BOOK OF PSALMS

Beloved, we welcome you back!

We hope you are enjoying this unseasonable weather. It’s only the God that we serve that can give us 68 degrees Fahrenheit in June! Usually, by this time we are already in triple digits of heat.

Thank you, Baba! We love it!

We continue today with Psalm 89 v. 10-18:

You rule the raging of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.
10 You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain;
You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.
12 The north and the south, You have created them;
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Mercy and truth go before Your face.
15 Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
16 In Your name they rejoice all day long,
And in Your righteousness they are exalted.
17 For You are the glory of their strength,
And in Your favor our horn is exalted.
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Beloved, Ethan the Ezrahite takes a look at the various things God created that glorify God, and over whom he exercises dominion and majesty. First, he mentions the raging sea. Remember, Jesus also exercised dominion and control over the raging winds and waves. One simple word: “Peace be still!” and the winds quieted down!

What a mighty God we serve!

This reminds us of the conversation Job had with God, when he declared that God was unjust to him, and God responded to Job’s accusations. God questioned Job about creation, and this is what God said in Book of Job 38 v. 4-15:

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?
Tell me if you know.
5 Who set its measurements? Surely you know.
Who stretched a measuring tape on it?
6 On what were its footings sunk;
who laid its cornerstone,
7 while the morning stars sang in unison
and all the divine beings shouted?
8 Who enclosed the Sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment,
the dense clouds its wrap,
10 when I imposed my limit for it,
put on a bar and doors
11 and said, “You may come this far, no farther;
here your proud waves stop”?
12 In your lifetime have you commanded the morning,
informed the dawn of its place
13 so it would take hold of earth by its edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 Do you turn it over like clay for a seal,
so it stands out like a colorful garment?
15 Light is withheld from the wicked,
the uplifted arm broken.

Awesome!

Next, Ethan considered the heavens and the earth, and especially the world, and the fullness thereof. This kind of reminds us of Psalm 24 which opens with these words:

“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,
the world and its inhabitants too.”

Beloved, the list continues with the North and the South, and to that we can also include the East and the West. Tabor and Harmon are the highest hills in Canaan. So, Ethan is also saying that God has dominion over the highest mountains and the lowest valleys. God is able to do anything! He can save and he can destroy!

Finally, Ethan talks about the justice of God. Beloved, God is a just God. He will not do anything that is unjust or unwise. Even the very foundation of his throne where he sits, day and night is built on righteousness and justice. Sometimes, when unjust situations arise, we tend to think that God is using it to punish us, but that is not so. God will actually arrange that unfair situation to favor us! He is busy working behind the scenes to get us what he has for us. He is a just God!

*Image Source: Flickr