Psalm 80:1-2
From the day that man fell into sin, and God promised to send Christ as the Seed of the Woman to save us, the believers have looked and prayed that Christ would come. And although the Old Testament saints did not see the Son of God come into our flesh, they did pray for Him to come.
We sing their prayers in this versification of Psalm 80:1-2 (PRC Psalter):
Great Shepherd Who leadest Thy people in love,
'Mid cherubim dwelling, shine Thou from above;
In might come and save us, Thy people restore,
And we shall he saved when Thy face shines once more.
This was not a literal prayer for Christ's coming in Bethlehem. It was not in their minds a prayer for the wonder of the virgin birth of Christ. But it was a prayer to God that He would visit us with salvation. Literally the psalmist said, "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock Thou that dwellest between the cherubim shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Thy strength, and come and save us."
Nevertheless the very fact that they pray to Him, as the Shepherd of Israel, reveals that in effect they were praying for Christ to come. For He Himself states in John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."
What about you then? Christ has now come and suffered and died for our sins. Do you daily look back at His cross? Do you mention Him in your prayers? Do you ever close your prayers without mentioning this Good Shepherd? Do you plead without a ''For Jesus' sake, Amen'"?
Leave Christ and His cross out of your prayers, and you leave out the only possible ground for the smallest part of the salvation which He earned for His people.
We can and must still pray that He will come again with the full salvation of body and soul. But since He came once and blotted out our sins, we must come to God on the basis of that mighty and important work. The work He did then makes His final coming possible and wonderful.
Read: Psalm 80
Psalter versification: #220:1
Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #217
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Numbers 28:16-31; Numbers 29:1-40
Luke 3:23-38
Psalm 62:1-12
Proverbs 11:18-19
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Quote for Reflection:
True Family Happiness: “O happy is that family, my brethren, which has embraced that God Who says, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people'! Happy for time, and happy for eternity! How can you hope to meet with those whom you love near Christ in heaven, unless with them you seek Christ on earth? How shall you assemble as a family there, if you have not as a family attended to heavenly things here below? But as to the Christian family which shall have been united in Jesus, it will, without doubt, meet around the throne of the glory of Him whom it will have loved without having seen. It will only change its wretched and perishable dwelling for the vast and eternal mansions of God. Instead of being a humble family of the earth, united to the whole family of heaven by the same ties, it will have become an innumerable and glorious family. It will surround the throne of God with the hundred and forty-four thousand, and will say, as it said on earth, but with joy and glory, 'Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.” -J. D’Aubigne
Additional Info
- Date: 19-March
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.