- Joyce Heinrich
Glory to God in the Highest! (Matthew 5:3-6)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. —Matthew 5:3-6
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes. Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, Not wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might. Thy justice like mountains high soaring above Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small; In all life Thou livest, the true life of all. We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, And wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee.
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight. All praise we would render: O help us to see ‘Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee. — Walter Chalmers Smith
This indescribably awesome, exalted God sits on a mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee. He gathers His beloved disciples near to Himself, ones to whom He has given eternal life; ones in whom His life will be lived out. His heart burns for them to know Him well, for them to understand that life on this earth is intrinsically bound up in the glorious life that He has planned for them and that awaits them in Christ’s kingdom. They need to know that what they do in temporal life follows them into eternal life. So He “opened His mouth and taught them” (v.2). He taught them what they had never learned, never heard before. On that historic day, He poured out “fountains of goodness and love” on them, blessings lasting throughout eternity. And they are poured out on us, as well!
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
No man can come to Christ to become His child, to gain eternal life unless he is poor in spirit. We may have tried to be Christians on our own and failed. We may have tried to manage our lives without Him, and reaped failure. If we are His, we know that our own spirits cannot give us eternal life, cannot bind us eternally to our beloved Savior! The Savior, Jesus Christ, shed His blood as the propitiation for our sin, and His applying His blood to our sin is the only satisfaction God recognizes. It is God alone that makes us new creatures in Christ. The God who taught us that there is only one mediator between God and man, now says that we are blessed throughout all ages because we, by God’s appointment and grace, understood that we were poor in spirit and called on the Savior, Jesus, for deliverance! Glory to God in the highest!
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
On this earth, we are born to trouble as the sparks fly upward, and in the end we “wither and perish.” Our great losses of those we love, missed opportunities, grief and shame over the sins we commit, chronic pain and illness, and most painful, knowing that our children are not walking with the Lord, all shadow our days and cause agonizing tears to flow. But here is Jesus, pouring out His love and comfort for us, and promising that in His kingdom, we will be comforted. We will find perfect peace forever and ever. Glory to God in the highest!
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Jesus taught us that if we would be great, we must be the servant of all. This, the gentle, meek person does without regard for the gain he is sidestepping. He does not need to be in charge—to have his own way at the expense of others. He trusts God for all he needs and finds his joy in helping others succeed. For this precious son or daughter, our Lord promises that the whole world will belong to him/her. Nothing in all the world will be withheld from the one who sacrifices his own for others. Only our Almighty God could have conceived of and given such a magnificent gift! Glory to God in the highest!
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
God has promised that those who seek Him with their whole hearts will find Him! He has said that those who come to Him He will never turn away. And He has commanded us to be holy because He is holy! But now, He reveals what the outcome of this pursuit will effect in heaven—we will be satisfied! Never again will we agonize over our sins! Never again will regret for our wrong attitudes, unloving behaviors, and pain to others in misspoken words be able to weigh on our hearts! Never for eternity will we abhor our own humanity in its fallen state, and ache to be holy, because we would be like our Lord! We need hope that we will be delivered from unholiness. So Jesus opens His hand, and satisfies the desire of us all, by this promise! We shall be satisfied! Completely, wholly, throughly satisfied! Glory to God in the highest!
Glory and praise to our Ever-loving, Ever-giving God for daily loading us with benefits, and for securing satisfaction for us forever! He is indescribably Wonderful!
For Reflection
Share with your family how God has worked in your life in one of these four areas.
In each area, pray to the Lord Jesus for increasing obedience to what He is showing us are exemplary attitudes and behaviors.
Memorize the great hymn of praise above—including the old-fashioned words!