Today, Monday June 19
“You, O God, Sent a Plentiful Rain…”
Psalm 68:6-10
“God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. O God, when You went out before Your people, When You marched through the wilderness, Selah
The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, When it was weary. Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.”
It is possible that David wrote Psalm 68 as he was remembering the time and occasion when he took the Ark of the Covenant from the house of Obed-edom, and he led the joyful procession of God’s people up to Mt. Zion to place it in the tabernacle he had set up there. This is a Psalm of praise that ties the history of God’s presence and victories for Israel to their present glorious time under the leadership of King David. But it is also Messianic because it looks forward to the future when Jesus Christ will triumph over His enemies and set up His millennium reign in Jerusalem. It encompasses the past, the present and the future!
Psalm 68 has wonderful applications for us as believers today as we are assured that our God has come to us in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. He is Emmanuel, God with us! (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14). “He brings out those who are bound into prosperity” (v. 6). Israel was bound by Pharoah as slaves in Egypt and the LORD delivered them. We were bound by Satan and our sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ through His victory on the cross has saved us and given us “bread” to eat, and “water” to drink so that we are fully satisfied in Him!
Not only has our God come to us, but our God marches before us (vv. 7-18). In these verses, David reviewed the triumphant march of God before the nation of Israel as they came out of Egypt and went into the wilderness. At the Red Sea, with the armies of Pharoah behind them, mountains on both sides, and water before them, with no way to escape, God marches before them into the Red Sea and at His presence the waters miraculously parted for them to walk across on dry ground!
This event is vividly described by Psalmist in Psalm 77:16-20: “When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”
At Mount Sinai “the earth shook… Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel” (v. 8). We read about this in Exodus 19:11-18: “…For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people…. On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.” What an awesome day that must have been and could never be forgotten!
“The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; …You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance when it was weary” (v. 9). The rain can be taken literally, but it might also refer to the manna and the meat that came down to feed them when they were hungry and weary. Psalm 78:23-27 says it this way: “Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas…”
My friend, God still marches before His people today! Jesus Christ has already won the victory! Our foe has already been defeated! The darkness must flee in the presence of His light! And that light is in us! Take time to praise Him today as we enjoy His “Showers of Blessings”!
God bless!