Psalm 119:161-162
To think that a thing is good is one thing. To rejoice in that thing is something else. There are times when surgery is good for us, because it will relieve a misery, or even prevent death that threatens. But who rejoices in the surgery itself? The pain thereof may last for days and weeks.
The same thing is true, only in a more powerful way, when we think of God's word and His law therein. We are ready to agree that it is good that God forbids the neighbor to steal, bear false witness, and kill. But do we rejoice in that law? All our violations of both tables of the law show that we do not rejoice in that law.
The psalmist did rejoice in God's word and wrote in Psalm 119:161-162, "Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil." And our versification puts it this way (PRC Psalter):
Though mighty foes assail me, Lord,
I fear not them but Thee;
As boundless wealth and priceless spoil,
Thy word rejoices me.
It is plain, is it not, that the psalmist writes this while he was in great trouble? Rulers, men in authority who had power to hurt him severely, were persecuting him. He could escape the pain and fear if he would turn from God's word. But no, he rejoices in it, and his heart stands in awe of His word. That word he deemed valuable. His heart went out to it as a man's heart does when in a battle he obtains an abundance of gold and silver.
How much of that rejoicing in God's word do you find? Do you look forward to hearing it expounded on the Sabbath day? Do you sing it with other children of God because of the words, rather than because of the music?
Do you read it thoughtfully; and does it taste better to you than the food you just ate? Do you study it and give deep thought to it? How many minutes in the day do you spend thinking about what God wrote in His word? Do you look for Christ in every chapter?
Read: Psalm 119:161-176
Psalter versification: #341:1
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #219
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Ezekiel 21 ; Ezekiel 22:1-31
Hebrews 10:1-17
Psalm 108:1-13
Proverbs 27:12
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Quote for Reflection:
"Man's heart is restless till it finds its rest in God. There is no resting place in this world or in anything it contains. Godliness with contentment is great gain, but all gain without godly contentment is frustration. Coveting is a fire, the more you feed it, the more it burns. ...So the more a person's coveting is satisfied, the more it is unsatisfied. The more he gets, the more he wants. Coveting grows larger and larger with every satisfaction, and in the end the person is more miserable than at the beginning." ~John Gerstner, Reasons for Duty
Additional Info
- Date: 10-November
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.