Facts...Questions...Answer

Friday, September 15, 2023

When the Israelites escaped from Egypt—when the family of Jacob left that foreign land—the land of Judah became God’s sanctuary, and Israel became his kingdom.  

    The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! 

    The water of the Jordan River turned away.  

    The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs!
        What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way? 

        What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?
        Why, mountains, did you skip like rams?  Why, hills, like lambs?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.  He turned the rock into a pool of water; yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.  Psalm 114:1-8

Every kid whose eyes were glued to a black-and-white 11” TV screen in the 1950’s knew if you wanted to solve a murder mystery, Dragnet’s Sergeant Joe Friday was your guy!  The police were called, and Sgt Friday showed up to investigate.  The dialogue always included his no-nonsense, deadpan, direct approach; he didn’t want anything but the truth.  He would cut through speculation and side-issues with his piercing eyes and flatly require:  Just the facts, ma’am!

Had I paid more attention to Joe Friday’s relentless pursuit of truth, I would have figured-out Psalm 114 a lot sooner.  I’ve read it many times, but missed the main flow of God’s truth until it thundered in my ears in this morning’s dark, early hours.  There are facts, followed by questions, and only one answer.

The Psalmist states the facts about when Israel made her exodus from Egyptian bondage:

   …the Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of the way to let them pass.

   …the Jordan River felt the first steps of the marching band and turned aside.

   …the mountains and hills skipped for joy like playful rams and lambs.

Then he asked why all the hurrying, turning, and skipping for joy?  All those facts, and all those questions (and many more throughout history), but only one answer:  The Presence of the Lord, God who does the unexpected, unimaginable, and totally-documented undeniable.

This was Israel’s history on a platter for us all to digest…the God who is unseen to human eyes, but ever-present for anyone with an open and reverent heart to see, know, and love, is He who makes the hills cry-out in praise, like animals skipping for joy, and the water going where He directs.

For You Today 

It’s one thing to do a bunch of stuff for people in ancient history; it’s a totally different matter when what He does is for every person in every era, age, or circumstance.  And it was more wonderful than making the hills and mountains scurry, or splashing the waters around; God dressed himself in mortal flesh and died for our sins.  And then he kicked the tomb-door open and proclaimed that we can do the same.  That, as Joe Friday would say, is an open and shut case!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Images without citation are in public domain.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©