I have never thought of Psalm 111 as a specific Messianic prophecy, but I see it today when I continue reading…
He provided redemption for His people; He ordained His covenant forever–holy and awesome is His name. (v. 8)
Oh, how great, how delightful, are His works!
Distant Until (A poem based on Exodus 20:18-21)
The Law ferrets me out
In pain, in aching insufficiency, in fear,
Until the panic in my body is worse than the clamor before me,
Around me:
Heartbeats pounding in my ears, syncopated against thunder rumbles
From a great Judge I can’t see
Because my eyes are closed against the flashing that would blind me.
But what if He desires
That I see Him heartfully? What if He wants
Me to fear Him
Yet not be afraid?
What if He wants me
Near
For a moment,
For a lifetime,
And forever?
If I, too, would climb up,
Entering smoke and mist, what would
Await me
On the mountain?
Perhaps the understanding that I am
Known, patiently,
By the One Who has more chapters yet to write.
The one who secretly struggles to hope. The one who has lost everything. The one who mourns. The one who is invisible. The one who is infertile. The one who is alone. The one who is broken. The one who is open. The one who is waiting. The one who aches. The one who asks. The one who cries. The one who needs.
These are the ones God sees, hears, knows, and exalts. Because He delights in them.
Thank You.
Our delight in Him is what brings peace when this world and life in it trouble us much.
Indeed, it is the only thing that truly can.
And it is the only thing that cuts through the blurriness of tear-filled vision to help us see truth again.
And the One of whom all these things are true delights in you.
Dedicated to all those facing flooding of every kind.
Our plights, struggles, limitations, and terrors are known to God. Just as He knows when or how He will provide what we need in the midst of them.
We may be understandably inclined to believe that God’s blessing and His delight in us are only connected to and dependent upon our happy-meters, when they are registering “supreme satisfaction and comfort.”
But perhaps the opposite is more accurate.
Does this mean God delights in the misery of our suffering? No. It means He finds us delight-worthy in every season and every circumstance. And He delights in giving us strength, comfort, healing, and unexplainable peace as He keeps His promises.
He has promised to stay with us. And no ferocious river current can sweep Him – or that promise – away.
Today’s passage, coming from what’s been called the invitation to the thirsty, is connected to Isaiah chapter 5 and John chapter 15, to my way of thinking.
When we are extremely thirsty and famished, we can become distraught, inconsolable until those most basic needs are met. But what if the thirst and hunger are more than physical and seep down to the soul?
A mighty yet gentle Voice must break through our frantic stupor. And when it does, our souls can rejoice in finding spirit-nourishment.
How do we become proactive and avoid reoccurance of this spiritual anorexia? By listening to His Word and feasting on it in every season, by delighting as we abide in the Vine.