The God of the Exodus
Opening Prayer
Lord, the creation responds to the word of Your command. I bow before You.
Read Psalm 114:1-8
[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. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How does the imagery describe God's power?Maybe the psalmist is with a couple of Israelites sharing happy memories one night. “Remember that time we came out of Egypt?!” “That was a good one.” So he remembers how “the sea looked and fled” (3), as if the sea saw the advancing hordes of escapees and said, “Make way! Israelites coming through.” This is Exodus 14 that he’s recalling, somewhat poetically. The psalmist thinks back to how even the mighty mountains looked as if they danced in celebration. And the River Jordan stopped to let them through (later in their journey–Josh. 4:7). Why did all this happen as verses 5 and 6 ask? Because the God in question, who planned the whole journey and took Israel farther than they could have asked or imagined, is a mighty God, who turns rocks into water (8). And just as suddenly, the psalm is gone. But the God whom the psalm is praising lives on.
Apply
Our God is the God of the Exodus. What “rocks” are in your way? What “land” has he promised to lead you to?
Closing prayer
Mighty God, fill my heart with trust in the One before whom the whole earth trembles.
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