Today’s devotion comes from Psalm 89:19-52. Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+89&version=NASB
I quote only the following verses.
“19 Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones,
And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 “I have found David My servant;
With My holy oil I have anointed him,
21 With whom My hand will be established;
My arm also will strengthen him.
22 “The enemy will not deceive him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23 “But I shall crush his adversaries before him,
And strike those who hate him.
24 “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,
And in My name his horn will be exalted.
25 “I shall also set his hand on the sea
And his right hand on the rivers.
26 “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 “I also shall make him My firstborn,
The highest of the kings of the earth.
28 “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever,
And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.
29 “So I will establish his descendants forever
And his throne as the days of heaven.”
30 “If his sons forsake My law
And do not walk in My judgments,
31 If they violate My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,
32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod
And their iniquity with stripes.
33 “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him,
Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.
34 “My covenant I will not violate,
Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.
35 “Once I have sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David.
36 “His descendants shall endure forever
And his throne as the sun before Me.
37 “It shall be established forever like the moon,
And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah.” Psalm 89:19-37.
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Today’s Scripture focuses on God’s covenant with David which we should consider as part of God’s covenant with all of His people.
Consider the following “Lesson 18: The Covenant of Grace” from the ESSENTIALS OF REFORMED DOCTRINE a Guide in Catechetical Instruction by Rev. H. Hoeksema (revised by Prof. H. Hanko) both of Protestant Reformed Churches. I highlight in bold italic the following points.
First, covenant is defined as “the gracious relation of living fellowship and friendship between God and His people in Christ, wherein He is their God and they are His people.”
Second, “There is only one covenant in both the Old and New Testaments established with God’s people throughout all time.”
(Bill’s note is that the important implication of one covenant and meaning for us is that there are promises in God’s covenant with David which are also for us today, such as we are assured through Scripture: “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him (Christ) they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” 2 Corinthians 1:20-22. and “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” Acts 2:39.)
Third, “God establishes His covenant by His own work of grace whereby He takes His people into His own covenant fellowship.”
Fourth, God “establishes His covenant only with His elect people in the line of continued generations.”
Fifth, in God’s covenant, “He forms them to be His people, makes them partakers of all the benefits of Christ, and leads them on to eternal glory.”
Lesson 18: The Covenant of Grace
- How does God save His people?
By means of a living faith in the Mediator of the covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ. - What is the fruit of the work of Christ?
That God maintains, restores, and perfects His covenant through Him. Jeremiah 31:33 . - What is the covenant?
It is the gracious relation of living fellowship and friendship between God and His people in Christ, wherein He is their God and they are His people. Genesis 17:7 ; Psalm 16:5 ; Psalm 33:22 . - How many covenants are there?
There is only one covenant in both the Old and New Testaments established with God’s people throughout all time. - Did not Adam stand in a covenant relationship to God?
Yes, but he violated the covenant through his sin so that the covenant must be restored through Christ. - How does God establish His covenant?
God establishes His covenant by His own work of grace whereby He takes His people into His own covenant fellowship. Ephesians 2:8 . - Does God establish His covenant with all men?
No, He establishes His covenant only with His elect people in the line of continued generations. Galatians 3:16, 29 . - What does God do for His people in that covenant?
He forms them to be His people, makes them partakers of all the benefits of Christ, and leads them on to eternal glory. Ephesians 1:23 . - Through Whom does God make us partakers of all Christ’s benefits?
Through the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in Christ as the Head and in His people as members of His body. Ephesians 1:23 .
“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:13-18.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 