Psalm 76: The God Who is to be Worshiped

Today’s reading is Psalm 76.

In vs. 1, He is the God who is known. In vs. 4, He is the God who is glorious. In vs. 7, He is the God who is to be feared. In vs. 12, He is the God who is to be feared. Wait! What? Did the psalmist repeat the point about fear? Yes. He did.

Fearing God creates what is called an inclusio (a rhetorical device that bookends a section of text) for the second half of Psalm 76 in vss. 7 and 12. However, back up to vs. 11. There we find a form of the word for “fear,” giving us a different perspective.

On the one hand, we have the kings of the earth, like the kings of Egypt, Syria, Assyria, and Babylon, who need to learn the fear of God. Judgment is coming for them if they continue to fight against God, His King, and His people. Remember Psalm 2? This fear is terror. They want to take up arms against God, they want to push God away, they want to mock God. They do not understand what they do or who they are mocking. Judgment is coming.

However, in between these two reminders of that kind of terrifying fear, the psalm itself moves from the wrath of God’s enemies praising God (surely a reference to how when God triumphs over their wrath and violence, their strength ends up magnifying God’s glory and greater strength) to God’s people making vows, performing vows, and bringing gifts to God. It moves to God’s people worshiping the God who is to be feared.

Here, we see the other side of fear. Perfect love casts out fear. Not because loving God tames Him and removes the fear. Rather, because loving God, worshiping God, surrendering God allies us with God. He is still the God to be feared, but He is on our side. What do we need to fear from the God who is fighting for us instead of against us? So we worship more.

When we are on opposite sides of the battlefield from God, the appropriate response is terror. Perhaps it will lead us to surrender and bow before Him in submission. When He is the glory in our midst and the wall of fire about us, He is no less fearsome, but rather than terror, this fear presents as awe, reverence, and worship. And it removes the need to be terrified.

Which side of the battlefield are you on? If we can help you get on the Lord’s side, let us know in the comments.

May we praise and worship the LORD!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 76.

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.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 76 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Psalm 76: The God Who is Glorious

Today’s reading is Psalm 76.

In vs. 1, He is the God who is known in Judah and Israel. In vs. 4, He is the God who is glorious. As other translations say, He is resplendent, bright, radiant with light.

Then the psalmist provides an odd word picture. God is more glorious than the mountains full of prey. What is that about? First, imagine yourself a lion looking out on the mountains. Would anything be more glorious to you than seeing plenty to eat? But there is a double meaning here. If the application to the 2 Kings 18-19 Assyrian siege of Jerusalem is accurate, Jerusalem looked out and saw an awe-inspiring army. It was majestic, magnificent, glorious as far as armies go. But, of course, it was an enemy army. It was terrifying, horrifying, petrifying. However, in the end, it was nothing more than prey for the God who fights for Judah and those faithful to Him.

In 2 Kings 19:35, God struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. Though stouthearted, they were stripped of their spoil. They sank into sleep and were not even able to use their hands in battle. Then the psalmist connects it back to the defeat of Pharaoh’s army. He calls to mind the horse and rider which in Psalm 76 lay stunned and in Exodus 15:1, 21 were thrown into the sea.

I can’t help but also remember the fantastic story of 2 Kings 6:8-23. The king of Syria wanted to capture and kill the prophet Elisha. He sent horses and chariots to surround the city of Dothan. When they awoke, Elisha’s servant cried, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” Then God opened the eyes of the servant to see “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” The Syrian army was nothing but prey; God’s army was more glorious and resplendent. This time, the army was stunned with blindness and led into the city of Samaria where God bestowed mercy on them, allowing them to return home.

What we see over and over again is while we are embattled by a powerful, cunning, and baffling enemy, our God is stronger, more powerful, and more glorious. He fights for us. We can rest in His strength and might.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 76.

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.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 76 admonish you?

Even the Dogs

Today’s reading is Matthew 15.

Matthew keeps showing us that where the Jews struggled to respond properly to Jesus, Gentiles responded well. Jesus withdrew to a region of the Gentiles in Tyre and Sidon. At the outset, we might wonder why Jesus would go among a people He seemed to have no inclination of helping. After all, one of the women of the Canaanites in that region sought help and Jesus flatly refused. In fact, at first He simply ignored her. Then when she kept pushing, He said what seems to be one of the most offensive things ever: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus calls this woman a dog. Wow!

However, this doesn’t deter her. Instead, she accepts the insult and works it into her argument. “Fine. I’m a dog. At least let the scraps of your abundance come my way the way masters do with dogs.” Jesus responds, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.”

Interestingly, when Jesus called the woman a dog, the apostles don’t jump in with, “Do you know that the Canaanites were offended when they heard this saying?” Yet, surely, what Jesus said about this woman was far more offensive than what He said about the Pharisees. The Pharisees didn’t like what Jesus said. They got offended, angry, upset and decided to act against Him, even try to kill Him. In contrast, Jesus said something truly offensive to this woman, but she hung on. She persisted in seeking a blessing from Him.

The lesson is not for us to be offensive and see how people will respond. Rather, the lesson is for us to avoid offense at Jesus. He may say and do things we don’t like. The reality is blessing comes from Him and from no one else. As Jesus had said when responding to the disciples of John in Matthew 11:6, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” That is, blessed are the people who don’t demand Jesus play by their rules. Blessed are the people who hang on to Jesus even when they don’t quite understand what He is doing and saying. Blessed are those who, when they don’t quite understand what He is doing and saying, realize the problem is with their understanding and not with Him.

This is important today. There are plenty of people today who have decided they are more moral than God. They don’t like some of His laws. They think His laws are immoral. They think the behaviors He calls sin and the people He calls sinners are pure and holy. They get offended. They decide to abandon Jesus. Don’t do that. If you want the blessing, don’t take offense at Him. Follow Him. It will all become clear in the end. And even if it doesn’t, eternity with Him will be worth it.

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 15.

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. How would you have felt if Jesus called you a dog?
3. What kind of faith do you think it took for that woman to hang on even though Jesus called her a dog?
4. How can we grow that same kind of faith?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?

The King of All the Earth

Today’s reading is Psalm 47.

In 1 Kings 20, Ben-hadad king of Syria decided to attack Israel. Though Ahab was a wicked, idolatrous king, and though Israel had followed his lead, Yahweh decided to defeat Ben-hadad’s army anyway. He did this to prove to Ahab that He was actually the Lord. After their defeat, Ben-hadad’s advisors made what seems to us a surprising claim. They were certain the defeat came because Israel’s God was God of the hills and mountains. They were certain if they attacked in the plains and valleys, they would defeat Israel. Their God would surely have no power in the plains and valleys.

In this second battle, God told Ahab He was going to defeat Syria because they were so foolish as to believe Yahweh was only God in the mountains. Ahab, Ben-hadad, and all people need to understand that Yahweh is not merely God in the hills. He is not merely God in the valleys. He is not merely God over the rivers. He is not God in a particular location or over a particular geographical location. He is God over the whole earth. Whether one is fighting Him in the Israel, in Syria, in Babylon, in America, in Britain, in Russia, in China, in…anywhere, that one will lose. God is King over the whole Earth.

That is exactly the point of our psalm for the week. “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!” Not “Clap your hands, all Israelites,” but “all peoples!” Why? Because Yahweh Elyon, the Lord Most High, is King over the entire earth. He is actually the King of every country, including yours. He is the King of mountains, valleys, rivers, seas, oceans, islands, peninsulas, continents, rain forests, steppes, plateaus, fields, deserts, and on and on the list goes.

That is our God. Let us praise and glorify Him!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 47.

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. What comfort do you get from knowing God is king over all the earth?
3. What comfort do you get from knowing God is actually king over your home country?
4. Why do you think so few countries act as if God is their actual king?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this psalm and our discussion today?