Psalm 119:63
Who are your friends? In whose company do you delight? Can you sincerely say with the psalmist what he wrote in Psalm 119:63? He wrote, "I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts." Or is there more enjoyment for you to be with those who trample God's law under foot, show no fear of God, and glory in sin?
We do well to note that the fear of God reveals itself in keeping His precepts. Then, too, having the ungodly as your companions does not merely mean literal fellowship with them. It also includes bringing them into your home through your radio and television set to sing their sinful songs and enact sin for your entertainment. How many hours a day are they your companions?
But notice that the psalmist says that he is a companion of those who fear God. This we are, not only when we meet with them in God's house on the Sabbath but also when we visit them in their afflictions, and help them in every way we can to fight the good fight of faith.
That. is why in verse 64 the psalmist writes, "The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy: Teach me Thy statutes.'' Not only is it God's mercy that enables us to become companions of those that fear Him; but we must be taught His statues. And in His mercy, that is in Christ, Who in mercy was sent to make it all possible God teaches us His statutes. As we sing (PRC Psalter):
All those who fear Thy name
Shall my companions be:
Thy mercy fills the earth, O Lord;
Thy statutes teach Thou me.
Did you ever think of it that way? God's mercy teaches us His law and thus makes us companions with those that fear Him. When the policeman looks the other way when we break a traffic law, we call that a merciful act. No, in His mercy God shows us the exactness of His law. For only in God's law is there life. And only through God's law do we see our sins and sinfulness. That makes us see the need of Christ's cross. Without knowing that law, the cross means nothing. Without, knowing that law we cannot have the blessed companionship with Christ which is life everlasting.
Read: John 17
Psalter versification: #328:3
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #354
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
1 Chronicles 15:1ff. ; I Chronicles 16:1-36
Romans 1:18-32
Psalm 10:1-15
Proverbs 19:6-7
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Quote for Reflection:
“For from the error of not knowing, or understanding, what sin is, there necessarily arises another error, that people cannot know or understand what grace is.” – Martin Luther
Additional Info
- Date: 13-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.