Monday, September 26, 2016

God’s Miraculous Works

Psalm 114:1-8

“When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;  Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.” (Psalm 114:1-2)

When the children of Israel left Egypt, they were leaving a place where they were forced to speak a language other than their native tongue.  The land of Judah, the southern part of the Land of Israel was their sanctuary, their place of safety and worship.  The entire land of Israel was their kingdom. 

“The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.  The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.” (Psalm 114:3-4)

When they came to Red Sea, it separated so that Israel passed over on dry ground.  When they came to the Jordan River, the water stopped and began to pile up on the north side as if there was a dam.   When God came down on Mount Sinai, the whole mountain quaked greatly, according to Exodus 19:18, shaking the foot hills around it.  It is a picturesque description the Psalmist uses. 

“What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?  Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?” (Psalm 114:5-6)

The sea normally does not separate and leave bare ground exposed, nor does a river normally stop flowing and allow the downstream side to run dry.   Mountains and hills rarely shake or bounce around.   The Psalmist asks what happened to cause those things ?    they were abnormal events. 

“Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.” (Psalm 114:7)*

It was the power and presence of God that made the earth tremble shaking the mountains and hills.  It was God’s power that turned a rock into a spring or artesian well gushing out enough water to satisfy millions of people, making it look like the rock was just a large tank full of water.  Only God’s miraculous power could cause these things to happen. 


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