What Images of God Do You See in the Psalms?
Good Morning Friends,
Culture has a way of eating ideology for lunch but not necessarily the images in our mind of Jesus. With that thought today we are going to take a closer look at some of the images of God in the Psalms as a memory tool for remembering Christ. We will not go in depth but trust me if you spent some time in the Psalms you could find the image of God as a redeemer, provider, protector, healer, deliverer, creator, avenger, fortress, refuge, judge, shepherd, king, rock and shield. And if these images remind you of Jesus, then good! That is the underling purpose of the pictures being painted in our minds. You see our Lord reveals Himself in every Book of the Scriptures. In fact, the Word of God drips with pictures and descriptions of God! I have always wondered why God opens some people’s blind eyes and not others to this. Maybe we all have blind spots in different places so only together can we, in a community of faith and love succeed. Just as flooding the market with fruit maturing all at the same time, is not a good idea, so too maybe God works through late bloomers so that new things might be revealed through that experience to others at just the right time. So today we acknowledge in praise, but also partial blindness what we understand about the timing in culture of believers that come to see later than others even as we ask: What Images of God Do You See in the Psalms?
Scripture: Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host! Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed. Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and women alike, old and young together! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD!
Psalm 148:1-14 (NRSV)
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD!
Psalm 146 (NRSV)
what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
Psalm 8:4-6 (NRSV)
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NRSV)
Message: Picture for a moment all the times you have heard and been comforted by Psalm 23, the beautiful Psalm of King David. I know I did not include the scripture above but you know it. It is pictured in your mind. And it speaks to so many of life’s experiences and connects them. It is in some mysterious way a physical and spiritual example of the Word made flesh in the Son of David, Jesus. Perhaps Today’s Psalms and scripture proclaims some of the ways we can recognize the coming of Jesus into our lives as well. Friends, we are called to find joy praise even when culture tells us it should not exist. But we need to let God open our blind eyes to experience it. Friends, in order for us to affirm and encourage others we must first accept God’s love in our lives and His love must take priority. Then fear can be caste out. Then we can dream dreams and think about new and creative ways of helping, because the dream will be a dream of God. Friends, success in life is glorifying God and praising Jesus’ love in the purpose we have been given. In meditating on today’s psalms it drew my mind not just to creation but also the inherent sacredness and enduring sacredness of every picture we place in our minds of Jesus. You see they all in different ways reflect God’s commitment to love us. They also help us to understand the intensity of God’s commitment in community as a reflection of our picture and commitment to love. The Psalms paint the pictures through poetry and they form a contrast that is about who we trust…whether it is God or ourselves. But ultimately we are called, in fact everything that has breath has been summoned to praise the Lord. We are all vital pieces of the picture. We all have a part to play. We all have gifts we have been given that fit nicely together into the Body of Christ. So here is the message. We have all seen fathers, so God the Father we can picture. We can picture Jesus the Son because he became human. But picturing the Holy Spirit is difficult. We end up with symbols like a dove or expressions of the Holy Spirit as being wind or fire or light. But friends we are supposed to picture the Holy Spirit in us all. I hope you get the picture.
Pray we make the world a more livable place. Pray we become a picture of believing. Pray we join with all God’s creatures in a doxology of praise that is pictured in our mind as well as expressed on our lips. Pray we overcome evil with good. Pray we align our strength with others who are oppressed. Pray we proclaim the good news in the pictures and power of Christ in our lives. Pray that God opens our blind eyes to what we need to see when we need to see it. Pray we trust God. Pray we know God in truth. Pray we continue to learn to grow in love of God and others. Pray we learn the value of praising God and the power of God being distributed. Pray that we realize that God will right every wrong, but in the Lord’s time and in His way, and on His timetable. Pray we realize that praise is timeless. Pray our faith is renewed each day. Pray our love grows. Pray we realize that what God has ordained in heaven will become reality here on earth. Pray we see the big picture of love. Pray we understand that God sees the whole picture even if we cannot see the next step.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 