Daily Meditations

Psalm 147:18 Master of the Universe! What lovely words these are!! They reveal to us a God who is completely in control of everything, even the weather! It is so arrogant of men to think that they are able to organise and administer the climate. It is only godless people who think that way, we have no control, we cannot melt hailstones or snowfalls, we are not able to manipulate the seasons or the activity of the sun and moon and the speed at which the earth spins on its axis. For all their lack of knowledge and scientific know-how, the ancients were in a far better place than us, they had wisdom above knowledge and could give credit for all patterns of weather to the One who created the earth and who controls its climate.  What an uplifting verse this is, it describes the transition from winter to spring and in the north of Israel, the snows of Mount Hermon melt every year, and waters flow down to the River Jordan to irrigate the land and to provide for humans and animals. These t...

Psalm 147:17 Who can withstand His icy blast? In Exodus 9:13-35 we read of the plague of hail that brought severe damage across Egypt.  “Throughout Egypt hail struck everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.”  V25-26. Notice that the destruction in Egypt was total, but this hailstorm was selective and Goshen, which is in eastern Egypt, was unaffected because the Israelites lived there.  Is it wrong to surmise that some of the worst so-called natural disasters, hit those places that are not God-fearing but avoid other places that are? If this is so, these things cannot be blamed on the vagaries of the world’s climate. In Egypt’s case the storm was targeted. Psalm 78 describes this same scenario; “ He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet. He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning. He unleashed against them His hot...

Psalm 147:16 The Psalm now moves to consider the ways in which the Lord God is involved in our weather! There is much talk nowadays about “climate change.” I wonder if they talked about that in Noah’s day or if “climate change” will be blamed as the cause of the judgements that will come upon the earth in the last days? The nations will not be willing to humble themselves and attribute the problems to their own rebellion against the Creator. This is a difficult subject because there is little doubt that some of the phenomena that we see around the world even in recent months, can certainly be blamed on man’s mishandling of the planet and its resources. Perhaps this irregular behaviour is already written into creation as a warning and an indication of what may follow.  The other side of the argument is that we actually do not control the weather or have any influence over it. God alone is the initiator of every factor that causes abundant rains, or prolonged heat or, as this verse p...

Psalm 147:15 The God who responds Any ideas we may have that the Lord our God, is quietly sitting on His heavenly throne aloof and distanced from the earth and its occupants, is immediately dispelled by this verse. God is present in the “now”, He observes, watches and involves Himself with men. He must do so for it is His plan and purpose that is unfolding across the world, and it is His involvement in the spiritual battles that take place, that is our only hope of survival as a race. God does not spend days or hours deliberating, His actions are fast and yes, even furious at times! He does not react so much as act, for He foresees and foreknows the ways of men, and the international leaders who believe themselves to be in control are kidding themselves! God sends His commands to the earth. I love the way the psalmist puts this in Psalm 104:3-4,  “He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.”  W...

Psalm 147:14 Peace to our borders When Israel first entered the Promised Land, they encountered nothing but trouble. Canaan was occupied by hostile, pagan tribes and kingdoms, and the Lord’s command was to take the land, subdue their enemies and seek to live peaceably thereafter. It was a tall order, not least because even after the interior had been taken there was the constant threat of raids from their surrounding neighbours but, peace did eventually come, under the reign of King David. 2 Samuel 7:1 says, “ After the king was settled in his palace   and the   Lord   had given him rest from all his enemies   around him…..”   David had succeeded where others had failed and the land rested from its wars and conflicts. It is the Lord’s will that we fight our battles but that, maybe towards the end of our time on earth, we rest from our labours and enjoy peace on our borders. What’s the point of the spiritual battles if we do not learn from them and eventually sto...