April 27 Daily Devotional

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire. God requires not mere ceremonies of those who serve him, but he is satisfied only with sincerity of heart, with faith and holiness of life: and he takes no pleasure merely in the visible sanctuary, the altar, the burning of incense, the killing of beasts, the lights, the costly apparel, and outward washings. From this David concludes that he ought to be guided by another principle, and to observe another rule in the service of God, than a mere attention to these: that he should yield himself wholly to God.

Then I said, Here I am, I have come. However beautiful and splendid the works of men may appear, yet unless they spring from the living root of the heart, they are nothing better than a mere pretence; and, also, it is to no purpose that the feet, and hands, and eyes are framed for keeping the Law, unless obedience begin at the heart. Moreover, it appears from other places in Scripture, that it is the peculiar office of the Holy Spirit to engrave the Law of God on our hearts. God, it is true, does not perform his work in us as if we were stones or stocks, drawing us to himself, without the feeling or inward moving of our hearts towards him. But as there is in us naturally a will, which, however, is depraved by the corruption of our nature, so that it always inclines us to sin, God changes it for the better, and thus leads us cordially to seek after righteousness, to which our hearts were previously altogether averse. Hence arises the true freedom which we obtain when God frames our hearts, which before were in slavery to sin, unto obedience to himself.

It is written about me in the scroll. Although the literal doctrine of the Law belongs to all men in common, yet as of itself it is dead, and only beats the air. God teaches his own people after another manner; and that, as the inward and effectual teaching of the Spirit is a treasure which belongs peculiarly to them, it is written of them only in the secret book of God, that they should fulfil his will. The voice of God, indeed, resounds throughout the whole world, so that all who do not obey it are rendered inexcusable; but it penetrates into the hearts of the godly alone, for whose salvation it is ordained.

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John Calvin, A Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms, is copyright © 1999 by P & R Publishing Company, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—except for brief quotations for the purpose of review or comment, without the prior permission of the publisher, P & R Publishing Company, P.O. Box 817, Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865-0817.

Unless marked by an asterisk, italic Scripture excerpts preceding Calvin's exposition are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House, all rights reserved. Phrases of Scripture within Calvin's exposition are based on an unidentified older translation, or in rare instances modified to conform to the NIV excerpts preceding Calvin's exposition.

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