Daily Meditations

Psalm 104:2b-3a The heavens are like a tent! The structure of the heavens above us and the hundreds of billions of galaxies beyond us is not random. It is not the outcome of some cataclysmic Big Bang or any other fanciful, godless theory that science may espouse. How dare men make projections and promote meaningless theories when we know nothing! We have not even begun to unwrap the mysteries of the universe which is so vast that it is way beyond the understanding of human beings. But what is abundantly clear, what space telescopes have shown us is that there is structure and order to it all. What tiny little bits of information we have gleaned from our explorations show us that the far-flung galaxies are not chaotic, they are ordered, regulated and organised.  The psalmist struggles to describe what he sees so the Holy Spirit helps him to illustrate his revelations. He sees the Lord God arranging the heavens like a tent, as if the earth was the most important place in the universe...

Psalm 104:2a He wraps Himself in light Our journey of discovery begins with light, just as it does in Genesis 1:3. In the same way we are not introduced to the creation of the sun and moon until much later, here light is not the rays of the sun but the spiritual and moral light of the universe. God wears such light as a cloak around Himself, His very presence is the light of righteousness, truth and love. It is the light of integrity, perfection and holiness and it is a garment that never wears out and that He never removes. So intense is this light of His presence that John’s Revelation foresees a new Jerusalem with no need of the sun and moon, for its glory will be visible simply because God is present. A similar spectacle unfolds when Moses encounters the Lord on Sinai and in the Tabernacle where a cloud of glory surrounds them, it is this glory that accompanied the Israelites on their wilderness journey to the Promised Land so that they had no need of torches and candles during the...

Psalm 104:1 What a great God Psalm 103 was David’s revelation of the glorious nature and character of our God, and now the anonymous writer of Psalm 104 takes us on a journey of discovery, helping us to see how that character and nature are reflected in all that God has made. This is definitely not a Psalm for the evolutionists!  If we contrast what we are about to read with Genesis chapter 1, we will see that there is a parallel order to things but the writer here is intent on showing us how Creation is a revelation of God’s glory and His control over all the earth. We will see how God reveals His glory in the heavens, in the earth’s foundation, in the oceans and seas, in the animal and bird life, in the plants, through the seasons, in the sun and moon and in human beings. It is a wonderful tribute to our Maker and reluctant as I am to leave Psalm 103 behind, I can’t wait to uncover the riches of the verses that lie before us. As I write I’m looking at the calendar, today is Novem...

Psalm 103:22 Praise the Lord, my soul We come to the end of this glorious Psalm with heavy hearts, well at least I do! It has been such a refreshing journey from the moment we started commanding our souls to  “Praise the Lord ”, to the exploration of God’s nature, to the reminder of human mortality and that God’s Kingdom is over all. Personal, private worship has expanded to a vision of praise that includes all creation; even those heavenly creatures, who we have not yet seen, have been encouraged to join in the praises of the Lord. It’s as if David wants the whole of the universe to join together in extolling the greatness of our God, in fact that’s exactly what this last verse commands.  “Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion .” A similar heart cry comes up in Psalm 96:11-13 where all creation is encouraged to rejoice before the Lord. Why? Because He comes,  “He comes to judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.” The above...

Psalm 103:21 Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts It’s not just angels who are invited to “Praise the Lord,” all the heavenly hosts are included in the summons. The hosts of heaven are known to include cherubim, seraphim and archangels and, as we have noted, there are Scriptures that refer to the “sons of God” who appear to be heavenly creatures who meet in the heavenly council that is ruled by the Lord God. (Psalm 82 and Job 1 describe such events.)  In other words, the heavenly hosts are not just angels, there are other creatures that serve and worship the Lord God and who are included in the call to “Praise the Lord.”  In Isaiah 6:1-8 seraphs are 6 winged celestial beings although the word “saraph” means burning and when used as a noun, refers to a serpent. Were these creatures like fiery serpents? Isaiah certainly sees them as winged, heavenly beings who have a passion for doing the work of God. The term “Cherubim” comes from an ancient word that means to bless; in...

Psalm 103:20 Praise the Lord, you His angels This Psalm is, sadly, drawing to a close and it is ending as it began, on a note of praise. In the opening verses it was the writer, David, who urged his soul to praise the Lord, this was his personal tribute to the Lord who had blessed him so abundantly throughout his life. After verses 1-5 the responsibility for praise moved to the whole earth, embracing mere mortals who are encouraged to take stock of themselves in the light of the eternal power and glory of the Lord. Now, at the end, the scene shifts to the heavenly realms and in this verse, the angels are commanded to praise the Lord.  There are numerous beings that occupy the heavens and angels are certainly amongst them; the Hebrew word for angel is “malakh” which means messenger. In Aramaic the term used speaks of “watchers”, in other words these beings are God’s attendants who are also depicted as guardians of humans . “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those ...

Psalm 103:19 The Lord's throne is in heaven The throne of God is not on earth, and it never has been. God is spirit, He does not need a throne made of earthly materials. However, He is the supreme ruler, and His position, power and authority are to be acknowledged in this world. So, does this mean that He only rules in heaven and is not engaged with the affairs of earth? Is He “hands on” in the heavenly realms but generally disengaged from the earthly world? No, Psalm 9:8 says that  “He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.”  Psalm 11:4 throws further light on His kingdom,  “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; He eyes examine them.”  Psalm 47 exalts the  “Great King over all the earth …..    who reigns over the nations .” From the above we can see that the Lord is very much engaged with the affairs of men, but the location of His throne is in the heavens, and ...