Speck #9
New International Version
Psalm 18:6-19 – “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made the darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the seas were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of the deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out in to a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”
How many people have this vision of prayer? Furthermore, how many people have this vision of God? It seems to me that over the years, we’ve downplayed these kinds of passages as symbolic gibberish. Because these images don’t fit the mold we have of God, we dismiss them as imaginative word pictures shared by sleep deprived prophets. Were they given permission to take creative license and make things up about God? Are the prophets throwing us a bone of make believe stories to keep us brainwashed enough to believe that God’s actually an animated character playing an active role in the narrative of our lives? Or do you suppose that these were hallowed visions given to a select few to share with the people of God to let them know that he gets worked up over our lives and that he isn’t as domesticated and civilized as we make him out to be.
Could it be that prayer looks a lot more like this and a lot less like an exchange at the Department of Motor Vehicles? Is it possible that he would go to these lengths to answer our cries in the middle of the night? Does God get fired up when I’m hurting and does it affect him so much that he explodes with fiery passion? Would he really rip open the heavens and advance to this meek and lowly place I’m dwelling in to let me know he’s got my back? Are you kidding me that God actually would mount an angel and fly to my rescue? (It sounds like the Lord of the Rings trilogy) Are you telling me that God would go to war on by behalf with flaming arrows and bolts of lightning? What kind of a God is this? Where has this God been my whole life? Why is this vision not being communicated to the masses of desperate people that think God is a pacifist pansy that never engages in the hellish realities of human existence? Why do we want to tame God so badly? What scares us so? Don’t you want to believe that this could actually be true when you’re having a bad day? Don’t you wish that your theology allowed for this kind of God to show up?
Get the picture of the God who never breaks a sweat out of your mind. You know, the image that has him perched on a pedestal “above it all”. The God who doesn’t get his hands dirty for fear of breaking a nail. The God who wields a magic wand and zaps all those who defy his Lordship. An immovable force; motionless and emotionless. Remove that image and replace it with a God who is out of breath in his battle against the forces of evil. Imagine hearing the violent voice of God that levels mountains and strips forests bare. Visualize the coals, fire and smoke exploding from his nostrils and mouth lighting up the sky. Picture God wearing an armor with a huge quiver on his back filled with arrows. Why is this so hard to picture? Probably because it doesn’t fit our “Grandpa” image of him. It could be that we have a spineless, toothless, lifeless God that occupies the Nursing home of Heaven awaiting our noisy arrival. Anyone with this image of God cannot find reconciliation with Psalm 18. It just doesn’t make sense.
After routing our assailants, this God reaches down and takes a hold of us. He hoists us up on the cherubim and whisks us away to a spacious place where we can heal in Him and He can delight in us. “He rescued me because he delighted in me”. Most of us cannot wrap our hearts around this kind of God. We have so detached ourselves from the idea that we have worth, that it’s beyond us that God’s affections could be stirred for the likes of us. We can’t fathom that we matter to God that much. To us, he has bigger fish to fry. He couldn’t possibly care about my little pet peeves and nagging dreams. But we couldn’t be more sadly mistaken. He doesn’t rescue us to show off his power, but to show us his love. His motivation is his head over heels love for us. The question is, “Will we let that be enough?”
Here’s to the God that has the pluck of Wallace. Cheers.
Psalm 18:6-19 – “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made the darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the seas were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of the deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out in to a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”
How many people have this vision of prayer? Furthermore, how many people have this vision of God? It seems to me that over the years, we’ve downplayed these kinds of passages as symbolic gibberish. Because these images don’t fit the mold we have of God, we dismiss them as imaginative word pictures shared by sleep deprived prophets. Were they given permission to take creative license and make things up about God? Are the prophets throwing us a bone of make believe stories to keep us brainwashed enough to believe that God’s actually an animated character playing an active role in the narrative of our lives? Or do you suppose that these were hallowed visions given to a select few to share with the people of God to let them know that he gets worked up over our lives and that he isn’t as domesticated and civilized as we make him out to be.
Could it be that prayer looks a lot more like this and a lot less like an exchange at the Department of Motor Vehicles? Is it possible that he would go to these lengths to answer our cries in the middle of the night? Does God get fired up when I’m hurting and does it affect him so much that he explodes with fiery passion? Would he really rip open the heavens and advance to this meek and lowly place I’m dwelling in to let me know he’s got my back? Are you kidding me that God actually would mount an angel and fly to my rescue? (It sounds like the Lord of the Rings trilogy) Are you telling me that God would go to war on by behalf with flaming arrows and bolts of lightning? What kind of a God is this? Where has this God been my whole life? Why is this vision not being communicated to the masses of desperate people that think God is a pacifist pansy that never engages in the hellish realities of human existence? Why do we want to tame God so badly? What scares us so? Don’t you want to believe that this could actually be true when you’re having a bad day? Don’t you wish that your theology allowed for this kind of God to show up?
Get the picture of the God who never breaks a sweat out of your mind. You know, the image that has him perched on a pedestal “above it all”. The God who doesn’t get his hands dirty for fear of breaking a nail. The God who wields a magic wand and zaps all those who defy his Lordship. An immovable force; motionless and emotionless. Remove that image and replace it with a God who is out of breath in his battle against the forces of evil. Imagine hearing the violent voice of God that levels mountains and strips forests bare. Visualize the coals, fire and smoke exploding from his nostrils and mouth lighting up the sky. Picture God wearing an armor with a huge quiver on his back filled with arrows. Why is this so hard to picture? Probably because it doesn’t fit our “Grandpa” image of him. It could be that we have a spineless, toothless, lifeless God that occupies the Nursing home of Heaven awaiting our noisy arrival. Anyone with this image of God cannot find reconciliation with Psalm 18. It just doesn’t make sense.
After routing our assailants, this God reaches down and takes a hold of us. He hoists us up on the cherubim and whisks us away to a spacious place where we can heal in Him and He can delight in us. “He rescued me because he delighted in me”. Most of us cannot wrap our hearts around this kind of God. We have so detached ourselves from the idea that we have worth, that it’s beyond us that God’s affections could be stirred for the likes of us. We can’t fathom that we matter to God that much. To us, he has bigger fish to fry. He couldn’t possibly care about my little pet peeves and nagging dreams. But we couldn’t be more sadly mistaken. He doesn’t rescue us to show off his power, but to show us his love. His motivation is his head over heels love for us. The question is, “Will we let that be enough?”
Here’s to the God that has the pluck of Wallace. Cheers.
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