1 The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! 2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. 4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. 7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods! 8 Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O LORD. 9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. 10 O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name! (Psalm 97)
To read this scripture this morning gave me great pleasure, not so say that the other don't of course. The parts emboldened are all about nature, something that my generation lacks knowledge of. We already know that He can calm the waves in stormy weather, or make the waves rough in His anger. However, I never really thought of anything else but a rainbow, rain and wind in relation to Him.
His lightening lights up the world: He gives us light in the darkest of times. We have the moon, the sun, and the lightening when the moon and sun aren't visible because of clouds. I always thought that lightening was awe inspiring, but I never thought of it as a symbol much like the sun and moon: a light giver.
The earth sees and trembles: I guess we can call the earthquakes in every region "the earth seeing God". That is pretty cool to think about! Everything happens for a reason; God doesn't let people suffer for no reason. There is a reason that things are happening in the world as they are today, they are happening to lead us to either redemption or damnation. God will protect those that belong to Him! I wouldn't wish the disaster of the world on anyone, ever; yet, I realize that things occur in their due time.
Still, when the earth sees God, it trembles; when the leaves are bashed about by the wind, they are praising God. When the people of the world don't praise Him, the earth will. Maybe this is another reason for earthquakes... Just sayin'.
Mountains Melt like Wax: Obviously a volcano, but the words used give me a different view of a volcano. Instead of thinking "yup, magma is coming up and becoming lava on the surface of the earth" I can think of a candle, I like this thought.
Fire goes before Him: Fire, one thing that is never satisfied. Fire can destroy, heal, melt, harden, cook, clean, sterilize, infect, chaotic, controlled. Fire is a paradox, fire is how God showed Himself on Mt. Zion and what we should have for Him: a fiery passion. Fire is a great asset and a horrible demise. Fire is awesome and He controls it. Think about that, God controls the chaos and the paradoxes of life just as He controls the fire...
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