O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God! Sing praises to the Lord, to Him Who rides in the heaven of heavens, the ancient heavens. Behold, He sends out His voice, His mighty voice. Ascribe power to God, Whose majesty is over Israel, and Whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from His sanctuary, the God of Israel -- He is the One Who gives power and strength to His people. Blessed be God! (Verses 32-35)
(God) Who rides the heavens to your help, and through the skies in His majesty. The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And He drove out the enemy from before you. Moses in Deuteronomy 33
We need a cloud to guide us. A vapor which rests on us when we are to be still. A puff of ancient wisdom which moves us forward from our comfort zone. We need a God Who knows what was before the before -- in the ancient times when there was no universe -- and what is in our moment of wanderings. Humans have no real prescience, just a history book to see the mistakes and fortuitous victories of our forerunners. But today, in my own busy life, I need His cloud.
God used the heavens to make His presence known to the trekking Israelites. If they were to move camp during the day, a cloud went before them into the desert. Should the Lord decide to decamp at night, a pillar of fire led their way. The procession was protected from potential enemies by the Presence they followed in their journeys. All the Lord had to do was to speak to the circumstances and they submitted. But He isn't as arbitrary as some might think. When Pharaoh was finally convinced by all the plagues to throw the Israelites out of Egypt, God reasoned why He decided to take them around the long way. The shorter route would've led them through the land of the Philistines, who would surely fight against their journey. God said: "I don't want the people to change their minds and run back to Egypt because of a war." So, it's not like God isn't thinking about our way. Judging where to take us because He knows us so well. Even knows ahead of time the circumstances to which He must speak.
Yesterday in my prayer time I was talking to God about a prayer request I have on the table before Him. It appears to me that nothing is going on in relation to an answer. I cannot know, really, what God is doing. I must wait beneath the cloud of "stay put." But He reminded me that doesn't mean He isn't doing anything because God goes before me to create all the possibilities and sure things I haven't walked into yet. The Almighty has ridden the clouds since He spoke them into being. Has imparted some of His radiance since He said to the surface of the deep, "Let there be light!" and there was. Sitting in splendor above it all, our majestic Lord watches all of time unfold at once before Him. Understands the scope of our small history. What it's all about. And plays it out before us and in us. God stepped into His own history when His Son, Jesus, began forming in the body of a young Jewish girl. The seed of the Almighty mixed with human flesh. The Word become man to live among us. Not the rumbling fiery God of Mount Sinai upon whom no one could look this time. The cloud took on form and showed Himself to us. Though the bloody death of the Messiah looked like the end of hope, Jesus got up from the grave, left the sweetly scented wrappings of His anointed burial all neatly arranged in a borrowed tomb and forever changed the way the Father speaks to His children. The Holy Spirit set upon the world in the season of Pentecost. To whoever wills there is now a way to hear the voice that once thundered in the heavens. The One Who spoke from the clouds now speaks from the Father's throne. The Word made flesh now indwells those who are His very own.
So sing, nations! There is a God in heaven Who avails Himself to man! Emmanuel, God with us, rides the heavens in His glory and will come again in the clouds to receive us to Himself! Shout for joy, that the Almighty Creator of Everything sanctuaries in His people to save them from their enemies and to strengthen them for the journey! And still our God rides before us into all we cannot see and makes a way where there is no way to create our personal history. And underneath it all, in every circumstance and through every stormy battle, there are the Everlasting Arms, open, bidding us abide in the warmth and safety of their embrace! Blessed indeed be my God!
(God) Who rides the heavens to your help, and through the skies in His majesty. The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And He drove out the enemy from before you. Moses in Deuteronomy 33
We need a cloud to guide us. A vapor which rests on us when we are to be still. A puff of ancient wisdom which moves us forward from our comfort zone. We need a God Who knows what was before the before -- in the ancient times when there was no universe -- and what is in our moment of wanderings. Humans have no real prescience, just a history book to see the mistakes and fortuitous victories of our forerunners. But today, in my own busy life, I need His cloud.
God used the heavens to make His presence known to the trekking Israelites. If they were to move camp during the day, a cloud went before them into the desert. Should the Lord decide to decamp at night, a pillar of fire led their way. The procession was protected from potential enemies by the Presence they followed in their journeys. All the Lord had to do was to speak to the circumstances and they submitted. But He isn't as arbitrary as some might think. When Pharaoh was finally convinced by all the plagues to throw the Israelites out of Egypt, God reasoned why He decided to take them around the long way. The shorter route would've led them through the land of the Philistines, who would surely fight against their journey. God said: "I don't want the people to change their minds and run back to Egypt because of a war." So, it's not like God isn't thinking about our way. Judging where to take us because He knows us so well. Even knows ahead of time the circumstances to which He must speak.
Yesterday in my prayer time I was talking to God about a prayer request I have on the table before Him. It appears to me that nothing is going on in relation to an answer. I cannot know, really, what God is doing. I must wait beneath the cloud of "stay put." But He reminded me that doesn't mean He isn't doing anything because God goes before me to create all the possibilities and sure things I haven't walked into yet. The Almighty has ridden the clouds since He spoke them into being. Has imparted some of His radiance since He said to the surface of the deep, "Let there be light!" and there was. Sitting in splendor above it all, our majestic Lord watches all of time unfold at once before Him. Understands the scope of our small history. What it's all about. And plays it out before us and in us. God stepped into His own history when His Son, Jesus, began forming in the body of a young Jewish girl. The seed of the Almighty mixed with human flesh. The Word become man to live among us. Not the rumbling fiery God of Mount Sinai upon whom no one could look this time. The cloud took on form and showed Himself to us. Though the bloody death of the Messiah looked like the end of hope, Jesus got up from the grave, left the sweetly scented wrappings of His anointed burial all neatly arranged in a borrowed tomb and forever changed the way the Father speaks to His children. The Holy Spirit set upon the world in the season of Pentecost. To whoever wills there is now a way to hear the voice that once thundered in the heavens. The One Who spoke from the clouds now speaks from the Father's throne. The Word made flesh now indwells those who are His very own.
So sing, nations! There is a God in heaven Who avails Himself to man! Emmanuel, God with us, rides the heavens in His glory and will come again in the clouds to receive us to Himself! Shout for joy, that the Almighty Creator of Everything sanctuaries in His people to save them from their enemies and to strengthen them for the journey! And still our God rides before us into all we cannot see and makes a way where there is no way to create our personal history. And underneath it all, in every circumstance and through every stormy battle, there are the Everlasting Arms, open, bidding us abide in the warmth and safety of their embrace! Blessed indeed be my God!
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