December 16 Daily Devotional

Tell it out!

‘It is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works’ [Psalm 73:28]. Now this is a very vital addition. This is the point at which we should all arrive. His final reason for determining to keep near to God is in order that he might glorify God, in order that He might declare all His works. I imagine his argument was something like this: if I keep near to God I shall be blessed, I shall experience His salvation, I shall have this great and marvellous sense of security. And of course that will immediately lead me to praise God and to magnify God and to glorify God before others. I am going to keep near to God in order that I may always praise Him, and as I praise God I will be testifying about Him to others. That is a point at which we must all arrive.

You remember that the first question in the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Confession of Faith is, ‘What is the chief end of man?’ And the answer is that, ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever’. Now the Psalmist puts it the other way round. He puts enjoyment first only because he is dealing with the matter experimentally. He had been deeply unhappy himself, so he comes down to our own level and he says: Keep near to God and you will be happy, you will enjoy God and you will glorify Him. These two things must always go together. ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.’ Yes, says this man, I am going to keep near to God in order that I may glorify Him as well as enjoy Him. He is the great Lord God Almighty, and the tragedy of man and the tragedy of the world and of history is that the world does not know that. But my business is to tell people about Him. I will do so in my life, I will do so with my lips. The whole of my life shall be to the glory of God; and I cannot glorify God unless I am near to Him and experiencing Him. But as I do so I shall reflect His life.

Faith on Trial, pp. 123–4