God Controls the Waters!

We are going to look at Psalm 114 to see what it says about God and water. The theme is “remembering what God has done with water to show us His power and direction.” This is also the Sunday before Remembrance Day. I want to consider the question: “How are this Psalm and Remembrance Day similar?

I just came back from the Banff Pastors Retreat. I promised all of you in this church that I would bring back some nuggets that I can share with you. This message is based on the first mornings Bible Study that I attended. The study, “The Waters of Power,” was presented by Rev. Dr. Lissa Wray Beal and she helped me to see this Psalm in a different aspect.

Psalm 114 NIV
1 When Israel came out of Egypt, the house of
Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.

Exodus 19: 3-6 NIV
3 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel:
4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,
6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Psalm 78: 68-69 NIV
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.

Psalm 76:1 NIV
In Judah God is known;
His name is great in Israel.

Vs 3 showing God’s power over water. Connects Red Sea and Jordan River events.

3 The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;

First, we have God controlling the sea:

Exodus 14: 21-22NIV
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Exodus 15: 8 NIV
By the blast of your nostrils
the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood firm like a wall;
the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

Psalm 77: 16 NIV
The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.

Then we have God controlling the river:

Joshua 3: 14-17 NIV
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.
15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

God truly controls the waters!

4 the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.

Vs 4 shows how nature can be animated for visual effect.

5 Why was it, O sea, that you fled,
O Jordan, that you turned back,
6 you mountains, that you skipped like rams,
you hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,

Vs 7 we can connect with Matthews story of Jesus in the boat sleeping in the storm. Jesus wakes to calm the wind and waves (Mt 8: 23-26). Also, the time when Jesus walks on water and calls Peter out – Jesus calms the water. (Mt 14: 29-33).

Again, God controls the waters!

8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water.

Exodus 17: 6 NIV
I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Numbers 20:11 NIV
11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
Another time that God controls the water!

Here are a couple of quotes from writers, on this Psalm 114.

Lawrence Richards, in his book “The Bible Readers Companion,” gives one line for this Psalm. “The psalmist sees in the miracles of the Exodus God’s mastery of all nature.”

Henry Halley, in his book “Halley’s Bible Handbook,” gives a two line summary for this Psalm. “A Song of the Exodus, recalling the Wonders and Miracles of Israel’s Deliverance out of Egypt, the Beginning of the Passover Feast. The Earth, Sea, Rivers, Mountains, Hills trembled at God’s presence.”

Having looked at this Psalm to see Israel’s two reasons to have remembrance day, we can understand why tomorrow, we will have our reason to remember our event of peace and freedom.
Israeli remembered being set free from captivity (The Passover) and finally going into the promised land. We remember that we were able to keep our freedom and stay in our own land. Many European countries remember that they regained their freedom from oppression and captivity.

Now I want to connect to another event that shows the power of God’s presence and how God commands the elements.

At Easter, we remember the ultimate event that brings freedom for our souls, Christ’s death and resurrection. God is still in control of the elements that make up this wonderful earth. God showed that power by making darkness and earthquakes a part of Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice and gift to us.

God controls the waters!
Will you trust God to control the waters in your life?
Remember that God gives peace and freedom to all who ask for it.

Rejoice, come before God’s presence daily, singing and praising the one who saved us!

Amen!