Psalm 114 reminds me of a family vacation to the beach in North Carolina. I took my 12-year old nephew out into the waves with some borrowed boogie-boards and we paddled until we got past the breakers. It was not until then that I looked back to shore and realized we were way too FAR out. At that exact moment I heard his shrill voice scream, “Shark!” I looked over my shoulder and saw an ominous fin only yards away. That was a terrifying feeling. This short psalm speaks of God as ruler of His creation. Far too often we think of God as a nice old Granddad, harmlessly shouting orders from His rocker, rather than the Commander of Heaven and Earth. The Psalm recalls “When Israel came out of Egypt… Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel His dominion“. There is little detail given here, but to remove millions of slave-laborers from a nation in a single day required God’s intervention. He asks, “Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back, you mountains, that you skipped like rams, you hills, like lambs?” And he answers himself, “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord“. The whole earth trembles before God and yet we ignore Him. There is nothing feeble about Almighty God! Here is what I know; the Spirit of God can make a hard heart as soft as a lamb and the heavy heart skip a beat. The psalm ends with a reminder of God’s nature, He “turned the rock into… springs of water“. Please understand that when we ignore God, we also miss out on the gifts and refreshing He has for us. Maybe it is time to stop paddling long enough to look back toward the shore?
Psalm 115 describes the human tendency to make a god in OUR image, rather than accept that we are made in God’s image. It begins, “Not to us, O Lord… but to Your name be the glory“, and he also gives us the reason, “because of Your love and faithfulness“. He adds, “Nations say, ‘Where is their God?‘… But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men“. Does that sound familiar?
Left on our own, we make idols that we can place on a shelf, out of the way. “They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see… ears, but cannot hear… cannot feel… cannot walk… Those who make them will be like them“. Is there any doubt why so many feel isolated today? The psalm shouts to those of us relying on ourselves, “trust in the Lord He is their help and shield“. Here is the good news: while we have been ignoring God, He is patiently waiting. “The Lord remembers us and will bless us… small and great alike… both you and your children“. The God of the Psalmist is, “the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth“. The more we experience the One True God, the more in awe we become. The psalm ends with another reminder of our purpose, “It is not the dead who praise the Lord… it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore. Praise the Lord“. Friend, are there fins in the water? Maybe they belong to a pod of dolphin sent to protect you until you get back to the family.