Psalm 96:10
Among the unbelievers living around us, the events of the day, or the desired events of tomorrow, are so often ascribed to "Mother Nature." And though those unbelievers have no graven image that they worship, they have an idol whom they honor and look up to for what they want. They rule out God and ascribe what happens to a non-existent idol. Truly it is harder to smash in pieces a mental image than one made of wood, stone, or of the hardest kind of metal.
We have the calling, nevertheless, that the psalmist presents in Psalm 96:10 in these words: "Say among the heathen, that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people righteously." Or as our versification sings it (PRC Psalter):
Make all the nations know God reigns forever;
Earth is established as He did decree;
Righteous and just is the King of the nations,
Judging the people with equity.
We do have that calling as surely as the saints did in the Old Testament times. And the sad truth is that so often we ourselves need to be rebuked and told to keep the Psalmist's words. Every time we ascribe anything to luck, or speak of our good luck or bad luck, we reveal that we have a mental image, an idol in our heads, even though we have no graven image of wood or stone.
It is so easy to look down on those with graven images and fail to look into the mirror of God's Word and see that we have a more subtle and crafty idol than those who have idols of gold, silver, brass.
The psalmist, yea, God through the psalmist, calls us to be very careful in our speech before the world and to speak in such a way that we positively say before the world that God reigns. And in these last days, when fear of a nuclear war that will wipe all life from this earth is expressed, we do well to tell the world that this earth will be established as it pleases God, and shall not be moved in any way that He has not eternally decreed. A kingdom of glory is coming.
Read: Psalm 104
Psalter versification: #259:5
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #149
Why not sing along??
****
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Ecclesiastes 10 ; Ecclesiastes 11 ; Ecclesiastes 12:1-14
2 Corinthians 8:1-15
Psalm 49:1-20
Proverbs 22:20-21
****
Quote for Reflection:
"… In short, in order to walk uprightly, we must necessarily put away ‘respect of persons’, which obscures the light and perverts right judgment, as God frequently inculcates in the Law, (Deuteronomy 1:16; 16:19,) and as experience also points out." ~ John Calvin
Additional Info
- Date: 5-September
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.