Psalm 119:18
There are in God's law some terrifying statements. He will visit "the iniquity of the fathers upon the children" who hate Him and show this by worshiping images; and He will "not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain." But would you agree with the psalmist when in Psalm 119:18 he writes, "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law"? What is so wonderful about the ten commandments which limit us so severely as to what we may and may not do?
As the psalmist writes in verse 17, God must deal bountifully with us if we are to escape God's wrath and live in His word. Surely we can stand in awe when we see the terrible, everlasting punishment He metes out upon the sinner. But can we see something wonderful in the law itself?
Yes, there is something wonderful in God's law. It is, however, something that only one with whom God has dealt bountifully in His Son, Who died for the violations of His word, and by His Spirit has received a new heavenly life, who sees this. That something is that with our spiritual eye we see God in all His divine majesty. If the law of God shows us anything, it is that He is God, yea, a holy God Who will not wink at one sin! It holds before our eyes the truth that He is a sovereign God, Who owns every creature in heaven and on earth, and has the right to demand perfect, unceasing obedience before Him.
And do not forget that when God opens our eyes, we see with the psalmist that God must deal bountifully with us in His grace, if we are to keep His word and live. That law reveals to us that God must send His only begotten Son into hellish agonies to pay for our transgressions and earn for us a new life that can and will keep His word and bring us to a life of joy before His face in heavenly glory.
Sing it then with the psalmist in our versification (PRC Psalter):
Thy servant, blest by Thee, shall live
And keep Thy word with awe;
Lord, open Thou my eyes to see
The wonders of Thy law.
Read: Psalm 119:17-32
Psalter versification: #323:1
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Judges 8:18-35; Judges 9:1-21
Luke 23:44-56; Luke 24:1-12
Psalm 99:1-9
Proverbs 14:9-10
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Quote for Reflection:
"Like a good shepherd, Christ knows all His believing people. Their names, their families, their dwelling-places, their circumstances, their private history, their experience, their trials, - with all these things Jesus is perfectly acquainted. There is not a thing about the least and lowliest of them with which He is not familiar. The children of this world may not know Christians, and may count their lives folly; but the good Shepherd knows them thoroughly, and, wonderful to say, though He knows them, does not despise them." -- J.C. Ryle
Additional Info
- Date: 28-April
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.