Is This Our God?
Opening Prayer
Lord, You are truly the God of miracles. Instill within me the capacity to believe You for the impossible.
Read Psalm 114
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.
Meditate
“Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord… who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water” (Psa. 114:7,8).
Think Further
God dwelt with his people (1,2). That is so familiar to most of us that we almost take it for granted, but it was amazing! God choosing Judah for his sanctuary? This is the God from whom the sea and River Jordan fled (3)—references to the Red Sea crossing, when Moses stretched out his hand (Exod. 14:15–22), and the Jordan parting for Joshua (Josh. 3:14–17). This is the God before whom the mountains and hills skipped (4,6), perhaps a reference to the trembling of Sinai when God descended in all the smoke. Creation, when confronted by God, responds to the point of defying physics—and with good reason. God can turn the rock into a pool. This is probably a reference to water coming out from rocks in the wilderness—and hard rock into springs (7,8).
Certainly, the earth has every reason to tremble before this great, mighty, majestic God! Yet, this is the same God who chooses to dwell among humans. Why did the sea and the rivers flee and the mountains skip before God (5,6)? It was to save the Israelites; God shifted creation to bring his people home safely. The more one thinks about it, the more surreal it becomes. Why did he save the Israelites? Because he loved them (Deut. 7:8).
Although the incarnate Christ was fully human and fully God, we can better understand the fully human aspect. But what does it mean to be “fully God”? And who is this God whom we worship, the maker of heaven and earth, who can move mountains and seas? A God who became a little lower than the angels to
suffer death so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone (Heb. 2:9). Why did he save us? Because he loved us (John 3:16).
Apply
Meditate on this psalm. Read it slowly and repeatedly, thinking on the all-powerful God who nevertheless lives within us. Praise God for his unfathomable mercy.
Closing prayer
Lord, You are a God of power as well as a God of affection. Thank You for harboring the same affection for each member of Your Church as You did for each member of Israel’s covenant community.
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