Meditations

Voice of True Thanksgiving

Psalm 26:6,7

    It now becomes plain as to what sins David was accused of committing. In Psalm 26:3 we read,  "I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evildoers: and will not sit with the wicked." He is not a companion of evil doers. They are not his friends and companions. He does not walk with them in their deceit and godlessness.

    However he does know that he has sinful flesh and has in many ways sinned against God. Therefore be continues: "I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass Thine altar; O Lord: that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works" Psalm 26:6-7.

    Today he would write: "I do not deny that I often sin; but I flee to the cross of Christ to wash my sins away. I walk about His cross typically presented by an altar in the temple. I encircle it with the confidence that Christ's blood washes away my sins. In all this I see God's wonderful work: and it moves me to tell and sing of my thankfulness to Him."

    How about it? All around us are Christmas lights and decorations. On radio increasingly we hear Christmas carols sung. For weeks the stores have been displaying and advertising Christmas presents. You would think that Christmas is a wonderful day for mankind. It seems to be the greatest day in the year!

    For all men that is certainly not true. For most men all this is vain, that is, empty, utterly devoid of thanksgiving to God and of spiritual significance. Let us rather sincerely sing:

    My hands I wash in innocence
    And seek Thy altar, Lord,
    That there I may with thankful voice
    Thy wondrous works record.

    Is that not our calling on Christmas Day'? God's gift to us must speak to us. Without Christ's birth that altar in the temple had no meaning: and our hands would never lose their awful guilt. Our gift on Christmas must be thankful praise to God for His gift to us.

Read: Isaiah 55 
Psalter versification: 69:3
 

Daily  Meditations
 on the 
Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter number 376
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Zechariah 2 ; Zechariah 3:1-10 
Revelation 13:1-18 
Psalm 141:1-10 
Proverbs 30:18-20 
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Quote for Reflection:

"Any person who would function as a priest in the line of Melchizedek could not assume the priestly office according to the order of Levi, for the simple reason that he was not a Levite. So if Psalm 110 anticipates the appearance of a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, then a whole new legal structure would have to be put into effect. This new law of the new priestly order would presumably make ‘perfection’ possible for the people of God in a way in which it was not possible under the old law and the Levitical priesthood. This change of the priestly order has significant implications for the worship practices of the people of the new covenant. The laws of the Levitical priesthood involved the continual offering of sacrifices in association with specified festivals and holy days. The ritual of these cultic celebrations was not complete without the accompanying sacrifices. But if a new priestly order supersedes the Levitical order, then the framework for the offering of the required sacrifices has come to an end. As a consequence, the festivals and holy days cannot be carried out according to the law of the Levitical priesthood. The entire manner of worship must be changed when the priestly order changes" O. Palmer Robertson (The Israel of God, p. 68).

Last modified on 23 December 2013

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  • Date: 22-December
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