Psalm 119:53,54
A coin has two sides but is by no means two-faced. The two sides do not contradict each other but give us the full picture. Both sides say the same thing only in different ways.
So the child of God is not two-faced when with the psalmist he says, "Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake Thy law. Thy statutes hove been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage," Psalm 119:53-54. Here we have the reaction of the child of God to two contrasting realities. He is horrified when he sees the wicked break God's law. His heart breaks, and he is filled with sadness and indignation. But at the same time he is singing, and his heart is full of joy, because of God's commandments.
What a mirror before which to stand! If sin gives us pleasure, we will not sing God's praises. We will sing about sin and let the radios and tape recorders blare out the sins of the world. Then God's law will fill us with horror and make us sad.
How about it? Stand before that mirror. Do you see yourself as a child of God on his pilgrimage to God's house? Or do you see a person established firmly in this world and its horrible sins? Can you sing this (PRC Psalter):
Wicked men Thy law forsaking
Stirred my indignation strong,
For in all my pilgrim journey
Thy commandments are my song.
What songs did you sing today? And did you enjoy the world enacting sin in the theater or on the TV screen? In church is your soul in it when you sing the songs of Zion that extol God and His law?
The answer to these questions will reveal whether we really are pilgrims here below, who are looking for the new Jerusalem when Christ returns, and where no sin can ever be found. When men see you horrified by sin and joyfully singing God's praises and the beauty of His law, you are like a coin revealing one truth with a positive and negative side. You hate sin but you love God. You cry because of sin, but sing with joy when the love toward God is manifested before you.
Read: Psalm 119:129-136
Psalter versification: #327:3
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #237
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
II Kings 22:3-20
II Kings 23:1-30
Acts 21:1-37
Acts 22:1-16
Psalm 1:1-6
Proverbs 18:11-12
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Quote for Reflection:
"We could say, then, that the mother’s task is to oversee the forging of Christian character and faith in her sons and daughters. The Christian mother is the one who sets the tone in the home for the entire life of the family and children." – Rev. Carl Haak
Additional Info
- Date: 3-July
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.