November 4, 2009
Pink Roses
Psalm 114
Adam Buttorff
Central Truth
Even the earth and all its majesty and greatness is but clay in God’s hand.
Key Verse | Psalm 114:7
Tremble, O earth, before the Lord--
before the God of Jacob.
(Psalm 114:7)
Psalm 114
Tremble at the Presence of the Lord
1
When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3
The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
4
The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5
What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6
O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.
Dive Deeper | Psalm 114
As I read this chapter, I try to imagine what it was like to see these amazing miracles. To see the mountains tremble, the waters retreat to give dry land for the Israelites, and water spring forth from a rock.
And then I think about my own life--how God has brought me out of despair, entrenched in pornography, to freedom. He has given me an amazing wife and two wonderful boys whom I love dearly, and yet there are times that I forget what God has done and the depths of the depravity He has saved me from. I turn aside from Him to seek my own desires, to be selfish, or to not love my wife well. Even worse, sometimes I ask God, “What have You done for me lately?” Proverbs 19:3 (NASB) says, “The foolishness of man ruins his way, And his heart rages against the Lord.” When I seek my own path, and it does not work out, I have no one to blame but myself. Yet, I often want to blame God.
How quickly I forget about all the times Christ has shown me that He is there for me. I have a friend who shared a story about pink roses. His girlfriend was going through a very difficult time, questioning God in the midst of it. She was crying out to God that if He really cared, He would show up with pink roses. Well, later that day, a friend felt led to surprise her with some flowers. When they were delivered, lo and behold, they were pink. And she broke down in tears, realizing that God cares about her dearly, even in the little things.
My question for each of us is to look back on your life and think about the “pink roses” that God has provided and also to remember that God wants to use you to be the conduit to provide pink roses for others.
Discussion Questions
1. When was the last time you sat down and thanked God for your “pink roses”?
2. When was the last time you were that vessel the Lord used to bless someone else’s life? Ask the Lord this week to use you and then follow that lead.
3. When was the last time you felt down? The next time you do, volunteer or just visit Children’s Medical Center and be thankful for what God has given you.