Psalm 119:9
Throughout the day we wash our hands. Our clothes also need periodic washing to remove the grime they collect. But far more important is it that we cleanse our way. And cleansing our way is straightening out our walk of life so that we walk in love toward God.
That is why the psalmist writes in Psalm 119:9, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word." And it is not because young men sin more than older people that the psalmist writes these words. It is because if we do not learn how to cleanse our way in the days of our youth, we will spend our whole pilgrimage here below walking to destruction.
Now it is God's law that points out for us the way of life. And since we are born on the way that leads to everlasting woe in the lake of fire of God's holy wrath, we need to know this and where to walk to be pleasing in the sight of Him Who created us in His own image and calls us to walk in love to Him.
We all, whether we are young or old, wisely sing (PRC Psalter):
How shall the young direct their way?
What light shall be their perfect guide?
Thy word, O Lord, will safely lead,
If in its wisdom they confide.
And although in His grace God will reward us for such a walk, we do not earn anything by serving Him. Consider once that we walk on His earth, breathe His air, eat His food and drink His water, are given every heartbeat by Him, have received bodies and souls from Him with their talents and abilities. We owe Him for everything we have and are. Yea, we owe Him for His Son and the salvation we have in Him. Can we earn something by our good works? No, we are everlastingly indebted to God and owe Him everlasting and continuous thanks. We need, therefore, to be cleansed of our pride whereby we think that we have given God something. Cleanse your way of that conceit by taking heed to His Word that teaches us that in Him we live, move, and have all our being.
Read: Psalm 119:9-24
Psalter versification: #322:1
(Words and Music of the Psalter)
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Joshua 15
Luke 18:18-43
Psalm 86:1-17
Proverbs 13:9-10
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Quote for Reflection:
“Although many pretend to be Christians, they neither worship God, nor pay him homage, nor render him that service that is properly his. For how does the name of God fare? Men cannot even trade for a quart of wine without swearing…And if our zeal for God arouses our anger when his name is thus disrespected, then look out for the quarreling, the spitefulness, and grinding of teeth that will follow. The fact the world has such spite for God and has become callous toward his name is a sign that people no longer know his majesty. Moreover, they justify it under the pretext that it is the customary thing to take God’s name in vain. Yet in the end, God reveals that his name is dearer to him than men have held it, and that if we make it cheap we will dearly pay for it.” (John Calvin, Sermons on the Ten Commandments).
Additional Info
- Date: 17-April
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.