The Justice of Our God

We believe God is right and just, and there are right and just ways to do things. God always does the right thing in the right way. He’s a righteous God, but he can still save us. How in the world can this happen? Because if He’s righteous, He should destroy us. And this is where the power of Yahweh comes in. 

The psalmist mentioned it in Psalm 65, You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth. There’s nothing that escapes His righteousness. He is the only one who can provide salvation. Does any of this remind you of Jesus? He calmed the seas at least twice. He just said, be still, and the poor disciples were terrified. 

The Awesomeness of God Alone

It will be no surprise that the word awesome is from the word fear. When you’re afraid of something, you stand in awe of it. And when you’re not afraid, you just yawn and go back to sleep. 

God is not arbitrary in His power. When He does things like calm seas and the toils of people, He’s doing it for a reason. The sovereign is always deliberate. The sovereign always has intent behind his actions. Fear and its cognates occur 320 times in the Old Testament. It’s a big theme through the Bible.

People are afraid. What is the number one command in scripture? Don’t be afraid. The only being who should create a reverential fear is God. We should recover this awesomeness of who our Savior is. 

Creation Declares His Glory

What this psalmist seems to conclude is a universal appeal to the dawn and the sunset. Creation cannot help but declare the glory of God. When you go to the ocean and you hear the waves crashing, the oceans are shouting for joy. 

The oceans aren’t simply following the lunar cycle. They oceans are under the command of Yahweh, Elohim. They’re doing what He designed them to do. And what they’re doing is putting attention back on Yahweh; because they say you’re just infinitesimal when you stand against the ocean of God. Job 38:12, Have you ever in your life commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know its place? Since he has this kind of power, he hears my prayer and he forgives me and look at the nature around me to remind me the awesome power of his salvation. 

God is Our Abundant Blessing (Psalm 65:9-13)

This last part of this passage gives the assurance that God is abundantly blessing the psalmist. Look at the verbs: Enrich. Prepare, prepare water, settle, soften, bless, crown, drip. The psalmist is saying, ‘this is what You do that we can’t do ourselves.’  When Simeon saw baby Jesus, he said, “God has visited redemption on His people.” Visit is a very important Old and New Testament term because God has come to earth. 

Israel’s needs and requirements were not stable markets. But what did Israel need? Water. If you go to Israel today, the number one issue is water. They’re worried about water just like the ancients. There were three kinds of water: living water, water that was contained, and cisterns. 

Silence Matters

Practicing the art of silence is not something mystical and new age-ish. It is a good way of living. Notice Psalm 65:1 speaks of silence. Whereas Psalm 65:13 speaks of shouting. There’s a time to be silent in worship. There’s a time when creation shouts. You’re not going to hear creation shout if you’re talking all the time.

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