Psalm 114
1 When Israel went out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
2 Judah was his sanctuary,
And Israel his dominion.
3 The sea saw it, and fled:
Jordan was driven back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
And the little hills like lambs.
5 What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest?
Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
6 Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams;
And ye little hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob;
8 Which turned the rock into a standing water,
The flint into a fountain of waters.
I had just eaten at one of my favorite lunch spots. I ordered my usual, BBQ, and baked beans. Just a little side note, every time I eat baked beans one finds its way to this same spot covering one of my teeth. I ate with the intention of correcting my usual beany smile with the aid of my truck’s rearview mirror. As I strolled through the parking lot, I was horrified to see a local news reporter coming toward me with a microphone in hand and a cameraman following him. We made eye contact and I knew he was coming my way. I picked up the pace to my pickup, perhaps I can escape this interview, after all, I most likely had a bean covering a prominent front tooth which would not be good for my public image.
I scurried to my truck and quickly closed the door, but it caught the leg of that pesky reporter. He had caught me! He asked some silly questions about the importance of TV in my life. I honestly don’t remember all he asked, I worried about having a gappy looking grin caused by a stray baked bean.
Thankfully, from what I have been told a bean could not be seen, but quite a few people asked why I kept passionately licking my teeth on TV.
You just can’t trust the media, can you?
Well, what does my public humiliation have to do with Psalm 114?
Well, first let’s talk about the Psalm.
The one hundred and fourteenth is truly a special treasure among the Psalms.
Charles Spurgeon said in reference to it.
“True poetry has here reached its climax: no human mind has ever been able to equal, much less to excel, the grandeur of this Psalm.”
The inspired author is dealing with the exodus and questions some unusual witnesses to those miraculous events that had occurred during this period in the history of Israel.
That is where my experience with the reporter comes into play.
I imagine that persistent reporter trying to get to the bottom of the story. I see him with a microphone in hand and a cameraman behind as he asks a few witnesses what happened.
The Red Sea
“Red Sea, why did your waters run away?”
“What frightened you to such a degree that your waves would flee and leave dry land in your place?”
The Jordan River
“Jordan river, when the feet of those priests carrying the ark of the covenant strolled into your stream, what made you leap to the side?” “Why did your streams feel the need to recede?”
Mount Sinai
“Mountains of Sinai, what caused you to tremble in fear and shake uncontrollably when Moses was toward your peak and the people camped at your base?”
“You moved like startled creatures; like cattle and lambs as they scurry from perceived predators.”
“Was it the covering cloud that disturbed you?”
“Are you and your hills simply afraid of the dark?”
The Rock (not the muscle guy but the actual rock in the wilderness)
“Rock that provided water in the midst of a dry desert, what in this world could cause you, a dry stone to produce wetness?”
“What could cause a flint such fear that water would flow from you?”
The investigative reporter gives his report on his discoveries in verse 2.
Psalm 114:2 Judah was his sanctuary, And Israel his dominion.
God dwelled with this nation of nomads like he has not done before or since. The Bible says that Judah was God’s sanctuary and Israel was his habitat. God was said to dwell in the midst of his congregation and as they marched, creation could not resist his presence.
Psalm 114:7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the God of Jacob;
The presence of the master in all his glory and power, that is what caused the waters to step back, the mountains to tremble and the rock to spew water into the sand. Creation could not resist the will of its creator and could never stand still in his path.
What does this report have to do with us today?
Ah, hold on dear reader, the New Testament reveals a wonderful truth about the one that trusts in Christ, his body is a temple and within each believer dwells the Holy Spirit of God. God doesn’t just dwell in among the congregation but within each individual believer.
If the saved are his sanctuary then should that not strengthen our resolve?
We are more than conquerors, not of ourselves but because of he who within us lives.
Just as in the exodus when the creation could not resist the Creator and had to yield to his presence so will each and everyone that tries to resist.
The great God that caused the waters to run, the mountains to move and the stones to produce streams will cause every knee to eventually bow.
Philippians 2:10–11 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Take this bald believer's advice, it is best to bow now!
So, submit to him and then enjoy his presence.
Ok, have a good day ya'll. I am going to go check my mouth in the mirror, I think I have a bean.
Readings for 10/9/20