Wholehearted Praise

Psalm 9:1,2

    Many years ago, when our country was at war, a soldier wrote and said that the chaplain had preached on the subject of heaven, and said that his first fifty years there, he was going to fish and hunt. Plainly he knew nothing about heaven. And we ourselves often entertain foolish notions about life in the new Jerusalem.

    But listen to David as in Psalm 9:1,2 he writes, "I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in Thee: I will sing praise to Thee, O most High.''

    Do you want that kind of heaven?  Then you will now want to praise Him, show His marvelous works and rejoice in Him. Or as we sing it (PRC Psalter):

    O Lord Most High, with all my heart
    Thy wondrous works I will proclaim;
    I will be glad and give Thee thanks
    And sing the praises of Thy name.

    Now if it is true that we look forward to such a life, it is true that we purpose the remainder of our lives here below to praise God's name, because we rejoice in Him Who wrought such marvelous works through His Son, with Whom we will live in the glory of His kingdom.

    What a marvelous work He wrought in that Son! We are still under the curse that rests upon us in this vale of tears. Our bodies also are not yet glorified. But what a huge load of sin has He removed.  It may be threescore years, and thus 25,550 days of sin which we committed. Multiply that by an innumerable host of saints, whose sins have been paid in full, and what a marvelous work that is! All accomplished by pouring out His holy wrath on that Son.

    What a reason we have to be glad and rejoice in our God with such love for is! What a reason to praise Him and thank Him. We need an everlasting life to do that. And it is promised us. What is more, there it will indeed be a wholehearted praise of people who are spiritually glad.

Read: Psalm 9 
Psalter versification: #17:1

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
II Samuel 7 
II Samuel 8 
  John 14:15-31 
Psalm 119:33-48 
Proverbs 15:33

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Quote for Reflection:

"…We are not curiously to inquire about the election of our brethren, but ought on the contrary to regard their calling, so that all who are admitted by faith into the church, are to be counted as the elect; for God thus separates them from the world, which is a sign of election. It is no objection to say that many fall away, having nothing but the semblance; for it is the judgment of charity and not of faith, when we deem all those elect in whom appears the mark of God’s adoption." – John Calvin