Again first pass through I liked the story but didn't take a lot. Now as I read and re-read it I'm running out of time this morning to investigate things I see.
David's song starts with him calling on God during his troubled times--the prayer thing again, and then a powerful image of how fierce God's response was to his prayers. Would God answer my prayers with the same power? I believe it should be possible, but it also says--
v20 The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;.
So while I know I can't earn my way to heaven, it seems during our time on earth we may be directly impacted by how closely we follow his instruction.
Back to v2.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield[b] and the horn[c] of my salvation, my stronghold.
The horn of my salvation stuck out to me. As I researched it people have various thoughts, it may represent strength, symbol of dignity, power. Jesus is also referenced in the New Testament as the horn of salvation.
Then in v15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
The valley of the sea caught my eye. In this simple statement is there a neatly tucked away clue to the fact that God is the creator of the universe? I was thinking back in those days when I'm guessing they couldn't explore the depths of the seas by more than probably 100ft how would David even know to write about the valley's of the sea? I did a little research and found others had the same thought long before me. The link below has a few neat illustrations of things written in the bible that are clues to God's knowledge of all long before we humans on earth discovered it.
http://www.bibletoday.com/archive/proof_text.htm
pretty random I know thoughts--gotta run
knut
That's good stuff today. It feels like you really spent some time in thought over this chapter. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteHere's my "much smaller take"
twice in the chapter does it reference "taking refuge in God". Once in verse 2 and again in verse 30. I started thinking about what that really means.
I think taking refuge in God means that we should remove ourselves from this crazy world, and completely focus on God goodness, and his love for use, and that will rejuvinate us, and help us deal with the crazy world a little bit longer....until we need to take refuge in him again.
The idea of prayer is so important in everything we read. Its seems pretty silly that its something I struggle with.
good take, I don't think I often take refuge in God. This morning may have been one of those mornings, i didn't want to stop and go to work I was enjoying the quiet house and digging into the bible.
ReplyDeleteyou and I aren't alone in our prayer struggles, I talked to guys at church about the same thing--not that we should feel good about it but just know we arent alone