Psalm 19:14
The heavens declare the glory of God, but in a way that they are not heard by the human ear. Man, however, was created in such a way that he could, with words that his fellow men could hear, speak of the glory of God. And he who truly hears the heavens declare God's glory will with his mouth speak words that glorify Him. The more he hears the heavens declare God's glory, the more he will want strength and desire to open his mouth to extol God for that glory. He will with David pray, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer," Psalm 19:14.
David gets to the heart of the matter when he prays that the meditations of his heart may be acceptable to God. Words that are simply spoken by the mouth, and that come not out of a heart that loves God, are mockery and do not glorify God. Simply speaking the words with the lips is doing less than the heavens, for such words are spoken for the glory of self and not of God.
The heart is the spiritual center of our being; and our glorifying of God must come from that center and move the lips, or we sin against God by our words. Then we are by no means acceptable in His sight by the words we speak. And our prayer must be for the desire and strength to glorify Him from the bottom of our hearts.
David expresses this when he prays to God as his strength and redeemer. As our strength He must give us the ability. As our redeemer He must deliver us from seeking self, and fill us with the life that desires to glorify Him.
How important, as well as beautiful, it is for us, in the midst of a world that denies God, to confess Him and His glory. And to do this, not only on the Sabbath in His house of prayer, but daily before the family and neighbors. Make this then your prayer:
I pray that my words and my thoughts
May all with Thy precepts accord,
And ever be pleasing to Thee,
My Rock, my Redeemer my Lord.
Read: James 3
Psalter versification: 40:6
Song for Meditation: Psalter #229
Why not sing along??
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Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Exodus 29 ; Exodus 30:1-10
Matthew 26:14-46
Psalm 31:19-24
Proverbs 8:14-26
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Quote for Reflection:
"The Lord does not begin a totally new work with the appearance of Abram on the stage of history. It is not a new covenant that is established with Abram, but the same covenant that God had established with Shem and with Noah and with the prediluvian patriarchs, dating back to the protevangel immediately after the fall. God’s covenant is always the relation of friendship between himself and his people, and is essentially the same covenant throughout history. That covenant of God certainly passes through a history. The nature of that history, however, is not that it consists of several separate works or dispensations, totally unrelated to one another. Rather, the history of God’s covenant is characterized by the fact that the covenant advances and develops and increasingly approximates its ultimate realization as determined in God’s eternal counsel. God’s final purpose is to bring his covenant to the highest conceivable glory; toward that goal all the history of his covenant must lead." (Unfolding Covenant History, vol. 2, p. 101). -- Homer C. Hoeksema
Additional Info
- Date: 9-February
