Psalm 26:11, 12
Reversing the letters of a word can make it take on an entirely different meaning. Change top to pot, or saw to was, and you are mentioning things in entirely different fields. Change just one letter in a word, and again you radically change the meaning. Coat and cost, smell and small, bring entirely new ideas to mind.
Tomorrow we should change one letter and not imitate the world. Many tomorrow will say, "Merry Christmas." Believers understanding the real meaning of Christmas will not speak of being merry but of God's mercy which realized all that this day signifies.
If there is one thing that is usually far in the background, or completely ruled out on Christmas Day, it is God's mercy, even though in it He sent His only begotten Son to be our Savior. A song we ought to sing every day but surely on Christmas is (PRC Psalter):
Redeemed by Thee,
I stand secure
In peace and happiness;
And in the Church,
Among the saints,
Jehovah I will bless.
The word mercy is not literally to be found here; but in Psalm 26:11, 12, upon which our versification is based we read: "But as for me, I will walk in my integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregation will I bless the Lord." And surely he will bless the Lord because of His mercy.
Did not Zacharias say in Luke 1:72 that Christ was sent "to perform the mercy promised to our fathers"? And then in verse 78 he states, "Through the tender mercy of our God: whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us."
Today, and surely tomorrow, bless God for His mercy. Keep in your mind the salvation God realized for us through His Son. Keep your feet on even ground, not spiritual today and carnal tomorrow; not briefly considering things that make your salvation sure, and then brushing it all aside to have fleshly merriment. Let your greetings tomorrow speak of a blessed Christmas, not a merry Christmas. Let God's mercy shine forth, and praise Him for His merciful gift.
Read: Luke 1:39-56
Psalter versification: #69:7
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #140
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Zechariah 6 ; Zechariah 7:1-14
Revelation 15:1-8
Psalm 143:1-12
Proverbs 30:24-28
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Quote for Reflection:
What a glorious and significant festival is the feast of Pentecost! It is the feast of the union of heaven and earth, the feast of God’s betrothal with redeemed man, the birthday feast of the New Testament Church, the harvest home of those who have been “brought nigh by the blood of Christ.” What would all the other festivals of our Church be without this one? They would be only messengers extolling acts of beneficence in which we ourselves might never hope to share; heralds, inviting us to a marriage supper, the entrance to which we could never find. Whitsuntide (Pentecost!) enables us to enjoy those splendors which the other feasts have disclosed to our view. Whitsuntide brings to us the cupbearer, as it were, who first crushes the divine grapes of Christ’s merits in the goblet, and presents it to us as a restorative draught. Let us therefore congratulate ourselves upon the joyous harvest-day of the new covenant, and may the Lord attune our souls to higher songs of gratitude and praise! ~ F.W. Krummacher, “The Risen Redeemer”
Additional Info
- Date: 24-December
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.