Psalm 33:12
Did you ever hear of a dead man asking for something? Before he dies he may have chosen where he would be buried, and in what type of coffin. But after he died, he could not ask for a drink of water, ask to be brought back to life, or for that matter for anything of any person here below. And so it is with all of us who by nature were born spiritually dead. We cannot ask to be chosen, to be those God would save from their sins and bring to heavenly glory. Dead men do nothing.
God, however, chose some whom He would save, and to whom He would give spiritual life. The psalmist wrote of this in Psalm 33:12 in these words, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance." He chose us. We did not choose Him. By nature, being spiritually dead, we can only do what Adam and Eve did. We can choose to follow Satan in his lie and seek to satisfy our sinful flesh. But God chose to change us and to make us members of a nation that bows before Him and worships Him as their God.
Sing it then with the psalmist in our versification of his words:
O truly is that nation blest
Whose God before the world confessed
Jehovah is alone;
And blest the people is whom He
Has made His heritage to be,
And chosen for His own.
Here in the Psalms we read of the truth of predestination, the truth that God eternally chose some to make them spiritually alive, and as a kingdom or nation that loves and glorifies Him.
Surely we owe God everlasting thanks; and He owes us absolutely nothing. Keep that in mind all day. Give Him all the glory due unto His name. Confess Him to be the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the one Who planned all things and worked them out exactly according to that plan.
Do we not read in Ephesians 1:4 that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world'? Surely we owe God endless thanks.
Read Psalm 33
Psalter versification: #86:3
Daily Meditations
on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #76
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Deuteronomy 34; Joshua 1; Joshua 2
Luke 13:22-35; Luke 14:1-6
Psalm 79:1-13
Proverbs 12:26
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Quote for Reflection:
God's chosen ones are spoken of as "vessels of mercy." A "vessel" is not a fountain, but only a container and holder of that which is poured out into it. Such are the redeemed of God; they are not fountains by nature, out of whom there springs up anything which is good; they are simply receivers. At one time they are full of themselves, but grace empties them, and then as empty vessels they are set in the way of God's goodness; God fills them to the brim with His lovingkindness, and so they are proved to be the vessels of His mercy. They may as "vessels" afterwards give out what God has put in them; they may work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, but they cannot work it out unless God works in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure. They may run over with gratitude, but it is only because God has filled them with grace; they may stream forth with holiness, but it is only because the Lord keeps the supply overflowing. They are receivers and receivers only. -- Charles H. Spurgeon
Additional Info
- Date: 10-April
