sustaining

Ezekiel 27 and Psalm 75-76

Ezekiel

Today’s reading is from Ezekiel 27. It is Ezekiel’s second pronouncement against the city of Tyre. I gather from my reading that this city must have been a place of great pride and arrogance. The Faithlife Study Bible says,

Ezekiel’s second lamentation for Tyre depicts the city as one of its grand merchant vessels, heavily laden with products for trade and shipwrecked on the high seas. The identification of the prophecy as a lamentation (or qinah) signifies a funeral dirge. The prophets adapted the genre to express the loss of city and nation as well as people.… While the details may be partly obscured by the difficult language, the overall message is clear: Tyre’s worldwide influence and reputation is meaningless when divine judgment comes.1

Psalms

Today’s reading is from Psalm 75-76. In Psalm 75:1, the pianist reminds me that I need to frequently reflect on God’s wondrous deeds. He is the one who holds up the pillars — the support structure — when life seems to be crumbling beneath me (Ps. 75:3). Final and true judgment comes only from God, not from men (Ps. 75:7 also Ps. 75:9).

The fear of the Lord is the themes of Psalm 76. It is stated in Ps. 76:7,

But you, you are to be feared!…

There is a strong reminder in Ps. 76:11, to keep the promises we make to God. Often when I am pressed, I will covenant with God that something will change in my life when He brings deliverance. The big question that I must ask myself is whether I keep those promises. They are a big deal to God and they should be a big deal to me.

1 John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012), Eze 27:1–36.

Ezekiel 1 and Psalm 37

This morning I began a new book, Ezekiel. Ezekiel 1 begins with the author sharing his vision of the four creatures. The description was so strange that I went online to see if I could find any artistic renditions. This one is on Pinterest and is of one of the four creatures. Another one was a rendition of the vision of the wheel.

I love the devotional book by D. A. Carson, For the Love of God Volume Two. I will quote from it occasionally in this journal. He gives a very helpful introduction on the book of Ezekiel:

EZEKIEL WAS JEREMIAH’S contemporary. Though he was born into a priestly family, Ezekiel was removed from the temple. In March, 597 B.C., he, young King Jehoiachin, the Queen Mother, the aristocracy, and many of the leading priests and craftsmen were transported seven hundred miles to Babylon. The young king was in prison or under house arrest for thirty-seven years. The exilic community, impoverished and cut off from Jerusalem and the temple, dreamed nostalgically of home and begged God to rescue them. They could not conceive that in another decade Jerusalem would be utterly destroyed. On the banks of the Kebar River—probably an irrigation canal swinging in a loop southwest from the Euphrates—the exiles tried to settle. And here, according to Ezekiel 1, when he was thirty years old and in the fifth year of his exile (i.e., about 593, still six years before the destruction of Jerusalem), Ezekiel received an extraordinary vision. 1

Ezekiel 1:28 closes with,

“…Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”

I would assume that it is very difficult to describe the glory of the Lord with human words and images. But I believe we would definitely know it when we saw it. Today we only experience shadows of His glory but someday, we will be able to experience the fullness of His glory. I imagine it will be more that the greatest visual scenery we have every experienced here on earth.

The heading for Psalm 37 in my Bible is, “He Will Not Forsake His Saints”. How timely for me today to read that! This psalm is rich in promises and encouragement for those who may be down-hearted. Probably the most familiar verse is Ps. 37:4. However, we cannot claim the second part of the verse without realizing the first part. Delighting in the Lord is a lifelong pursuit. It is more than a simple confession – it is a life consuming passion and drive and it affects what happens in the second half of the verse. When our delight is in the Lord, the desires of our heart line up with His will and purpose. Having noted all that, it is a wonderful promise to cling to!

Ps. 37:5 uses the word “Commit” as a apropos description of the action required. It goes “hand in hand” with the second verb in the verse, “trust”. Our responsibility is to trust God and commit our actions and will to Him.

Ps. 37:7, Ps. 37:9, and Ps.37:34 encourage the reader to be patient and still. God’s actions are not predicated on the timetable that I choose.

Ps. 37:17-19, Ps. 37:25-26, and Ps. 37:28 speak about the sustaining power of God in the life of the believer. I find words like, “upholds”, “abundance”, “lending generously”, “blessing”, and “preserved forever”.

1 Carson, D. A. For the Love of God: a Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word. Vol. 2. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998. Print.