The heavens declare the glory of the LORD The moon hides its face in shame at the mere reflection of Your beauty. The stars for all their twinkling light can never match the magnificence of Your glory. Though the sun may shin with all its might it will never be but a shadow of Your brilliance. O God, You reign in the heavens! Your majesty humbles all creation. Though man lifts his face against You he is but a speck of dust, blown swiftly away. You honor those You choose and humble those who strut around in pride. You hear the smallest of Your children’s call yet You command the most violent of storms. All creation bows to You It sings Your praises! Though man works evil against it Your power and might prevail. Your cleansing blood overwhelms their efforts, Purifying Your world, Proclaiming Your might.
Ephesians 1:18-19 I pray that the eyes of your heart being enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. There are three things that Paul wants us to see: 1. the hope of His calling 2. the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the holy ones 3. the surpassing greatness of His power towards those who believe To be honest, I’m not sure what any of these truly entail. The Greek word means vocation, but the Hebrew word means assemblies, readings, and convocations. A convocation is a group of people who are called together for a particular purpose. The root of the Greek word for hope means to anticipate. So it may mean closer to the anticipation of His calling of a group of people for a particular purpose (a vocation-like action). So, if my eyes of my heart are alive and aware, then I am anticipating my role as part of a group who have been called for a particular purpose. I am anticipating that time when we gather to act together. Ah, but what is that purpose? Perhaps to bring Him glory? To show His love? To worship Him? The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the holy ones is probably better translated: The abundance of the majesty and splendor of His kingdom with (or in) his holy ones. Perhaps this has to do with the awesomeness of who He is and the kingdom He brings and reigns over. Through His Holy Spirit in me, I have a share in this kingdom, as well as an obligation to live according to those kingdom rules. Perhaps it is by living according to His kingdom that I have the opportunity to actually see with my heart glimpses of His incredible splendor and majesty. The last part seems to be speaking of His power and how above and beyond imagination it is as it is directed towards those who believe. So, as one who believes, He directs His power, the greatness of His power, into and through me, as well as to me. That’s a lot to think about today!
Numbers 27:23 and he laid his hands upon him, and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses. Two interesting things stuck me with this verse. 1. Moses laid his hands on Joshua as God has directed him previously, passing some of his authority on to him. It’s interesting to me that the word hands also means, metaphorically, strength and power. So, the laying on of hands is metaphorically (and sometimes literally) the transfer or conveyance of strength and power from one person to another. In this case it was so Joshua could lead Israel into the Promised Land with authority. But we also see this with people who are healed. 2. The last part of this verse doesn’t say what it seems to. In the Hebrew that I looked at on the Blue Letter Bible site, there is no word that says through. The word is hand. So it actually says something like as the Yehovah commanded the hand of Mosheh. It’s interesting. I don’t know if it’s important, but it’s weird what they change. And, as always I wonder if I’m totally off because I don’t understand the grammatical structure of the language (I understand it mentally, but I can’t read Hebrew so that knowledge is kind of useless). Anyway, I don’t know what I’m supposed to learn from this. It’s interesting, but what’s the application? Obviously, Moses wasn’t too proud or too power-hungry to relinquish control to another when it was his time to die (in fact, he was the one who told God that someone needed to be appointed in his place so that Israel would have a shepherd). Maybe it’s a reminder that there’s a time to step down out of power and let others take over. Again, I don’t know how that applies to me as I have very little power, except as a mom… but perhaps in that case it’s a reminder that there comes a time when I need to step back and let my boys be men and allow other me to speak into their lives. Not yet, since they’re both under 3, but eventually.
Amos 4:13 For the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies is his name! This is a powerful name. It’s also one that you don’t necessarily hope to hear in the context that Israel heard it. In this verse we get a small glimpse of some of the power associated with The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. He shapes mountains. He stirs up winds. He turns the light of dawn into darkness. He walks on the heights of the earth. But my favorite is He reveals His thoughts to mankind. These are no small feat. I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember the last time I shaped mountains or stirred up the wind. This name is indicative of God’s power and authority, not just over Heaven’s armies, but also over mankind. Things that are impossible for us are child’s play for The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. That’s pretty intense. So what? I don’t know. For me this reminds me that God is more powerful than I usually remember. Therefore, He’s able to take care of any situation I’m in. If He can shape mountains, then shaping my life and my situations should be pretty easy. It also reminds me that He has great authority at his beck-and-call. One word from Him and the armies of heaven rally to my defense. And that’s nice backup! In this context, it’s a warning to behave, too. That’s what this name means for me. Your turn!
Daniel 4: 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble those who are proud. Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the known world and had conquered most of it as well. God brought him to his knees by causing him to lose his mind. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God as being all-powerful and his sanity was restored, along with his kingdom. There are many times when I wonder about the direction in which our country is being led. But, ultimately, God holds the heart of our President and the congress in His hands. He changed the heart of a man who didn’t believe in Him and made Him a man who proclaimed God’s greatness to his entire nation. A person doesn’t have to believe in God in order for God to work in his or her life. So, I pray for our President and our leaders because God can touch and change their hearts, too. If He can change Nebuchadnezzar then changing our leader is nothing! Nothing is too big or too difficult for our God!
Psalm 135:13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever; your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation. In my American Literature class we are studying the Declaration of Independence, and I read an interesting comment about why God is mentioned 9 times in the preamble section alone. It’s not about religion (well, maybe partly about religion, but the writers were rationalists and some were deists). It’s about power and corruption. If our rights are given to us by humans they are subject to the corruption and greed that often comes with power (absolute power corrupts absolutely). If our rights are given to us by God, then no one but God can take them away, thus limiting the power of government. So, when people try to remove God from things like the Pledge of Allegiance (one nation under God) then in essence they’re not removing God from government, they’re actually removing the obstacle between them and power. By taking the right to give inalienable “natural” rights (like the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) out of God’s hands and putting it in man’s hands, they suddenly gain the power to limit those rights for whomever they choose. The crux of the Declaration was that the God-given, natural rights of the colonists were being infringed upon by the king. But if our rights are no longer God-given but rather man-given, then it becomes much easier for man to take those rights away if it’s convenient for him. We go back to the problem from which the colonists were declaring their independence. So, God in the Declaration isn’t so much about religion as it is about power and control. Are our lives given and controlled by a higher power? Or are they given and controlled by government, courts, and politicians? Kind of a scary thought, huh?