REMEMBER THEN, TRUST NOW
Opening Prayer
As I still my heart before you, Lord God, I am in awe of your power and love, amazed that you care and desire to bless me. Help me to glorify you in all that I do.
Read PSALM 114
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
1 When Israel came out of Egypt,
Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
4 the mountains leaped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
6 Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
you hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Remember when God did something extraordinary for you. How did it build your faith? In what ways can you thank him?Here is the core of Israel’s identity as God’s people. He rescued them from Egypt (v. 1), formed them around his presence with them (v. 2), and honed them through his rule over them (v. 2).
Verses 3 and 4 are a reminder of the miraculous ways in which he controlled creation in order to save his people. He opened the Red Sea so they could escape safely (v. 3; see Exodus 14:21, 22), pushed back the River Jordan so they could cross safely into the Promised Land (v. 3; see Joshua 3:14–16), and the mountains and hills trembled at God and his people coming to the land (v. 4).
Verses 5 and 6 ask questions of the sea, river, mountains, and hills which witnessed God’s miraculous saving power. How would you answer?
Verses 7 and 8 consist of implicit challenges to faith. If the earth trembles at the presence of the Lord (v. 7), then so should God’s people. If God were powerful enough to cause a lump of rock to become a life-saving spring of water (v. 8; see Exodus 17:6), then surely he is powerful enough to save his people again. All the people need to do is continue to trust and hope in him.
Apply
Is there anything in your life that you’re struggling to entrust to God?
Closing prayer
Help me to remember your power, Almighty God, and give me what I need to trust and hope in you for all things.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
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