Psalm 76:10
In days gone by it looked, and in days to come it will look, as though things momentarily slipped out of God's control. Cain killed Abel. Pharaoh placed all of Jacob's offspring in abject slavery. The Jews killed God's only begotten Son. And pretty soon the antichrist will wreak havoc upon the church of Christ.
But Asaph was used by God to assure us that all is well, and that all things always work together for good. He wrote in Psalm 76:10: "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain." And our versification states it thus (PRC Psalter):
When from heaven
Thy sentence sounded
All the earth in fear was still,
While to save the meek and lowly
God in judgment wrought His will:
E'en the wrath of man shall praise Thee,
Thy designs it shall fulfill.
Absolutely everything that happens praises God, for it all is exactly as He eternally planned it. That cruel and arrogant death of Christ was not due to a momentary loss of control by God. He planned it, as we read in Luke 22:22. He went as God had determined. And therefore God was praised in it as His work of blotting out our sins.
What will not serve God's church will never, no never, happen. Nothing in the future, no matter how terrible the church is persecuted, will not serve the elect children of God to bring them to heavenly glory.
Nothing in your life, no matter how painful and what a loss it may be for the flesh, will to any degree keep you from reaching the exact place in glory that God eternally planned and promised in His word.
The devil, the fallen angels, and all the unbelievers that ever lived on this earth are all tools in God's hand to bring us exactly what we need to be polished, so that we, in the day of Christ, may shine, brightly with the glory of God.
All is well. And we do well to praise God for His constant care and loving kindness which He shows unto us.
Read: Psalm 76
Psalter versification: #207:3
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #240
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Zephaniah 1 ; Zephaniah 2 ; Zephaniah 3
Revelation 10:1-11
Psalm 138:1-8
Proverbs 30:11-14
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Quote for Reflection:
"First, the Levitical priesthood was inadequate, incapable of producing ‘perfection’. Second, therefore it was but a temporary institution, and the whole economy connected with it must be set aside. In other words, Judaism as such, was now defunct. Thus ‘a change of the law’ means a change of dispensation, a change of Divine administration. This at once fixes the meaning of ‘law’ in the parenthetic clause of the previous verse. The reference is not to the ten commandments, but to the Mosaic system" Arthur W. Pink (Exposition of Hebrews, p. 385).
Additional Info
- Date: 19-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.