There are certain things that are just good things. It doesn’t take a genius to recognize them. Even a child can tell. One of the most obvious good is realized when providing for those who are in need. And while you can’t always trust your feelings, it certainly feels good to help.
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing.” – Psalm 68:5-6
God is a good God. While God is just, he is certainly a God of compassion. In the middle of a life filled with amazingly high highs and low lows, David remembers and worships this God of Goodness.
“But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds - his name is the LORD - and rejoice before him.” – Psalm 68:3-4
I love what Matthew Henry writes today:
“God is the joy of his people, then let them rejoice when they come before him. He who derives his being from none, but gives being to all, is engaged by promise and covenant to bless his people. He is to be praised as a God of mercy and tender compassion. He ever cares for the afflicted and oppressed: repenting sinners, who are helpless and exposed more than any fatherless children, are admitted into his family, and share all their blessings.”
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Psalm 68 was written as a song and likely sung as the Ark came back from the Philistines. The Philistines lived in Canaan, which is the half of Palestine west of the Jordan River. Asherah was the ubiquitous Canaanite goddess also known as Mother of the Sea and associated with the Tree of Life (we always read about tearing down the Asherah poles). In addition she was the wife of the chief God El. In this position she gave birth to Anat, the fierce warrior goddess and Baal, who is known by the Canaanites at the cloud-rider god. We know from early OT that the Hebrews were constantly struggling to release themselves from worshipping Baal. Baal is mentioned 133 times in the OT and represents a generic idol worship by the Hebrews. It is, in fact, the act of putting something in front of Yahweh.
ReplyDeleteSo here, in this seemingly innocent throwaway line in the bible “him who rides on the clouds his name is the LORD” the Hebrews are describing who God is and affirming that He is the real Cloud Rider, He is above Baal and any other deities that man has created.
Lest there be no confusion, about 1,000 years after this song was written and sung by the Hebrews proclaiming the real Cloud Rider, Jesus defined himself the same way in Matthew 26:63-64 The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Cloud Rider you are the Name above all names.
God is in the rescuing business. He sent Christ to be our save-er, or Savior. If we didn’t need to be rescued, he wouldn’t have sent a Savior. Many Psalms and scripture mention the term, “He will keep our foot from slipping” bringing to mind a tricky traverse on a slick mountain. The thing is, we live in a dangerous and fallen world. Most days I’m oblivious to it, surrounded by the trappings and comforts of our society. I can wall myself off from reality in the safety and sterility of my car, office and house, and never be exposed or confronted with the pain and horror that is in the world. The downside of this is that I miss God when I avoid the world.
ReplyDeleteOur God is a God who saves; (Psalm 68:20)
God is in the rescuing business. When we get to the point where we don’t think we need rescuing, we reach the point where we don’t think we need God. That’s a sad and scary point, indeed