Psalm 104:5-9 “You fixed the earth on its foundation, so it can never be shaken. The deeps covered it like a garment; Above the mountains stood the waters. At your rebuke, they took flight; at the sound of your thunder, they fled. They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys to the place you had fixed for them. You set a limit they cannot pass; never again will they cover the earth.” Today's episode talks about how amazing God is. It talks about how He is in control of all things and also about the covenant God made with us. It reminds us that the rainbow is a sign of that covenant and that we need to keep hoping in dreams and desires. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Psalm 104 The Lord's Majesty (Part 2)
Psalm 104:5-9 “You fixed the earth on its foundation, so it can never be shaken. The deeps covered it like a garment; Above the mountains stood the waters. At your rebuke, they took flight; at the sound of your thunder, they fled. They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys to the place you had fixed for them. You set a limit they cannot pass; never again will they cover the earth.”
Today we pick up where we left off with Psalm 104. The verse starts by reminding us that the Lord fixed the Earth. He created all things, and He created the Earth on its foundation so it can never be shaken. That can be pretty reassuring if we let it. If we really let that sink in, The Lord has fixed the earth on its foundation so it can never be shaken. Some days, the earth seems like it is falling apart. It is good to be reassured that God is in control and that He won’t allow the world to be shaken.
Next, it says, “The deep covered it like a garment; Above the mountains stood the water. This sounds like it is talking about the flood. When Noah was living, the people of God had turned away from Him. Genesis 6:5-8 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Next, it says, “At your rebuke, they took flight; at the sound of your thunder, they fled. They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys to the place you had fixed for them. This narrative of the Lord's control over the water can invoke a sense of awe in us, reminding us of His power and sovereignty. The Lord created the whole universe with his words. When we stop to think about that, it is amazing. The waters fled at the Lord’s rebuke. How many of us can say that we speak to nature, and it listens to us?
Today’s verse ends with, “You set a limit they cannot pass; never again will they cover the earth.” Today’s verse shows us how powerful God is and that He controls all nature. God decides where the water will go and where it will not go. It is amazing how He made the oceans, rivers, and lakes. He contained the water in the places He wanted it. At one point, there was water everywhere. In Genesis 1:9-10 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.”
The last line of this verse also reminds us of God’s promise to us: “Never again will they cover the earth.” God made this covenant with us after He flooded the Earth. He promised He would not do that again, and He gave us a rainbow as a sign of that covenant. Rainbows are still a sign of that covenant. Sometimes, God will give us a rainbow when we are struggling to believe something will really happen. I remember I was in a car with some of my girlfriends once and we were talking about how one of my girlfriends really wanted to get married and have children and it had not happened yet. We talked about how it is hard to keep hoping for something when you have waited too long for it and still don’t see any signs of it on the horizon. All of a sudden, there was a beautifully full rainbow right ahead of us in the sky. We know that was God reassuring her that He knows her hopes and dreams and He will fulfill them. My friend is getting married in four days! God is so good!
God can do the same for your hopes and dreams. I know hope is hard, especially if you have been waiting for something for a long time. I know it can feel like it is never going to happen. I can feel like He has forgotten about you. You can be tempted to give up, hoping for what you want, and figure it just wasn’t God’s plan for you. I want to encourage you not to give up. I want to encourage you to keep hoping, even when it is hard and even when you feel like there is no point.
God rewards persistence. He tells us this through several stories in the Bible. God wants us to keep asking. I am not sure why some things take a long time, and others happen right away. I am not sure why it seems like God is ignoring us at times. I do know that is not true. God is never ignoring us. He is always right there by our side. His attention is always aimed directly at us. The problem is that His timing is not our timing, and that sucks! We feel we know what we want, and we even are pretty sure our timing is great. However, the Lord can see things we can’t see, and if we get what we want before we are ready, it won’t be as good.
My friend waited on God’s timing and has now found the man of her dreams. God brought her a guy who gets her. They have a similar sense of humor, they both love dogs, and they are so cute together. Does it stink that she had to wait this long to meet him? Yes. Does God have a plan that is bigger than our plan? Yes. My friend did not give up on her hopes and dreams, and I hope you won’t either, even if it seems impossible. Even if it seems like you missed your chance or you missed your window, if you want it, keep praying for it. God is a way maker. He can find a way where there is no way. As Matthew West would say in his new song, “Don’t Stop Praying!”
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, we are in awe of your majesty. We are in awe of how you speak commands over the earth, and it listens. We are in awe of keeping the water contained where you want it. Lord, you are incredible. I love looking at this Psalm to see your majesty on display. Thank you for your covenant with us, Lord. Thank you for reminding us of that covenant when we need it. Lord, we ask that you help us not to give up hope on our hopes and dreams. We ask that you help fortify us in faith that hope in you will not disappoint. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting some of you on Zoom this evening. It is not too late to join mentoring, and you can be on live tonight as well. We are in week #3 of our Surrender series. Tonight, we will discuss how we can surrender our hopes and dreams to the Lord. There is a link to sign up at the bottom of the show notes. Mentoring is $30 a month, and you get live mentoring on Zoom Tuesday nights at 8 ET. You will also get a recording of the session in case you weren’t able to come live or you just want to watch it again. I hope you will join us! Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “What do you have to lose if you step out and do the things that I do? What do you have to gain?”