Psalm 18:1-20
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies ,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
This Psalm of David is rejoicing with an overflowing heart in the mercy of God. It remembers the deliverance of the children of Israel. Written 1,000 years before Jesus’ death, verses 8 to 14 describe the earthquake & events after Jesus forgave us and dismissed His Spirit. Because Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit, the psalm is about us, individually. In our day of trouble, we call out to Him and He saves us forever.
I've heard critics of Jesus Christ say He knew Scripture pretty well, using crowd hysteria to promote healings. This seems to me to dismiss the fact, if you stand in a public place looking just at mere t-shirts and you'll see people wearing messages proclaiming His Love. What an inspiring thing. On lone carpenter's son, learning his father's love and teaching us His Heavenly Father's love.Jesus, after all came from a blended family. And He is rejoiced in today. His goodness did not go unappreciated and loved. (Yay human race!)
Here is a passage of this love. Jonah quietly spoke in the Assyrian Empire and hearts were changed forever. One man merely speaking. God does powerful things in the lives of those who would just say - I am for HIM. Noah swung a hammer, ignoring 'the comment'. What more will God do for those who say - I am for Him. With a lot of actions, and words, even of Jesus - we miss the ripple even of our own actions and words. Build each day, for Him.
The ripple effect - rarely does God sent a heavenly choir to make an announcement. If fact I can only think of Jesus' birth and He chose men quietly watching over a flock - which was in fact these men caring for their own flock - of people, family - God had given them. Going to work. And just being that guy doing his job - God blessed these mere Shepherds.
Today - we have this passage, and we see with wonder and awe - God - a grieving Parent was arranging for His Child to leave a foot print of Scripture - we can not ignore. No human arranged events for 1,000 year old prophecy to be revealed. That grieving Parent thundered into the Temple - wrecking the place like He allowed Aaron to do. God was both caring for Jesus in His anger, splitting the Floor of His Temple and tearing the curtain - saying I have lived for you, my child, this hurtful existence and know the pain of rejection and of loss of life.
If this passage touches you, I challenge you to see the Israeli Church where Christ is said to have been crucified. The Church contains bedrock split by the earthquake today. A massive stone geology proclaims this to be an earthquake in Israel about 30 A.D.
Seems He likes His Scripture to be backed with evidence; we will always have to see in something He approves of - faith. Faith also involves the need to see our lives, words, and actions and Prayers are something He likes us to live out - our calling to be Children of the Most High God
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