All of Our Salvation, God's Work

Tuesday the 15th of April

in Meditations I

Psalm 52:9

It is not without good reason that God in His word warns us not to boast of our faith and new life. Through Paul He tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we are saved by grace in such a way that faith also is a gift, so that there is no room for us to boast of having contributed even the desire for salvation. That too He gives us through His Son.

This truth He gave us the very day we fell into sin. For then He told us that through His Son He would put enmity in us against the devil and the sin into which he led us. David says this too in Psalm 52:9, where we read, "I will praise Thee forever, because Thou hast done it: and I will wait on Thy name; for it is good before the saints."

A few lines we may fruitfully commit to memory are the versification (PRC Psalter):

    I put my trust in God alone,
    For evermore I trust His grace,
    And like the trees within His courts
    I flourish in a favored place.
    With endless thanks, O Lord, to Thee.
    Thy wondrous works will I proclaim:
    And in the presence of Thy saints
    Will ever hope in Thy good name.

Yes, in the most absolute sense, when we speak of salvation we must say with David, "Thou didst it, and I will wait on Thy name." Always and every step of our way we must sing: "I put my trust in God alone, for evermore I trust His grace.''

Be conceited and think that you stand in your own strength, and you have already fallen. And your trust in God has been replaced by trust in self. Boast of having accepted Christ before He came into your heart, and you cannot sing: "I will praise Thee forever, because Thou hast done it.''

No, let us love the truth we sing every Sabbath day: "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow." Let us wait on God's name and then confess that even this waiting is His gift unto us. May our thanks to God be endless so that it includes the desire for salvation. One of the things from which we must he saved is the idea that we let Christ come into our hearts,. May we receive grace to say of His entrance, "I will praise Thee for ever, because Thou didst it."

Read: John 10:14-29 
Psalter versification: #145:5-6
(Words and Music of the Psalter)

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Joshua 11 ; Joshua 12 
Luke 17:11-37 
Psalm 84:1-12 
Proverbs 13:5-6 
****

Quote for Reflection:

"The way then may be dark and dreary, steep and almost impassable, a way of suffering and affliction. And we may not understand the way of the Lord. Nor do we have to understand. We know that both the way and the end are determined by the same love which He revealed in the death of His only begotten Son. And we trust, simply trust, following where He leads; asking no question; knowing that all things work together for our good. His counsel is a counsel of love, of perfect wisdom, of never failing power. All is well!" -- Herman Hoeksema


  • Knowing God in His Faithfulness

    Psalm 9:10

        Although it may not look that way because we closed our eyes, yet God is always faithful and can be trusted to do fully all that which He promised us. Even though on a cloudy night we cannot see the moon or the stars, they are there above us in the sky; and it is folly to say that they are not there, just because we cannot see them. Yet so often we go by what our fleshly eyes see or cannot see and behave as though what the eye of faith sees does not exist. For we have closed our eye of faith and judge all things by what our fleshly eye sees.

        David warns us against this when in Psalm 9:10 he writes, "And they that have known Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, 0 Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.''  David here uses the name Elohim, the Almighty One, and that name says that all the creatures have strength only when and in the measure that God gives it to them. And therefore knowing God's name means that we know and see Him with the eye of faith as the one Who has every creature large or small, animate or inanimate, in the angel world or in the world of men, completely under His control. They can only do what He eternally decreed that they would do, and what He gives them the strength to do.

        No wonder then that David says that those who know God's name can trust Him and see that He never forsakes one of His children. And with David we can sing:

        All they, O Lord, that know Thy name
        Their confidence in Thee will place,
        For Thou hast ne'er forsaken them
        Who earnestly have sought Thy face.

        Consider then that, since our God is almighty, no one can prevent Him from doing what He promised us, and no one has the strength to make Him change His mind. See Him then in that name, with your eye of faith, as an unchangeably faithful God Who will destroy all your enemies and bring you to glory. And when things look bad, as far as the eye of flesh is concerned, look at Him with the eye of faith.

    Read: Revelation 20 
    Psalter versification: #17:2

    Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

    Through the Bible in One Year
    Read today:
    II Samuel 12 
      John 16 
    Psalm 119:65-80 
    Proverbs 16:4-5

    ****
    Quote for Reflection:

    "… And assuredly, when we consider that the sluggishness of our flesh hinders us from elevating our minds to the height of the divine majesty, in vain would God call us to himself, did he not at the same time, on his part, come down to us; or, did he not at least, by the interposition of means, stretch out his hand to us, so to speak, in order to lift us up to himself."  –  John Calvin

    Last modified on 26 May 2019

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    • Date: 27-May

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