Receiving Comfort in Judgment

27 MAY

I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the right, and I shall behold His righteousness. Micah 7:9

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 103:1-12

After the church confesses her sin against God, she turns her eyes elsewhere. She says she was unjustly oppressed by her enemies, and they were led to do wrong by cruelty alone. She thus entertains the hope and expectation that God will defend her innocence and punish the wicked. Yet she humbly acknowledges that she too has sinned against God.

Whenever our enemies do us harm, let us lay hold of the truth that God will be our defender, for He is the patron of justice and equity. He will not abandon us to the violence of the wicked. He will at length heed our pleading, undertake our cause, and be our advocate.

In the meantime, let us be mindful of our sins so that in true humiliation before God we may not hope for the salvation that He promises to us except through His gracious pardon.

Why, then, are the faithful bidden to be of good comfort in their afflictions? Because God promises to be their Father. He receives them under His protection and testifies that His help to them shall never be wanting. But how can they be confident of this? Is it because they are worthy? Is it because they deserve something like this?

By no means, for they acknowledge themselves to be guilty when they humbly prostrate themselves before God and willingly condemn themselves before His tribunal, so that they may anticipate His judgment. 

We now see how the prophet connects these two things, comfort and judgment, which might otherwise seem contradictory.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION:

The wonder of grace is clearly demonstrated in God's willingness to protect and preserve those who have grievously sinned against Him. Though we are sinners, we may confidently plead for the justice of God - the very justice that we have offended - against our enemies for Christ's sake.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Distinguishing the Truth

20 MAY

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. Micah 3:9

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: John 16: 12-16

God’s servants ought to courageously break through those obstacles that Satan uses either to delay or to force them backward. In addition, the godly ought to wisely distinguish between the faithful servants of God and impostors who falsely pretend his name. Then no one who wants truly and from the heart to obey God will be deceived, for the Lord give him the spirit of judgment and discrimination.

The reason why many miserable souls today are led to endless ruin is because they either shut their eyes or willfully involve themselves in such subterfuges as the following: “I cannot form any judgment, for I see on both sides learned and celebrated men, who are in some repute and esteemed. Some call me to the right hand and others to the left. So where am I to go? I therefore prefer to close my mouth and my ears.” Seeking a cloak for their sloth, many thus manifest their ignorance, for we see that the eyes of the godly will be opened when the Lord exercises and tries their faith.

God allows discords and contentions to rise in the church so that some may choose one way and others another way. Though God relaxes the reins of Satan so that contests and turmoil of all kinds may arise in the church, it is no excuse for us not to follow what the Lord prescribes, for God will always guide by His Spirit, provided we do not foster our own sloth.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION:

In our day, indecision has become endemic. What is more, we have developed philosophies to justify our indecision. If some think one way and others another, we justify taking no position by saying the truth too hard to discern. But God has not left is to stumble around in such uncertainty; He has given us His sure Word and His Holy Spirit. We can know the truth, and we must daily strive to find it.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Deep Forgiveness

4 MARCH

If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments... Psalm 89: 30-31

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Samuel 12:1-14

The psalmist does not speak of total apostasy here, implying the total absence of godliness in people who forsake God’s law and do not walk in His judgments. But sometimes the faithful cast off the yoke of God and break forth into sin in such a way that the fear of God seems to be extinguished in them. Therefore it is necessary for God to promise the pardon even of heinous sins, so that those who commit them are not overwhelmed with despair.

David, who seems by outward appearances to be wholly deprived of the Spirit of God, thus prays to be restored to Him. God provides hope of pardon even for those who commit detestable and deadly transgressions so that the enormity of their sins may not keep them back or hinder them from seeking reconciliation with Him.

From this we may condemn the undue severity of the fathers whose scruples did not allow them to receive those who repented from falling for the second of third time. Due care must be taken lest by too great a forbearance we give loose reins to people to commit iniquity. But there is no less danger in exercising an extreme degree of rigor. We should note that when God declares that He will show Himself merciful toward sinners who have violated His law and broken His commandments, He purposely employs those odious terms to excite our hatred and detestation of sin, not to entice us to commit it.

Although the faithful may not always act in manner worthy of the grace of God and may therefore deserve to be rejected by Him, yet He will be merciful to them because the remissions of sins is an essential article promised in God’s covenant with us.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: What a comfort it is to know that God’s forgiveness is deep enough to cover all sin and terrible times of backsliding! Praise God for this forgiveness and for its purpose: to make sin more repulsive and Christ more attractive. How does its depth motivate us toward holiness rather than sinfulness?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Understanding Their End

27 FEBRUARY

Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Psalm 73:17

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Revelation 20:11-21:8

The end of the wicked that David mentions here does not refer to their exit from the world or their departure from the present life, which is true of all men. Why then did David need to enter into the sanctuary of God to understand that? No, the word end here refers to the judgment of God, by which he makes clear that, even when God is thought to be asleep, He is only delaying for a time the execution of the punishment that the wicked deserve.

This must be further explained. If we would learn from God what the condition of the ungodly is, we must understand that, after they have flourished for a short time, they will suddenly decay. Though they happen to enjoy a time of prosperity now and until death, yet that means nothing compared to the nothingness of their life.

God declares that all the wicked shall perish in misery. If we see Him executing vengeance upon the wicked in this life, we must remember that it is the judgment of God. On the contrary, if we do not see punishment inflicted on them in this world, let us not presume that they have escaped punishment or that they are the objects of divine favor and approbation. Rather, let us suspend our judgment, since the last day has not yet arrived.

In short, if we would rightly profit by addressing ourselves to the consideration of the works of God, we must first beseech Him to open our eyes, for only sheer fools would presume to be clear-sighted and of a penetrating judgment. Second, we must give all due respect to God’s Word by assigning to it that authority to which it is entitled.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: We miss so much truth around us when we fail to observe the world through the lens of the Bible. The wicked often prosper and, without God’s revelation of their end, we might be tempted to envy them. Thank God for His Word, by which we can see this more clearly and remain more content with what we possess. How else can this truth promote genuine contentment and keep us from controversies?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Arise, Our God

31 January

Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in Thy sight.

Psalm 9:19

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Revelation 20: 11-15

One more reason to induce God to avenge the injuries done to His people is that man may not prevail, David says, for when God arises, the ungodly must fall down and give way. When the wicked become audaciously insolent or have great power to work mischief, is it not because God is still and gives them loose reins? But, when God does arise, He will put a stop to their proud tumults and break their strength and power with His nod alone.

In praying for God to arise, we learn that no matter how insolent and proud and boastful our enemies may be, they are still under the hand of God and can do no more than what He permits them to do. Furthermore, God can, whenever He pleases, render all their endeavors vain and ineffectual. The psalmist, therefore, in speaking of the wicked, calls them man. The word in the original is derived from a root signifying misery or wretchedness. So it is as if the psalmist calls these enemies mortal or frail man.

The psalmist also beseeches God to judge the heathen in His sight. God does this when He compels evildoers, by one means or another, to appear before His judgment seat. Unless such unbelievers are dragged by force into the presence of God, they will turn their backs upon God as much as they can to exclude from their minds all thoughts of Him as their Judge.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: Are you ever tempted to despair, thinking that wicked people may bring you down, especially when you are walking in dependence on God? Remind yourself of this Psalm’s lesson that God is powerful enough to undo all wickedness with one word. How might He arise in your life, proving His almighty power against evildoers?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke