Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980607.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Fourteen - Reverencing The God Of Awesome POWER Over Rocks And Water
(Psalm 114:1-9)
  1. Introduction
    1. Moses revealed that the key to coming to obey God consistently so that we can enjoy God's blessing arises out of a true reverence for Almighty God, Exodus 20:18-20.
    2. A valuable psalm in causing one to reverence Almighty God, Psalm 114:1-8 concentrates on the awesome power of God applied to rocks and water that lead us to revere Him (as follows):
  2. Reverencing The God Of Awesome POWER Over Rocks And Water, Psalm 114:1-8.
    1. Psalm 114 celebrates the deliverance of Israel from Egypt amidst the miracles of God's power.
    2. God's power is pictured directed toward two entities - rocks (v. 4, 6a, 8b) and water (v. 3a,b, 5a,b, 8a).
    3. In the process, we learn much about God's awesome power as follows:
      1. God's power is TIMELESS, for God provided miracles applied to water for Israel's deliverance from the beginning of the Exodus out of Egypt to the end of it, 40 years later while Israel entered Canaan:
        1. God turned back Red Sea to let Israel leave Egypt, Ps. 114:1,3a with Ex. 14:21-31.
        2. God also turned back the Jordan River after the 40-year wilderness wanderings, and that at flood stage so Israel could enter Canaan at the end of her wilderness journeys, Ps. 114:1, 3b; Ex. 16:35.
      2. God's power is GREAT, for this movement of water astounded the human witnesses by its power!
        1. When God opened up the Red Sea for Israel, the people who crossed on the 20-mile-wide seabed were impressed to respect the Lord and his servant, Moses, Ex. 14:30-31.
        2. Rahab the harlot of Jericho risked her life to hide Israel's spies for faith in Israel's God in part because she had heard of the moving of the Red Sea by God, Jos. 2:4-12.
        3. When Israel crossed the Jordan, the river, though at flood stage, backed up in a heap of quivering water for 15 miles upstream, and the Canaanites who witnessed it were demoralized, Jos. 5:1 with 3:14-17 and Ryrie Study Bible, KJV ftn. to Joshua 3:16.
      3. God's power extends over that which is HARD: God was sovereign over the granite rocks of Sinai to cause them to quake at His very presence, Ps. 114:4, 6 with Ex. 19:18c.
      4. God's power extends over that which is FRAGILE: When God helped Israel in the wilderness, the rock peeled back and produced waters for the physically-drained people, Ps. 114:8; Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:7-13.
      5. God's power is VERSATILE:
        1. The rock mountain range of Sinai quaked at God's presence and the massive bodies of water in the Red Sea and the Jordan turned back, Ps. 114:3-6, 7.
        2. However, when parents and children with all of their animals needed a drink in the dessert, God made both rock and water cooperate to meet their needs by making a rock yield water, Ps. 114:8.
    4. With the psalmist in verse 7, we truly must "Tremble . . . at the presence of Adonai (the Master), at the presence of the Elohim (God) of Jacob"!
Lesson: God's POWER is timeless, great, extending over all entities, whether they be hard or fragile, and is infinitely VERSATILE. As such, He is a God to be RESPECTED in every way so that we will OBEY Him consistently for enjoying His consistent blessing, cf. Ex. 20:18-20.

Application: (1) If we wonder IF God can or will use His power to help us NOW like He did in the PAST, recall that He DID this for Israel TWICE, at the Red Sea and the Jordan, two events that were forty years apart! (Ps. 114:3) (2) If we w onder if God's power is GREAT enough to address needs we have, recall the power exerted to turn back a 20-mile-wide sea or back up a flooded Jordan for 15 miles! (3) If we wonder if His power is versatile enough to meet our unique needs, recall His efforts over rocks AND water in Israel's jouneyings! (4) If we wonder if He can and will provide for our physical needs in a dessert where no such provision seem's possible, recall His use of a rock to produce physical-life-saving drinking water! (5) Based upon these insights, we are to RESPECT and OBEY Him perpetually!