THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD
Psalm 114: 1-8
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A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe |
Our psalm today is a song of Exodus. The theme here is that God is leading forth his people from Egypt to Canaan and in the process the whole earth is moved at His coming. We should not be surprised at the imagery here because we read in the last book of the Bible that at the final coming of our Lord Jesus Christ all of creation will be wrecked by convulsions as all things are made anew. So it was to a lesser extant when Israel came out of Egypt. We may certainly appreciate the movements of hill and mountain in the possible context of the greatest volcanic eruption known to mankind at the island of Tera. Atlantis of legend disappeared and the Minoan culture actually fell into decline in the prehistory of the Exodus era. In this sense of momentous natural events, let us look with awe upon the revealed wisdom of Psalm 114.
This psalm is divided into four strophes of two verses each. The first strophe celebrates not only the deliverance given by the hand of God but also the providential love and care for His own people. When Israel came out, the house of Jacob was not only freed from the babblings of a strange tongue, but also blessed by becoming the sanctuary of God. By this phrase we must understand that God in a very real way dwelt with His people. And as a result, not only the princes of Judah but also all of Israel became subject to His rule. Every once in a while we sing the words: "Christ shall have dominion over land and sea". But, our focus here is upon the greater blessing of being personally under His gracious Kingship!
As we turn to the second strophe we see a report that creation responded in awe at the coming out of God's people being lead by God Himself. The sea looked and fled allowing the Israelites to cross out of Egypt and just as dramatically, when Israel finally entered into Palestine even the Jordan dried up temporarily. In verse four we see that even the towering heights of hill and mountain were shook to their foundations. The image here is of gamboling heights. Gamboling is the gate of little lambs celebrating the newness of their life and the warmth of spring!
Our third strophe is a question to the sea, the Jordan and the crowning heights of Sinai and Palestine. Why did the earth tremble at the coming out of Israel from Egypt?
The fourth strophe endeavors to answer that question. Now the word here translated as "tremble" is actually the word for the pain of giving birth. We might translate it in these words: "At the presence of the Lord be in pangs, O earth." Thus, these convulsions of nature, which accompanied the Exodus, were as the birth-throes of the Israelite people. The reality of these events whatever they were, were in fact spread far and wide. In the book of Joshua the people of Jericho lived for days in great fear of the coming of Israel because of what they had heard.
Rahab the prostitute declared (Joshua 2: 9): "I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and ... And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." What an amazing witness for a pagan prostitute? She had no parents to teach her well, she lived in a fallen city, she had not heard God's word from any prophet; all she had heard came to her from unbelievers. That news of God's display of power depressed the rest of the inhabitants of Jericho. But, that same news brought Rahab to faith. Hear her testimony again: "for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." Isn't that some testimony for someone who had no Bible, no pastor, and no church? In spite of these handicaps, God providentially changed Rahab into a willing participant in His redemptive work. She became useful in two ways. First, she saved the lives of the Israelite spies in Jericho. Second, after she settled down as the wife of a member of the tribe of Judah, she became a mother who is listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
That is a long way for a sinner to come. Today we should learn from this example to really appreciate the providential grace of God in accomplishing His will. "Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord," reveals our psalm. And in the last verse we are reminded by question that it was this God who provided the waters from a rock when His people thought they might die of thirst. The hard rock or rather flint was turned into springs of water. Paul takes the image here and impresses upon us that this rock was none other than Christ: (1 Corinthians 10:4) They "all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." By this image we may know that not only their physical thirst was assuaged, but like the Samaritan woman at the well, their spiritual thirst was also quenched.
May we today appreciate from this psalm that like the woman at the well, and like Rahab the prostitute that God can act through His Spirit and His Son to bring sinners to salvation. What God accomplished for Rahab He can accomplish for anyone today. A great agnostic of the first part of this century reported that one day he left home on a motor trip in the morning. When he arrived home in the evening he knew that he had been saved even though he couldn't explain how it happened. Like Rahab, C.S. Lewis went on share the wonders of God's grace. May our hearts be melted today at the hearing of God's precious and holy Word. And as we consider the melting away of the earth at Christ's second coming let us not delay in committing our lives to His gracious care because we know not how long He will delay in returning! Until then, know well that our times are in God's hands, and He will not delay in bringing about His will. We pray that you all might graciously be within His plan of salvation and that you might be empowered by the Holy Spirit to tremble at the presence of the Lord and to drink of the fountain of life: even Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Resources Used: |
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Anderson, A.A. |
The New Century Bible Commentary: Psalms. | |
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Ascol, Thomas K. |
"Rahab", Tabletalk | |
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Meyer, F. B. |
Choice Notes on the Psalms. | |
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Spurgeon, C.H. |
Treasury of David. | |
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Foundation for Reformation. New Geneva Study Bible . (1995) Thomas Nelson, Inc. New King James Version. (1982) | ||
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Psm 114a |
18 November 90 & 24 May 97 | |