September 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Psalm 113:4-6:

⁴The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
⁵Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
⁶Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

Devotional:

There is also sin when he who seeks to live near unto God does not know how to keep proper distance from Him.

This is sadly evident at times in prayer before and with others, and shows itself at once in the use of "you" in place of "thee" and "thou."

Let this not surprise one too greatly.

In countries where the language still has two forms of address, one more common and one more conventional, it has always been the fixed habit, in prayer to God to use the more familiar form. In French they say: "Notre Pere qui est aux cieux, que ton Nom soil sanctifie;" in English: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name;" and in German: "Unser Vater der du im Himmel bist, dein Name werde geheiliget."

In former times a Dutch child always said you and your to his father, but now it would be considered a breach on his part of the fifth commandment, if he were to address his father otherwise than by thee and thou; and when the healthy appreciation of language even in speaking to an earthly father avoids the use of the common term, it betokens a want of reverence before the Father Who is in heaven, when one shows a certain daring by familiarity of address to Him. It betrays the tendency to show how intimately the man who prays holds converse with his God. And when this is done at the expense of reverence towards God, it becomes sin; even though it must be granted, that with respect to the hidden walk with our God it is a loss that we lack the use of the former more intimate word.

Both what is lofty and what is ordinary have naturally a certain trait in common. A king on his throne is exalted; his butler is but ordinary; yet they have this in common, that their family name is seldom used, and that, as a rule, they are spoken of by their baptismal name. One speaks in England of King George, and almost no one thinks of his family name of Windsor; and, in the same way, every one knows the butler by his first name, but in case of a payment of taxes, his family name is frequently a subject of inquiry.

This has a more hidden cause.

What is lofty diverges from the ordinary measure of our life, and so likewise does that which falls below it.

When in Isaiah (57:15) we read: "Thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit," then here also the lofty and the lowly are mentioned in one breath.

Our ordinary life has a certain measure, a certain form, certain dimensions, certain well known figures and appearances. All these together form our human life. And it is the sin of everything that is called heathen, that it brings the Almighty down to the level of the human. Then an image is made of a man, or of an animal, and this is worshiped, and the profound difference between human life and the Divine life is brought to naught.

And in contrast with this, Holy Scripture discloses the holy sphere of the "lofty;" i.e., of a life, that goes out far and high above our earthly, human life. Already nature gives us a type of it in the firmament that arches itself over us, in the vapors that hasten upward, and in the mighty thunder that rolls through the dark masses of clouds. With a heavy thunder storm, with a hurricane that rages upon the great waters, with an earthquake which makes the ground vibrate under our feet, with a volcano that vomits forth its lava, every one feels that we have to do with powers that exceed the limits of our human life. They are interpreters to us of the existence of a higher, mightier world than ours. And therefore all this takes its place in what we call "loftiness."

"Loftiness" ascends higher, when we lift up our soul and mind to the world of angels and of the blessed ones in everlasting light.

But higher still is the Most High, our God in His Majesty; and every portrayal which in prophecy God Himself gives of the Divine palace and of the Throne of His Almightiness above, lifts itself so far and high above every measure of our ordinary life, that quite of our own accord we honor therein the Unsurpassed in its completeness.

This must be so, in order that we should continue to be man, leave God to be God, and never forget the distance, at which the Creator stands high above the creature.

From the realization of this distance, reverence in worship takes its rise, the kneeling down in lowliness of spirit before His lofty Throne.

But this same God Who dwells in the High and lofty and Holy place, also dwells with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit. This same God Who dwells on high, is also the God Who humbleth Himself to behold things that are in heaven and on the earth (Psalm 113:6).

Among men it frequently happens that the poor and the domestics are treated with far more consideration by those whose positions are assured, than by those of lower social standing. When a subject approaches his king, as a rule he is surprised that his king addresses him so kindly.

And since God the Lord is the High and Lofty One, Who is above every one of us, it is no contradiction, but belongs entirely to the same order, that when He turns Himself to His creature, He refreshes and comforts him by a holy, Divine familiarity.

And for this very reason, sacred reserve becomes every one of us.

Familiarity with the Eternal Being must always be given us of God, and may never be presumed upon by the creature. When man makes bold on his part to obliterate the boundary-line of reverence, then God repulses him. Then man exalts himself at the expense of the loftiness of his Lord, all secret walk with his God is then disturbed; and at length there is nothing left save a vain beating in the air after the Infinite, after a higher Being, a higher blessing, a name without content, a sound that volatilizes; and he has lost his God and his Father.

The Our Father puts us, therefore, under solemn restraint. By grace we are permitted to call upon God as. "Our Father;" but, that reverence might be retained, there follows at once the "Who art in heaven," in order that, as a Catechism warns us, "we should not think of God in an earthly way."

That our God is the High, the Holy and the Lofty One who dwelleth on high, and that in the face of this there is a hidden walk with Him, since He humbleth Himself to behold the things in the earth, creates of itself a two-fold endeavor to overcome the distance that separates us from Him.

One is, that God comes down to us; the second is, that we lift up our souls to Him.

It begins with the first—the second follows.

In paradise after the fall, God comes down to Adam, and this bending down of Himself to us on the part of God, goes on throughout all Revelation. In the manger of Bethlehem this coming down consummates itself in behalf of our entire race. At the great Pentecost in Jerusalem, God the Holy Ghost descends into human hearts. Even now this descent of God continues with every soul that passes from death unto life. Then God comes to take up His abode in the heart. He prays for us, in us, with groanings that can not be uttered, and He Who dwelleth on high, dwells at the same time in the contrite heart.

And then, parallel with this, runs the lifting up of our soul to God. "Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul" (Psalm 25:1). What we then seek is that we might dwell in the house of the Lord, to take refuge in Him as our High Tower, and to live outside of this life in order that we might dwell with the Holy One. "Seek the things that are above, where Christ is" (Colossians 3:1), and "to you will be given walks among those that are above" (Zechariah 3:7, Dutch Bible footnote).

When God comes down to you, the idol of your own self, like Dagon's image, must be thrown down; but when this is done, when your spirit is contrite, and you have come down from your imagined loftiness to a humbler estimate of yourself, then the wall of separation falls down, the distance lessens, and at length the moment comes that you feel God with you in your own heart, and that you can not be otherwise than near unto Him.

The result truly shows that reverence before the Almighty is most deeply vital and most richly evident with those who stand nearest to God. And that, on the other hand, with the many who have never yet taken part in the hidden walk with God, all salutary fear, all awe, all reverence before the Lord our God is more and more lost, even to this extent, that, recklessly and thoughtlessly, they continually abuse His holy Name by using it as an expletive in their ordinary conversation.

It is by grace, and nothing but grace, that the High and Lofty One incorporates his vain creature into His confidence, admits him to His hidden walk, permits him to enter His tent, and visits him in his heart; and they alone taste the joy of this wonderful privilege, who receive this grace with thankfulness and with adoring praise.

And theirs alone is the promise, that once they themselves will pass over from this earthly into the heavenly state, that they may dwell in the High and Lofty place, in the Father-house, with their God.

This devotional classic offers 110 meditations on a single thought from Psalm 73: "As for me, it is good to be near to God." The author states, "The fellowship of being near unto God must become reality ... it must permeate and give color to our feeling, our perceptions, our sensations, our thinking, our imagining, our willing, our acting, our speaking. It must not stand as a foreign factor in our life, but it must be the passion that breathes throughout our whole existence."

The meditations reflect the blending of spiritual vigor with doctrinal loyalty so consistently expressed in the life of Abraham Kuyper. These are devotions with true substance, avoiding the extremes about which Kuyper adds a word of caution: "Stress in creedal confession, without drinking from the Living Fountain, runs dry in barren orthodoxy, just as truly as spiritual emotion, without clearness in confessional standards, makes one sink in the bog of sickly mysticism."

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a Dutch political leader and Calvinist theologian. Elected to parliament in 1874, he became Prime Minister in 1901 and served in that capacity until 1905. As a theologian, he revived a systematic, orthodox Calvinism. He founded the Free Reformed Church and the Free University of Amsterdam. His other works include Principles of Sacred Theology, Lectures on Calvinism, and The Work of the Holy Spirit

Further information about Abraham Kuyper's life can be seen in the translator's "Biographical Note"; further information about To Be Near Unto God can be Abraham Kuyper's "Preface" to that book.