Lord’s Day, Vol. 3 No. 23
(1) Thou Art My Rock
Psalm 71:3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.
In psalm 71, God is described as our Rock, a safe refuge, strong, secure and dependable. In Him, we may continually rely (v3a) and find hope (v14). Even amidst the most trying persecutions in life, the psalmist teaches us to be strengthened in the LORD and to receive comfort to live in His strength (v16).
One of the most destructive spiritual ailment in a Christian’s life is discouragement. However, with a praising and rejoicing heart, comes strength and comfort for the Christian to press on his pilgrimage.
How do we overcome discouragements in the face of diverse temptations and trials? The psalmist tells us it is by prayer. He shows the key ingredients of his prayer life: A Renewed Trust (v1-3); A Renewed Hope (v4-14). God is the Rock of his salvation, the divine protector and defender of his soul (v3c).
The results (v15-24) are: Praise; Rejoicing; Strength; and Comfort.
It is interesting to note the thoughts of the psalmist whenever he used the personal pronoun “I”. There was a transition in the emotional state of the psalmist from “confusion” (v1) to great rejoicing and praise (v23). How blessed it is for us to learn from the psalmist to turn every sorrow to joy and every unrest of the soul to peace!
“8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy (sacred). 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath (rest) of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it (set apart as holy).” Ex 20:8-11
Why is the word “Remember” set in the beginning of the fourth commandment? We can find the answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
“The word Remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment, partly, because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it, and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments, and to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion; and partly, because we are very ready to forget it, for that there is less light of nature for it, and yet it restraineth our natural liberty in things at other times lawful; that it cometh but once in seven days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to sanctify it; and that Satan with his instruments, labour much to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.”
(2) Remember the Sabbath
The Bible says in Genesis 2:2, when God had finished His creation work, He rested.
“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”
When God raised up the nation of Israel, He gave them the 10 commandments. The fourth commandment reminded the people to keep the seventh day as a day of rest and consecration to remember His goodness toward them.
Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week, on Sunday. Therefore Sunday becomes the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10), the Christian Sabbath and replaces the Jewish Sabbath as a “holy” day, a day of rest and worship. Christians gathering to worship on the first day of the week is clearly taught in the New Testament (1 Cor. 16:1-2). [Theology for Every Christian, 182]
The Westminster Shorter Catechism states clearly, “The Sabbath or Lord’s Day is to be sanctified by an holy day of resting all the day, not from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful; and making it our delight to spend the whole time in the public and private exercise of God’s worship (except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy); and, to that end, we are prepared to prepare our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of that day.”
May God’s people hearken to God’s commandment to “Keep the Sabbath Holy.” Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pr. Lek Aik Wee