Introduction: This follows from yesterday when we looked at verbs related to God. Those verbs were that He hears, atones, chooses, satisfies, answers, gives hope, strengthens and that He deserves awe or is awe inspiring. This half of yhe Psalm gives multiple reasons why He is awe inspiring!
8 ……so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
9 You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
Comment: Theologians talk about two varieties of God’s Grace – that grace which is showered on all people worldwide (Common Grace) and the Grace which He bestows on those who choose by faith in Jesus to be reconciled to Him (Special Grace). Special Grace can be further subdivided but today we are considering Common Grace. Obviously David lived in a rural setting and in a basically, but not exclusively, agricultural society. Verse 8 reads as if the whole world is thankful for Common Grace, but I feel as if the real meaning ‘ought to be‘! Not everything runs smoothly for farmers, agriculturalists or any of us! I think that I’m an optimist but on the pessimistic side I think that many blame God for the ‘downs’ rather that thanking Him for the ‘ups’ of seasons, crops, grain, increasing crops. People, at least many even maybe most, fail to recognise that God’s handling of the world is not a ‘hands off’ approach. Reading the Old Testament we understand that Israel suffered both with enemy attacks and seasonal failures because of their rebellion/disobedience to God’s gracious but firm requirements. God said, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” God is not a ‘genie’ to be called out of a bottle, He here gives 3 conditions required for an answer – prayer, commitment, and repentance. The underlined then is very important in that promise!
Romans 1: 19-20 – For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the beautiful world that You have given us. Help me to life in attune with Your gracious demands.
As I read it! 