Psalm 104MEN'S BREAKFAST
May, 2008
May, 2008
Taken from a devotional by
Keith Condie at Moore College, Chapel 20-5-08
When I first started coming to church in 1979 – 1980, there was a song that was very popular in church (and, I should imagine, in churches). Some of you may know it. I wonder how much of the song we can sing? "Jehovah Jireh – my provider” "My God shall provide all my needs..." "He gives his angels charge over me..."
"Jehovah Jireh cares for me..."
Is this true?
Can you sing the song? Would you sing the song?
Think of the desires of your heart – the real desires, the closely-held ones that we don't share... When a loved one is hurt, when we are badly hurt, right through the flesh into our bones and the marrow beneath...
What happens to us when we bring these things – on bent knee, with bent heart, with bent strength – what happens when we bring these things before our God... and all we get is silence? How do we handle the silence?
Psalm 104 praises God as mighty Рand mighty well beyond the clich̩ we Christians use so often. A key word for the whole canon of the 150 Psalms is Kingship (possibly because they were, at least in part, written by kings). In Psalm 104, we start with the image of a king of unbelievably powerful king.
God goes forth as the Warrior – His achievements are matched by what he does on earth – v sees the chaos of waters do what they're told. To the ancient Hebrews (and even in Jesus' time) the chaos of the water was a thing of dread, and a terrifying reminder of the smallness of man next to real power. Remember the horror of helplessness in Jonah? We see the fear in the eyes of the disciples as the storm lashes their boat... and their absolute terror of the Man who masters and subdues the monster of chaos... with a spoken word. Y'know what hits me? How effortless this all is for Him.
God does it easy. How powerful is He? Look back to Genesis 1, and the sheer ease at which God does it all... Rolls Royce motor cars have a strange gauge on the dashboard, and it indicates the percentage of torque used.
The idea is that as you cruise along at 110km/h you can see that it's only using 10% of available power. Even if you overtake a truck at speed, you might still be using 35% of available power. As you ram the car from 160 to nearly 200km/h, you can see that you still have 50% of what the engine is truly capable up your sleeve. A powerful motor indeed.
But a man in a boat that speaks to the screaming wind... be still... a God who speaks to the blackness... Let there be light... there's power.
The Psalm isn't about Mother Nature - there's no such thing. It's all God.
"O Lord my God you are VERY great..."
And why does He do this? The writer tells us that one of the purposes of this might, this massive display of power is... to provide. In v10 and 11, the chaos of water is suborned for a very good purpose - to provide. To provide shelter, grass for animals. We see the rhythms of the planet and space (v19-23) set so that beasts – and man – can eat and rest. All this power, to just provide...
But... we keep coming up against the same question over and over again... if this mighty, unimaginably powerful God does this for cows and badgers and goats... why, why, why does He stay so silent when I shout to him in agony, in need, in great profound distress? Why is the Sovereign Lord incapable of simply replying?
Sooner or later, we'll be faced with people in this genuine distress – or we will face it ourselves. How do we deal with it? Will we sing about “My Provider?”
The Bible doesn't give the easy pious answer. King David wrote of his unbearable pain in Psalm 22. We all know it as the one that Jesus quoted on the cross, we know Eloi eloi lamech sabach-thani. But read on. (Read V2 – 6 )
Where do we go from here?
James Macbeth sent me a quick textie yesterday, urging me to read something. Yesterday's entry in Spurgeon's Morning and Evening held a really crucial thought. Let me quote:
Anxious worry often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting to human wisdom. This is going to the 'broken cistern' instead of the 'fountain'; a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God's loving-kindness, and thus our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust... our prayers become hindered... and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him.
Spurgeon continues... “but if through simple faith in His promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon Him, and are worrisome over nothing because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him, and strengthen us against much temptation.
In Psalm 22, we see that David, never once, says that his burden just disappeared. But we see him – in the middle of his anguish – stop and ask for God to not be far away... to come quickly.
If we KNOW that God is our Provider - it frees us up. Frees us from worry – and allows Him tp gladden and sustain our hearts.
Sometimes this is the daily bread we need to ask for.
Life can be hard - and yet permeated by happy moments, too. Let's not forget that.
He is sovereign, and he does GOOD.
Take the two Psalms with you through the week. When you've got some time to sit and let them sink in, sit and let them sink in. He loves us. He who moves mountains and water for the benefit of goats and hyraxes loves us! And he treasures us more than birds or hyraxes.
“He who calls you is faithful – and He will do it!”
Jehovah Jireh cares for me.
Keith Condie at Moore College, Chapel 20-5-08
When I first started coming to church in 1979 – 1980, there was a song that was very popular in church (and, I should imagine, in churches). Some of you may know it. I wonder how much of the song we can sing? "Jehovah Jireh – my provider” "My God shall provide all my needs..." "He gives his angels charge over me..."
"Jehovah Jireh cares for me..."
Is this true?
Can you sing the song? Would you sing the song?
Think of the desires of your heart – the real desires, the closely-held ones that we don't share... When a loved one is hurt, when we are badly hurt, right through the flesh into our bones and the marrow beneath...
What happens to us when we bring these things – on bent knee, with bent heart, with bent strength – what happens when we bring these things before our God... and all we get is silence? How do we handle the silence?
Psalm 104 praises God as mighty Рand mighty well beyond the clich̩ we Christians use so often. A key word for the whole canon of the 150 Psalms is Kingship (possibly because they were, at least in part, written by kings). In Psalm 104, we start with the image of a king of unbelievably powerful king.
God goes forth as the Warrior – His achievements are matched by what he does on earth – v sees the chaos of waters do what they're told. To the ancient Hebrews (and even in Jesus' time) the chaos of the water was a thing of dread, and a terrifying reminder of the smallness of man next to real power. Remember the horror of helplessness in Jonah? We see the fear in the eyes of the disciples as the storm lashes their boat... and their absolute terror of the Man who masters and subdues the monster of chaos... with a spoken word. Y'know what hits me? How effortless this all is for Him.
God does it easy. How powerful is He? Look back to Genesis 1, and the sheer ease at which God does it all... Rolls Royce motor cars have a strange gauge on the dashboard, and it indicates the percentage of torque used.
The idea is that as you cruise along at 110km/h you can see that it's only using 10% of available power. Even if you overtake a truck at speed, you might still be using 35% of available power. As you ram the car from 160 to nearly 200km/h, you can see that you still have 50% of what the engine is truly capable up your sleeve. A powerful motor indeed.
But a man in a boat that speaks to the screaming wind... be still... a God who speaks to the blackness... Let there be light... there's power.
The Psalm isn't about Mother Nature - there's no such thing. It's all God.
"O Lord my God you are VERY great..."
And why does He do this? The writer tells us that one of the purposes of this might, this massive display of power is... to provide. In v10 and 11, the chaos of water is suborned for a very good purpose - to provide. To provide shelter, grass for animals. We see the rhythms of the planet and space (v19-23) set so that beasts – and man – can eat and rest. All this power, to just provide...
But... we keep coming up against the same question over and over again... if this mighty, unimaginably powerful God does this for cows and badgers and goats... why, why, why does He stay so silent when I shout to him in agony, in need, in great profound distress? Why is the Sovereign Lord incapable of simply replying?
Sooner or later, we'll be faced with people in this genuine distress – or we will face it ourselves. How do we deal with it? Will we sing about “My Provider?”
The Bible doesn't give the easy pious answer. King David wrote of his unbearable pain in Psalm 22. We all know it as the one that Jesus quoted on the cross, we know Eloi eloi lamech sabach-thani. But read on. (Read V2 – 6 )
Where do we go from here?
James Macbeth sent me a quick textie yesterday, urging me to read something. Yesterday's entry in Spurgeon's Morning and Evening held a really crucial thought. Let me quote:
Anxious worry often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting to human wisdom. This is going to the 'broken cistern' instead of the 'fountain'; a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God's loving-kindness, and thus our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust... our prayers become hindered... and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him.
Spurgeon continues... “but if through simple faith in His promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon Him, and are worrisome over nothing because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him, and strengthen us against much temptation.
In Psalm 22, we see that David, never once, says that his burden just disappeared. But we see him – in the middle of his anguish – stop and ask for God to not be far away... to come quickly.
If we KNOW that God is our Provider - it frees us up. Frees us from worry – and allows Him tp gladden and sustain our hearts.
Sometimes this is the daily bread we need to ask for.
Life can be hard - and yet permeated by happy moments, too. Let's not forget that.
He is sovereign, and he does GOOD.
Take the two Psalms with you through the week. When you've got some time to sit and let them sink in, sit and let them sink in. He loves us. He who moves mountains and water for the benefit of goats and hyraxes loves us! And he treasures us more than birds or hyraxes.
“He who calls you is faithful – and He will do it!”
Jehovah Jireh cares for me.
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