POWER OF GOD’S PRESENCE
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
‘I stand amazed in the presence / of Jesus the Nazarene, / and wonder how he could love me, / a sinner condemned, unclean.’
Psalm 114 is a beautiful Hebrew poem. It is ‘chiastic’, which means that the verses of the psalm are mirror images, with verses 1 and 2 corresponding to verses 7 and 8, and verses 3 and 4 directly reflecting verses 5 and 6. This is obvious in the middle verses, where the subjects of the sentences in verses 3 and 4 – the sea, the River Jordan, the mountains and the hills – appear again in order in verses 5 and 6. By turning the statements in verses 3 and 4 into questions in verses 5 and 6, the psalm ascends to a poetic climax in verse 7: the earth should tremble at the presence of the Lord.
The purpose of the song is to commemorate the presence of the Lord with Israel. It is something that holds utmost importance – even the created order trembles in fear. The presence of the Lord with Israel is one of the greatest blessings given. The psalmist reminds Israel that the presence of the Lord has been with them through the exodus and the settlement in the land of Israel. The corresponding verses 1 and 8, recalling the flight from Egypt and the provision of water in the desert,2 remind Israel that God has been with them in the fiery pillar, at Sinai and within the temple in Jerusalem. The word for presence in Hebrew literally means ‘face to face.’ For Christians, that promise is continued in the person of Jesus, Immanuel, or God with us. Jesus is the part of the Godhead whom humans met with face to face. God’s presence is promised to every Christian believer in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God never leaves us, and his presence is always with us.
Apply
Simply spend time in the presence of God, who is with you today. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you up today and bless you in all that you face.
Closing prayer
Almighty God, from the beginning of time, you have not only been present, you have shown your power and care. No matter what I face, help me to remember that your presence always surrounds me and that in Christ, your Spirit dwells in me.
1 Charles Hutchinson Gabriel, 1856–1932 2 Exod 17
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