Psalm 114: PATHS-Hope

Today’s reading is Psalm 114.

Too Much Water

At the shore of the Red Sea, Israel had a problem. Too much water.

With Pharaoh’s army hemming them in on one side, an impassable wilderness on the other, the Red Sea made the third wall of an impossible situation for them. So much water lay between them and escape. They had nowhere to run.

However, God told them to sit tight. He had it covered. Moses lifted his staff at God’s command and the waters of the Red Sea parted. God made a path of dry land appear. Israel walked between walls of water to safety on the other side. Then God brought the water down upon Pharaoh’s army.

Not Enough Water

In an incredible irony, Israel went from too much water in Exodus 13-14 to not enough water at the end of Exodus 15. They came into the wilderness of Shur and for three days found no water. The first water they did find was bitter and undrinkable.

What were they to do?

In the case of the Red Sea, God had Moses raise his wooden staff and parted the water. In this case, God has Moses throw a tree or log into the water, and the water is purified and made drinkable. He further promises if Israel will follow Him, He will be their healer and care for them.

The story ends as Israel then finds Elim, a grove of seventy palm trees watered by twelve springs–one for each tribe. God provided.

Hope in God–He Provides

Whether the problem is too much water or too little, God provides. When obstacles lie in the way, God will provide the path. When the journey is too much, God will provide the strength.

Every step of the way, God demonstrated to Israel they could not accomplish the journey on their own. But that was okay. They were not on their own. God was with them. He was their healer. He was their hope.

The same still holds true. I have no hope in myself. If the plan is to pull myself up by my bootstraps and show God how great I can be, I have no hope. That, however, is not the plan. The plan is for me to hope in God and travel another day holding on to His hand. If the Red Sea or the Jordan is between my goal and me, He will make the way. If I am parched and weary, struggling to take another step, I can take it knowing He will water my way and strengthen my feet.

My hope is not me. God is my Hope. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 114.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 114 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Eye Surgery

Today’s reading is Matthew 7.

We’ve all heard we will be judged the way we judge. We’ve all heard we should remove the log from our own eye before trying to remove the speck from someone else’s. But have you ever asked why? Why do we need to remove the log from our own eye?

Jesus actually told us just a few paragraphs earlier:

The eye is the lamp of the body. so, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of lights, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Matthew 6:22-23 (ESV)

If my eye is unhealthy, and I’m guessing we can all see having a log protruding from our eye as unhealthy, I am completely full of darkness. If I’m full of darkness, I can’t possibly shine the light for anyone, can I? And remember, I’m supposed to let my light shine so others can see good works and glorify my Father in heaven. If I have a log in my eye, I don’t have any light. None of my works are good no matter how much I like them. When my eye is healthy and the logs are all removed, I can be full of light, actually leading people to glorify God. Until then, my works are unhealthy and damaging.

This leads me to two bits of understanding. 1) The logs in my eye are not simply hypocritical judgment. That is one log among many. I need to remove all the logs, not just that one. 2) The goal of removing my logs is not to put others in their place and show them how wrong they are. The goal of removing the logs from my own eyes is to shine real light so God can be glorified in me. Then, and only then, can I shine the light in a way to lead others to do the same.

Let’s spend some time today with our mirrors and our log-pulling tweezers. Only then can we let our light shine.

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 7.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. What kinds of things (in addition to hypocritical judgment) are logs that block our vision and diminish the light of Jesus?
3. Why is it so much easier to focus on pulling specks out of other people’s eyes than removing the logs from our own?
4. How do you think we can go about removing the logs from our own eyes?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?

Look in the Mirror, Not the Microscope

Today’s reading is Psalm 50.

The introduction of this psalm sounds like the people of Israel talking about how great their God is. He shines forth from Zion in beauty. He doesn’t keep silent. In fact, a possible translation of vs. 3 is “May our God come, and not keep silence.” This is very similar to another psalm of Asaph. In Psalm 83:1-2, he writes, “O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.” In that latter psalm, the nations are against Israel so Israel asks God to break His silence and judge the nations. It almost seems like that is what Israel expects at the beginning of Psalm 50. However, the direction of the psalm takes a screeching left turn in vs. 4. He isn’t coming to judge the nations. He is coming to judge His own people.

Israel was so busy looking at all the sins of the nations, they missed their own. They seemed to have the idea that because they were in covenant with God and were keeping up with their sacrifices, they were doing fine. God had silently watched their sins. But now He was breaking His silence. It was not to rebuke Assyria, Syria, Edom, Moab, Babylon, or Egypt. It was to rebuke Israel. “Now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.”

If we are not careful, we will wind up in the same boat. It is easy to think that because we were baptized and we are keeping up with our “church attendance,” we are better than all those “awful sinners” in the world. “Boy, I wish God would come and do something about them.” Like Israel, we need to spend more time looking in the mirror than in the microscope. If we are going to repent and set our lives in order, hastening the coming day of the Lord, we need to start with ourselves. Sure, there is place for correcting sin, calling others to repent, pulling specks (even logs) out of the eyes of others, but lets start with ourselves. We need it most.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 50.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the psalm and the written devo above?
2. Why is it easier to look at the microscope at others’ sins than in the mirror at ours?
3. What advice would you give to help us all look in the mirror?
4. Once we have seen our own sins in the mirror, what do we need to do next?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this psalm and our discussion today?