The Church's Absolute Safety

Psalm 48:8

    On every coin used in our country we read: "In God we trust."  How wonderful it would be if that were true. We then would be saying with the psalmist, "As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever"  Psalm 48:8.

    The psalmist is here referring to God's church, not the city of Jerusalem as such. And our versification has it thus (PRC Psalter):

    Within her dwellings for defense
    Our God has made His presence known.
    And hostile kings, in sudden fear,
    Have fled as ships by tempest blown.
    With our own eyes we have beheld
    What oft our fathers told before,
    That God Who in His Zion dwells
    Will keep her safely evermore.

    Although this refers to the days when Israel dwelt in Canaan and God dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem, this truth holds true for the church of all ages. God's church is safe, absolutely safe. As the psalmist wrote in verse 3, "God is known in her palaces for a refuge."

    The church has, and from the dawn of history had, powerful and fierce enemies. Do not forget that the day man fell God told him that there would be enmity between him and his seed and between the devil and his evil kingdom. But do not forget also that God told the church then already that she has the victory. Her heel would be bruised. But the serpent's head would be crushed! (Gen. 3:15).

    Remember also that Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church (Matt. 16:18). And take hold of the first verse in this Psalm: "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised."

    There will be some rough days ahead for the church. We who have heard of what God did to destroy Pharaoh's hold on Israel, and of how He performed amazing miracles in the wilderness and gave them the whole promised land, also know of the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. He is our refuge and will establish His church and give her the new creation with all its blessedness. We are safe, absolutely safe. Our great God will take care of us.

Read: Revelation 21 
Psalter versification: #131:3, 4
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #230
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
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Ezekiel 40:28-49 ; Ezekiel 41 
James 4:1-17 
Psalm 118:19-29 
Proverbs 28:3-5

Quote for Reflection:

    "Those who have properly studied and learned the Catechism,   are generally better prepared to understand and appreciate the sermons which they hear from time to time, inasmuch as they can easily refer and reduce those things which they hear out of the Word of God, to the different heads of the catechism to which they appropriately belong, whilst, on the other hand, those who have not enjoyed this preparatory training, hear sermons for the most part,with but little profit to themselves."  --Zacharias Ursinus (Author of the Heidelberg Catechism), "What is Catechism?"