Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
April 24, 2023
Psalm 147:7-18
7 Sing to the LORD with thanks; sing praises to our God with a lyre! 8 God covers the skies with clouds; God makes rain for the earth; God makes the mountains sprout green grass. 9 God gives food to the animals even to the baby ravens when they cry out. 10 God doesn’t prize the strength of a horse; God doesn’t treasure the legs of a runner. 11 No. The LORD treasures the people who honor him, the people who wait for his faithful love. 12 Worship the LORD, Jerusalem! Praise your God, Zion! 13 Because God secures the bars on your gates, God blesses the children you have there. 14 God establishes your borders peacefully. God fills you full with the very best wheat. 15 God issues his command to the earth God’s word speeds off fast! 16 God spreads snow like it was wool; God scatters frost like it was ashes; 17 God throws his hail down like crumbs who can endure God’s freezing cold? 18 Then God issues his word and melts it all away! God makes his winds blow; the water flows again.
Good Morning, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!
This Psalm is one of the Alleluia Psalms and speaks of God our Creator. God creates and provides for everything and everyone. God is powerful, and God is good. Scholars state that this Psalm was written following the exile from Jerusalem. The Israelites have returned and are ready to hear the word of God anew.
I believe that verses 15-18 are more than a weather report. Many of God’s children became doubtful during the exile, and their hearts hardened. Why did God allow this to happen? Of course, God’s children had been disobedient, and the fall of Jerusalem was a consequence of their actions. Now is a new day! So if this isn’t a weather report, to what is the Psalmist referring?
In verse 18, we read the thawing word and the thawing wind. The thawing word contains the prophecy of the coming Messiah. Christ brings the word to God’s children gently and peacefully. The thawing wind marks the entrance of the Holy Spirit through Christ. The Spirit is compared to the wind in John 3:8. 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
Difficult times often result in hardened hearts as we lose hope and forget to whom we belong. God’s grace softens the heart that was hard frozen and melts it into tears of repentance. The tears will melt and refresh the waters, which restart the flow of living water. Casting aside doubts and believing in God is the root of this change. When we confess our sins, God's word and Spirit are sent to melt them and restore them to themselves.
Blessed God, We thank you for Your blessings. Come and offer us, Christ again. Sometimes we get lost and need to be reminded. Thank You! In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: God is waiting to hear from us.
It’s time for the thaw! Pastor Liz
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