January 5 Daily Devotional

Devotional:

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. The Father will deny nothing to his Son which relates to the extension of his kingdom to the uttermost ends of the earth. Christ collects the dispersed remnants of his people from all quarters and keeps them joined together by the sacred bond of faith, so that not one corner only, but the whole world, is subjected to his authority.

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned you rulers of the earth. David does not even spare kings or rulers themselves, who seem unrestrained by laws, and exempted from ordinary rules. Much more does his exhortation apply to the common class of men, in order that all, from the highest to the lowest, may humble themselves before God. A speedy repentance is necessary, since they will not always be favoured with the like opportunity. David says be wise. The beginning of true wisdom is when a man lays aside his pride, and submits himself to the authority of Christ and serves him with fear. This service is not grievous, but pleasant and desirable, since it furnishes matter of true gladness. The only true and salutary joy is that which arises from resting in the fear and reverence of God.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way. Since it is the will of God to reign by the hand of his Son, and since he has engraven on his person the marks and insignia of his own glory, the proper proof of our obedience and piety towards him is reverently to embrace his Son, whom he has appointed king over us. The term kiss refers to the solemn token or sign of honour which subjects were accustomed to yield to their sovereigns.

God is defrauded of his honour if he is not served in Christ. The ungodly is warned that the wrath of God will cut them off when they think themselves to be only in the middle of their race. But David, in the end encourages God's faithful and devout servants to entertain good hope, by setting forth the sweetness of his grace. As believers might have applied the severity of which he makes mention, he opens to them a sanctuary of hope, where they may flee, in order not to be overwhelmed by the terror of God's wrath.

Welcome to a one-year devotional by John Calvin (1509-1564) on the Psalms. We are indebted to P & R Publishing for permission to use this copyrighted material from John Calvin: A Heart Aflame on the OPC Web site. In addition to viewing the daily devotional reading here, you may like to purchase a copy of the book A Heart Aflame from P & R Publishing or your local bookstore.

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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