FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
What causes you to tremble?
It’s a short Psalm, but it got my attention today:
Psalm 114
“When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.”
It unpacks like this: v1-2 remind us of the Exodus out of Egypt, when God flexed His muscles and made Pharoah look like a third-grade schoolboy against an NFL tackle. Israel plundered the Egyptians and got away from 400 years slavery scott-free.
Then v3-6 recount the events of the Exodus – the Red Sea drying up and the Jordan opening up for them so Israel could walk dry into Canaan. Poetically, the author shows God’s absolute power over all natural barriers like lakes and rivers and mountains. Nothing can stop God from moving His people to freedom.
Verses 7-8 lands the punch of this Psalm: A God this great should cause all to tremble in His presence. Another evidence of God’s supreme power from the Exodus is given in v8 – bringing water out of a rock to the thirsty people in the desert.
Back to the question, What makes you tremble?
Too much coffee makes me shake a bit I’ll admit.
Sometimes I’m more afraid of how events might turn out badly than I am of dishonoring God.
Yes, there are still many times when my first reaction is, what will they think of me?
It often seems to me that Americans today tremble more from government and other people than God. We tremble before the wrong persons.
But…
The Gospel of Jesus makes me God’s beloved Son, and “perfect love casts out fear” … it’s true!
Where’s the balance between God’s awesomeness and His loving Fatherhood?
Here’s my takeaway prayer for today:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, today I ask that this Psalm would cause me to reflect on Your enormous Covenant faithfulness to Israel in history and to me in my lifetime! You established a Covenant of Grace with Abraham and his descendants and developed Israel and rescued them from slavery just like You rescued me from slavery to sin’s condemnation and control. I’m free in Christ! I can be Your completely committed man today! So Lord, as I reflect today on Your almost ungraspable power to my limited intelligence, as well as Your deep love for me, I pray that I would tremble in holy reverence for who You are both as King and Father. May I fear no one more than I fear and honor You. May my trembling in Your presence give me kind confidence before everyone I interact with today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
