Psalm 99:1-9
The Lord is king! Let the nations tremble! He sits on his throne between the cherubim. Let the whole earth quake! The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem, exalted above all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name. Your name is holy! Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness. You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel. Exalt the Lord our God! Bow low before his feet, for he is holy! Moses and Aaron were among his priests; Samuel also called on his name. They cried to the Lord for help, and he answered them. He spoke to Israel from the pillar of cloud, and they followed the laws and decrees he gave them. O Lord our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but you punished them when they went wrong. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem, for the Lord our God is holy!
What is wrong with the
title of this devotion? Short answer – everything! From the title you would expect the focus to
be on humanity; that is certainly not the Psalmists’ perspective. Everything about Psalm 99 points to the
character of God; hardly are man’s exploits in view. Just look at the wording:
·
The LORD is king…HE sits on his throne…in majesty…exalted
·
YOUR name is holy…YOU have established
justice
·
HE answered…HE spoke…HE gave
·
YOU were a forgiving God…YOU punished them when
they went wrong.
·
EXALT and
WORSHIP GOD…for the LORD our God is holy!
Notwithstanding my own
criticism of the title, I stand by it as appropriate, because the real
(unabridged) version of the history of man is all about the loving God who
created us. You cannot, with any kind of
claim to integrity, separate God’s loving character from any mention of humanity;
we are entirely connected, entwined in an infinite number of ways, and in a way
that includes everything eternal. And
so, our history is rightly connected to His nature; we belong to Him.
The Psalmist’s reference
to the wilderness wanderings of God’s children, how God gave them their
marching orders, and how they went wrong, after having agreed to do right, and
how God handed out justice, punishing their wrong…it is all a microcosm of the
unabridged version of humankind’s history.
Of course, it all
started in the mind of God in eternal ages past. However, our memory begins in the Garden of
Eden. God created Adam and Eve perfectly,
placed them in a perfect environment, gave them perfect instructions how to
live, and offered a perfect relationship, based upon perfect lovingkindness and
providence unbound by strings of any kind.
We get it that there was no racism, murder, or COVID19 in God’s plan.
Then, freedom became
too much of a temptation, and Adam and Eve left the reservation. It began with questioned faith about God’s
love and care for them; the enemy whispered questions about God’s character and
ways; the couple reached for what wasn’t good for them in an effort to quiet
the doubt within, and, believing Lucifer’s lies, in an attempt at fixing what they sensed to be broken, they found fear at the prospect of God knowing what they’d done[1]. Man’s fixing produced fear, and the fall has been repeating itself ever since. And so has the forgiveness of God for the fallen,
sinful children of the first couple!
This is the slightly
abridged version of the history of man.
For the rest of the story, in all of it’s sordid and splendid detail,
buy the book….THE Book
Let’s Pray
Father, we understand
wilderness…we spend so much of our time there…time better spent with you. Help us change history…that which lies ahead
of us. Help us to place our heart’s and
mind’s focus on you, the place and face where we find faith and peace.
For You Today
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today. Have a blessed day!
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