoice and be glad. Wipe away the tears from your eyes. See your sins, but look also to Christ. On the day you die, believe that also to you He will say, "Today shalt Thou be with Me in paradise."
Read:
Revelation 20
Psalter versification: 132:3
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 161
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Ezekiel 44
;
Ezekiel 45:1-12
1 Peter 1:1-12
Psalm 119:17-32
Proverbs 28:8-10
****
Quote for Reflection:
… there are various burdens which delay and impede our spiritual course, such as the love of this present life, the pleasures of the world, the lusts of the flesh, worldly cares, riches also and honors, and other things of this kind. Whosoever, then, would run in the course prescribed by Christ, must first disentangle himself from all these impediments, for we are already of ourselves more tardy than we ought to be, so no other causes of delay should be added. - John Calvin
WALKING ABOUT ZION
Psalm 48:12, 13
a
So often shame should cover our faces when we read what the psalmist wrote as he brought Psalm 48 to its close. He wrote: "Walk about Zion, and go round about her. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces" Psalm 48:12, 13 a.
Are you that interested in our great God's church? How much walking, telling, and marking of her strength and beauty do you do? Is God's church your main interest, or are your earthly possessions?
In the measure that we rejoice and are glad because of God's judgments in Christ, we will walk about Zion and sing:
About Mount Zion go,
Her towers and ramparts tell;
That ye her strength may know,
Mark her defenses well;
Her royal palaces behold
That ye her glories may unfold.
There will be a different form of walking for us than what the psalmist could do. He lived in a time of types and shadows that pointed to Christ and His kingdom of heaven which He will usher in at His return. We have that cross, resurrection, and ascension of Christ and sitting at God's right hand that our souls can walk around. We can tell the towers of salvation which He built, take careful note of the bulwarks He has established and the beautiful dwelling place called God's house of many mansions, which He realized for us.
The question is, "How often do you look at Christ? How often do the eyes of your soul go round about Him and His kingdom as we can find them in Scripture? Was your Bible open yesterday, or today? Did you look into it to be comforted about its strength and certainty? Did your soul digest what you read?"
Our God is a great God and is greatly to be praised. This we will understand and appreciate when we look into His word to see what He did for us in Christ. The safety and security of His church is all inseparably connected with Christ. He is its tower and bulwarks. He has already reached its palaces. Consider that fact and look for Him to come and bring you there in God's grace.
Read:
Revelation 22
Psalter versification: 133:2
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 266
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Ezekiel 45:13-25
;
Ezekiel 46:1-24
1 Peter 1:13-25
;
1 Peter 2:1-10
Psalm 119:33-48
Proverbs 28:11
****
Quote for
Reflection:
… though man proposes it is God who
disposes. Even great men, yea, kings themselves, are often thwarted in their plans, and
discover they are subordinate to the will of Him who is the King of kings. How thankful we
should be that this is so, that the Lord in His infinite wisdom ruleth over all – Arthur W. Pink
CONCERN FOR TOMORROW'S CHURCH
Psalm 48:13
b
If there ever was a man Who was not selfish, and if there ever was one Who looked out for the good of others and was willing to lose all that others might gain what man never had before, it was our Savior. He went to hell so that we might go to heaven. He never hesitated because of what it would cost Him. He was concerned with what would bring us joy and blessedness. And as members of his body we have a calling to follow His example.
The psalmist points this out when, having written that we should walk about Zion and tell her towers, mark her bulwarks, and consider her palaces, he writes: "That ye may tell it to the generation following" Psalm 48:13 b. Our versification explains it this way:
To all the coming race
Repeat the message o'er;
This mighty God of grace
Is ours forever more;
Yea, He our Savior will abide
And unto death will be our guide.
We must be concerned about the whole church of God and want those following us to enjoy spiritual blessedness. We must walk about Zion and go round about her, not as tourists who go for their own flesh's pleasure, but so that we can tell our children how great our righteous God is, and teach them to put their trust in Him and His Son through Whom we have salvation and everlasting glory.
That does not simply mean our own flesh and blood. Surely we must do all we can to enrich their spiritual lives and knowledge. But the psalmist speaks of the whole coming generation. The exhortation then comes to the childless and unmarried as well as to parents.
It means that the church today must study and develop in the truth so that Satan and his host, coming with crafty, subtle, false doctrines, does not mislead them; but that they may see the wonderful work Christ performed for us, may see the greatness of our God, and may then lead the next generation into the rich truth as it is in Christ. Our great God must be greatly praised. And we should do all we can to bring the coming generation into a richer, not poorer, praise to God.
Read:
Deuteronomy 6
Psalter versification: 133:3
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 156
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Ezekiel 47
;
Ezekiel 48:1-35
1 Peter 2:11-25
;
1 Peter 3:1-7
Psalm 119:49-64
Proverbs 28:12-13
****
Quote for Reflection:
…
God did not so create the world once that he did
afterward depart from his work; but that it standeth by his power, and that the same God
is the governor thereof who was the Creator. We must well think upon this continual
comforting and strengthening, that we may remember God every minute. – John Calvin
OUR MIGHTY GOD AND FAITHFUL GUIDE
Psalm 48:14
Whether he will admit it or not, every unbeliever has a god. One may claim to be an atheist; but you will find him trusting in this or that object and revealing superstition. He will speak of lucky numbers and of good luck and bad luck. Doing so he speaks of powers outside himself which determine his lot. And that is an admission of trusting in a god.
But the child of God believes in the one true God and makes a very rich and powerful confession. With the psalmist he says, "For this God is our God forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death" Psalm 48:14.
This God is the great God Who is greatly to be praised and who is mentioned in the preceding verses: the God Who did so much for His people in His loving kindness based on His righteousness. He is the God Who has absolute power over all other so-called gods. He is called the Lord of lords in Psalm 136:3.
We ought to put the emphasis upon the word "our." This God is OUR God. His loving kindness and righteousness in Christ are our comfort and protection. Before the world we are going to cry out with confidence that THIS God is OUR God for ever and ever! And we are going to tell the coming generation the truth concerning Him. Before and with our children we are going to sing:
This mighty God forever lives
Our God and Savior to abide,
And till our pilgrim days shall end
Will ever be our faithful guide.
Death is coming to all of us. No unbeliever has a god that can stop death from coming or give us victory over it. But our God guides us not simply until death but into death in order to deliver us from our sinful flesh; and because of His Son's sin-removing sacrificial death, guides our souls through the door of death into heavenly glory. When Christ returns He will raise the body with greater power and blessedness than Adam had in paradise.
Our God is an infallible guide and a powerful Savior. Tell all the world in all your life that He is your God.
Read:
Daniel 3
Psalter versification: 132:5
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 320
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Daniel 1
;
Daniel 2:1-23
1 Peter 3:8-22
;
1 Peter 4:1-6
Psalm 119:65-80
Proverbs 28:14
****
Quote for
Reflection:
We should not think of our fellowship
with other Christians as a spiritual luxury, an optional addition to the exercises of
private devotion. We should recognize rather
that such fellowship is a spiritual necessity; for God has made us in such a way that our
fellowship with Himself is fed by our fellowship with fellow-Christians, and requires to be
fed constantly for its own deepening and enrichment.
UNDERSTANDING OUR SALVATION
Psalm 119:169, 170
Salvation is a very wonderful gift which we surely ought to seek. Understanding our salvation and how we are and can be saved is also of extreme importance. That is why the psalmist wrote: "Let my cry come near before Thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to Thy word. Let my supplication come before Thee: deliver me according to Thy word" Psalm 119:169-170. Our versification has it thus:
O let my supplicating cry
By Thee, my gracious Lord, be heard;
Give wisdom and deliver me
According to Thy faithful word.
In verse 166 he had written: "Lord, I have hoped for Thy salvation. And that salvation he has here in mind. When he was persecuted by men, he certainly desired deliverance from it. But his cry for understanding and deliverance in verses 169-170 means that he is praying for salvation from sin, not from sinners.
We must keep in mind that salvation is far more than deliverance from guilt and punishment. Salvation is deliverance from the love and power of sin. Salvation delivers us from the act of sin and from a sinful nature. And if we do not want that, our cry for salvation only adds to our sin and increases the reason for its punishment.
We must, therefore, cry to God for the work of the Spirit of Christ that will make us hate sin and enable us to flee from it. Such deliverance that destroys the power of sin over us we must seek.
Further, we must understand how this salvation is wrought and how it is possible. The psalmist prays for understanding and deliverance according to God's word. We must understand that we are saved by grace and because God's Son, the Word become flesh, suffered our punishment and made us not guilty before God.
Then too, "according to God's word" means "according to His word of promise." He promised it to those whom He eternally chose in Christ. That, we must constantly keep in mind. Never may we cry to God as though salvation is coming to us because of what we did, or because of what we are in ourselves.
Read:
Psalm 119:165-176
Psalter versification: 342:1
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 229
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Daniel 2:24-49
;
Daniel 3:1-30
1 Peter 4:7-19
;
1 Peter 5:1-14
Psalm 119:81-96
Proverbs 28:15-16
****
Quote for
Reflection:
"Death is not now the death of me, but death will
be the death of my misery, the death of my sins; it will be the death of my corruptions.
But death wil be my birthday in regard of happiness." R.Sibbes
SALVATION'S SURE RESPONSE
Psalm 119:171-17
2
As we saw yesterday, salvation is a wonderful gift. It also has a wonderful response. Of this we read in Psalm 119:171-172 in these words: "My lips shall utter praise, when Thou hast taught me Thy statutes. My tongue shall speak of Thy word: for all Thy commandments are righteousness. Our versification explains it thus:
Instructed in Thy holy law,
To praise Thy word I lift my voice;
O Lord, be Thou my present help,
For Thy commandments are my choice.
We do well to note that here again salvation is presented as deliverance from the love of sin and not simply from its guilt and punishment. Being saved from that love of sin, we are going to praise God. Until we are saved from it by the Spirit of Christ, on the basis of His cross, we cannot praise God but will speak against Him.
The praise of God the psalmist has in mind is that He is God and that we must bow before His sovereign will. For that God's commandments are righteousness means that God is righteous. For these commandments express His will. And when He teaches us His statutes, He teaches us that He is right in demanding perfect obedience by keeping His law every step of our way.
Every time we sin, we go against God and insult Him rather than praise Him. When we sin we praise ourselves, presenting ourselves as those who may do as they please. When we by sins say that we do not love God's law, we say that we do not love God. We say that we find something wrong with God instead of praising Him as the righteous God that He is.
Bearing this in mind we can see why the psalmist prayed in verse 169 that God would give him understanding. We must be delivered from folly and cry to God to have our cry come near unto Him. For we do not deserve to be heard.
Do your prayers contain this request? Are you sincerely desirous of praising God? A mere desire to be saved from punishment is not enough. The devil and all his followers want that. Love for God will produce a desire to serve and praise God as God almighty and sovereign.
Read:
Psalm 19
Psalter versification: 342:2
(Words and Music of the
Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 247
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Daniel 4:1-37
2 Peter 1:1-21
Psalm 119:97-112
Proverbs 28:17-18
****
Quote for
Reflection:
"True faith confines its view so entirely to
Christ, that it neither knows, nor desires to know, anything else." John Calvin
A CRY FOR HELP
Psalm 119:173, 174
It was the pride that Satan worked into Adam's and Eve's hearts that moved them to commit man's first sin. Man was moved to desire to be like God and not remain a servant of God. And every sin that we commit is due to that sinful pride that is in us from the day of our birth.
Salvation, therefore, requires the removal of that pride. If we are going to be saved from breaking God's law, we must be humbled by the truth that He is God and that we were created to serve and praise Him as God. That is why the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:173, 174: "Let Thine hand help me; for I have chosen Thy precepts. I have longed for Thy salvation, O Lord; and Thy law is my delight."
God's hand must reach down and save us. We are like a drowning man with nothing on which to stand and in need of a hand that will lift us up out of the water and certain death. A cry for this comes out of a humble heart that wants to be lifted out of the sea of sin. Born again, we long for salvation; for God's law is our delight. We do have the old sinful nature, the old man of sin, but also the principle of new life that wants to keep God's law and to praise Him as God. And God, Whose hand put that new life in us, must reach down and strengthen it.
We can see that hand of God more clearly than the psalmist. For we can see Christ, God's right hand, and the pouring out of His Spirit that works in us this prayer as versified in our Psalter:
For Thy salvation I have longed,
And in Thy law is my delight;
Enrich my soul with life divine,
And help me by Thy judgments right.
We must have a divine life in the sense that we must be given the same sinless life that God's Son had when He came in our flesh.
Try to keep God's law in your own strength, and you will not only fail but will drown in added sins. Look instead to Christ Who is not only God's Hand but also sits at God's right hand with power over everything in heaven and on earth. He will lift you completely out of sin into everlasting sinlessness in the day of His return. Cry to Him for help. In God's grace He will give it to you.
Read:
Psalm 130
Psalter versification: 342:3
(Words and Music of the
Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 53
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Daniel 5:1-31
2 Peter 2:1-22
Psalm 119:113-128
Proverbs 28:19-20
****
Quote for
Reflection:
"God the Father not only gives
his Son but also pours out his Spirit. The reference is to Pentecost (
Acts 2:17
,
18, 33). Organically speaking, the Spirit was poured out upon the church of the present
and of the future; for, that Spirit having once established his personal residence in the
church, never leaves it again. Hence, Paul can say, ‘whom he poured out upon us.’"
OUR GREATEST NEED
Psalm 119:175, 176
Are you more concerned about your body than about your soul? There can be no denying of the fact that man is deeply concerned about his body. All the physicians, hospitals, and establishments that manufacture medicines reveal how much man is concerned with the life of his body.
There is nothing wrong with this. Jesus healed many bodies and raised three of them from the dead. But the life and well-being of the soul is far more important and must be there, or our concern for the body is sinful. The psalmist writes: "Let my soul live, and it shall praise Thee; and let Thy judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant; for I do not forget Thy commandments" Psalm 119:175, 176. Our versification has it in these words:
Thy servant like a wandering sheep
Has lost the path and gone astray;
Restore my soul and lead me home,
For Thy commands I would obey.
The undeniable fact is that if our souls are not given the life of Christ, our bodies are going to suffer more misery in the lake of fire than we now know and medicine has temporarily relieved.
What becomes plain here in these last verses of this lengthy Psalm is that the psalmist, and we with him, slip and slide and fall back into sin time and time again. We have only a small beginning of that new obedience. We are like sheep that go astray and cannot find their way back.
Neither by word nor deed do we praise God the way we ought. God must continue to make our souls live, if we are to praise Him by our deeds and by our words.
How important then is it not that we live close to God's word. In it and out of it we learn what our calling is before Him. From it we learn our calling to praise Him and how to do so. That word will show us clearly that we have strayed and how vile and evil we are. We need God's word more than we need daily bread. The life of our souls, that is, the spiritual life of our souls, is far more important than the life of our bodies. With the psalmist we surely should pray, and pray earnestly, that God will let our souls live, that we may praise Him.
Read:
Luke 12:16-34
Psalter versification: 343:3
(Words and Music of the
Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 36
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
****
Daniel 6:1-28
2 Peter 3:1-18
Psalm 119:129-152
Proverbs 28:21-22
Quote for Reflection:
“Those who are truly humbled in their hearts, and brought to place their confidence in God, shall experience how much care he has for his children, and how well he provides for their necessities… after he has afflicted and tried us, he does not forsake us; but after he has molded and trained us by the cross to humility and meekness, he still shows himself to be a wise and provident father in guiding and directing us through life.” John Calvin
TRUSTING IN GOD
Psalm 11:1,2
In an effort to establish peace and to maintain it, a League of Nations was formed. When it failed and a more widespread war broke out, there was formed a United Nations which, instead of fostering peace, manifests increased friction between the nations. And today wars and rumors of war are great in number.
There is one war that has never ceased even for one day, and will soon come to an awesome climax when the anti-christ arises. This war began the day man fell into sin and God announced enmity which He would put between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). Because of that war we do well to heed David's words in Psalm 11:1, 2, namely, "In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrows upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart"
Do not listen to those who tell you to flee as a bird, that is, trust in your own strength and ability to flee to some creature for safety. Tell your soul, your children's souls, and the souls of your fellow church members to put their trust in God. Tell them to sing:
In God will I trust, though my counselors say
O flee as a bird to your mountain away:
The wicked are strong and the righteous are weak,
Foundations are shaken, yet God will I seek.
Even as the nations today have far more powerful weapons than bows and arrows as in David's day, so Satan has far more crafty and powerful means to try to destroy our faith and capture God's church.
Our only hope is in God. And we ought to see more clearly than David could that we should flee to Christ and His cross on which Satan's head was crushed. We ought to flee to Christ Who is at God's right hand and by His Spirit sustains and defends His church. We can look for Him to save us and give complete victory, when He returns on the clouds of heaven.
Read:
Psalm 11
Psalter versification: 20:1
(Words and Music of the
Psalter)
Daily Meditations
on
the
Heidelberg Catechism
Song
for Meditation: Psalter number 315
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One
Year
Read today:
Daniel 7:1-28
1 John 1:1-10
Psalm 119:153-176
Proverbs 28:23-24
****
Quote for Reflection:
"True faith confines its view so entirely to Christ, that it neither knows, nor desires to know, anything else." John Calvin
Go to: December 1