Daily Meditations

Psalm 135:18 Who are we turning into? This is a curious statement, it effectively says that we become like the objects or beings that we worship! If we worship a pitiful, lifeless image made of stone, our faith or religion is pitiful and lifeless too. If our god is avenging, cruel and murderous, so shall our attitude to others be. If our god is wealthy, demanding and dictatorial, that becomes the character of the religions he or she represents.  So we could go on, faith and trust are very much in tune with the objects, the deities or the religion that we serve. Which brings us, of course, to the nature of the Lord God Almighty and the character of those who serve Him. Again, each form of the faith is very much affected by the way in which people perceive the Lord. For instance, Orthodox Jews have a very different reaction to the Lord God than Pentecostals, and Roman Catholics to Free Church evangelicals! From these comparisons we begin to see that truth is essential to our quest an...

Psalm 135:15-17 Pointless idols These verses are condensed for our consideration for we do not need to spend days thinking about the pointlessness of idols! In many cultures throughout time, right up to the present day, idol worship has been at the heart of people’s belief systems. When missionaries first started to visit primitive peoples in unexplored corners of the continents, they often found a plethora of images, statues and effigies made to represent many gods and superstitions. The whole point of taking the gospel to these places was, of course, to point these people to the one, true God. What is thought-provoking is that even the most primitive communities felt the need to worship and venerate someone or something.  It's interesting to note from our verses, that idols are usually constructed from valuable materials. Silver and gold are the most obvious choices, and they reflect the desire in the human heart to give the best to the gods who are worshipped. The problem is tha...

Psalm 135:14 The Lord will vindicate His people Another powerful duet for us to consider! Isn’t it amazing that when we take innocuous words and apply them to the Lord, a whole world of meaning and truth bubbles forth! In this verse the psalmist talks about the Lord’s vindication of His people and His compassion on His servants. Frankly, we could spend hours unpacking these statements and seeing how they apply to us all.  Let’s remember that the original subject of these verses is the nation of Israel and her relationship with the Lord God. It is Israel whom the Lord will vindicate, and it is the nations of the world who will cross the Lord’s path when they attack this country. As we have noted on countless occasions, Israel is both God’s chosen land and His chosen people on earth, anyone who attacks them, including world powers, will come up against the full force of God’s wrath. He will stand by His people whatever the odds, and woe betide those who dare to challenge Him. If only...

Psalm 135:13 The power of His Name There are two things here in this verse that resonate throughout the earth and have done so from the beginning of creation and will do so forever: - the name of the Lord, and the renown of the Lord. The use of the name of the Lord varies throughout the earth; to some it is a swear word, a curse and a name to be invoked often and indiscriminately, without care or thought. For others, the name of the Lord is of no consequence whatsoever; it may be used occasionally, rarely in a complimentary way, it’s just a name and has no significance. For those who believe, the names of our God and His glorious Son are the most precious words that ever pass through our lips; our tongues and voices were made to shout those names, to sing them and to exalt them.  What a divergence of opinion! What an enigma, that a few names should mean so much to one group of people and be a curse to others. When you think about it, the name of the Lord is the single most divisive...

Psalm 135:12 An inheritance to God's people Israel It might be a good moment to re-read the comments on verse 4 where the Scriptures set out the detail the divine ownership of the land of Israel and the terms and conditions by which the Israelites became occupants of that land. As we noted, the covenant made with them by God was an everlasting covenant; they are the sole leaseholders and all attempts to uproot them have failed, except for a time period from AD 70 to 1948, the time of the Gentiles. This is now drawing to a close, the inheritance will once again be recognised by Israel and the people will, at long last, accept their Messiah.  The prophet Zechariah describes all of this as well as any other Scripture writer. In Zechariah 12:10-13 we read of a time of national mourning as the Jews  “look on Him, the one they have pierced.”  In chapter 13, Zechariah describes a time of cleansing in Jerusalem, of judgement against the Jews and a refining of those people until t...

Psalm 135:10-11 The march north In these two verses, the author of this Psalm summarises the events described in Exodus 7-14 and later in Numbers 21:21-35. Moses was not allowed to enter Canaan, he had to pass that gilded baton to Joshua his successor, but he was allowed to march north along the eastern side of the River Jordan. The verses in our Psalm, effectively describe the conquest of the land that we now call Jordan. Not only were there obstinate kings like Sihon and Og in the way, but these were territories that were still home to the descendants of the Nephilim, the giants of ancient times. In truth, Moses was looking for a peaceful passage along the boundary of Canaan, but the obstinate Amorites, led by Sihon, stood in the way and were put to the sword, as was King Og, who reigned further north.  These were brutal times, many died and the forces against Israel were far greater than their own travelling army. The slaughter of these violent forces was repeated later when Jos...