May my meditation be pleasing to him
Mon, 12 June, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Praise the LORD!
This is a psalm of God’s creation and providence. He has made everything, and He sustains everything. The psalmist ends the psalm by extolling God’s glory, and calling for the destruction of God’s enemies.
What do we learn from this?
As we look at the world around us, it should inspire us to consider God and to praise Him. As the psalmist considered the land, sea and the heavens, he thought of how God has created them and how He sustains them. This is a good practice for us as well. Think about what you see around yourself. Everything you see comes from God. He has created it, and He is sustaining it by His providential power right now. Meditate upon it, and may your meditation be pleasing to Him.
Where is Christ in this passage?
As the psalmist thought of God’s creation and providence, he had a great desire for God’s honor and glory. He longed for all that opposed God to be removed. And so at the end of the psalm, he calls for the destruction of sinners and the wicked.
This sounds very meanspirited and offensive. But consider: the psalmist himself is a sinner. He has violated God’s law, just as you and I have done. We are all sinners before God, in our natural state. We are all enemies of God, destined for His righteous judgment.
But, because of the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, applied to us by faith, we can be considered righteous and be wicked no more in His sight. The psalmist was considered wicked no more in God’s sight in just the same way. As he trusted in God’s provision for his salvation, he was justified in God’s sight.
And so, as the psalmist is praying for God’s destruction of His enemies, God can destroy them in more than one way. He can cut them off from the earth (kill them), or He can convert them. The psalmist isn’t calling for everyone who has sinned to be sent to hell immediately. I believe he realizes that there are many people for whom hell is their ultimate destiny. But he desires the salvation of himself and other people as well.
That should be our attitude. We desire to see the destruction of all those who oppose God, particularly by their conversion.
