Image: "Clouds & Clouds," 2020, Severna Park, Md
Psalm 135:3–4 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant. 4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure.
Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places.
Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.
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I have mentioned Dogwoods in other posts throughout the years. Though in danger of repeating myself yet I have to remark again how much I love them. I cannot see them, as I do now out my window, with their clouds of happily white flowers straining toward the morning sun, without a bitter-sweet pang of remembrance. More than any other tree the Dogwood takes me back to my youth when I would gaze across a pasture at the woods beyond. With my uncle's borrowed 22 pump and my old dog we would step across that field where the low lying dogwoods filled in all the gaps between the larger oaks and pine saplings. They looked like a white foundation above which the thick branches of a Mississippi forest signaled its mysterious invitation. Those were some of my happiest moments.
Our Psalms today have a bit of nostalgia to them also. The first two are happy remembrances, the last... well, not so much.
In Psalms 135 & 136, the Psalmists scan the various witnesses to God's mighty power and covenant faithfulness and rejoice in their special privilege. They celebrate His "general" works of providence displayed in the nourishing rain and the testimony of His awesome power in the frightening displays of thunder and lightning. This is how it should be. God is a God above and beyond all human imagining. We cannot know anything of Him unless He first undertakes to reveal Himself. His works in common nature are revelatory of His Person even as are His special redemptive works for His people, His "special treasure." (135:4)
Jesus (Jn 10:25-26, 37-39) told people that the purpose of His undeniable mighty works done in plain sight among them, was that they should "believe." His miracles, accomplished by His own authority and power, were more than sufficient as grounds to believe that He was one with the Father, in other words, that He was God in the flesh. Jesus' works "revealed" who He was... a person with eyes to see could see Jesus as the Son of God in His works. It was not only a matter of logic. It was not a simple deduction: "these works could only be done by God, therefore Jesus is God." That is a true statement but revelation actually is more than that.
In His works Jesus revealed Himself... His compassionate nature... His covenantal loyalty to His people... His sovereign authority over the wind and the rain and the raging seas... Himself as the source of food and provision in the feeding of the thousands... as the One who not only heals but forgives sins... etc. etc.
Thus His works were not miracles for the sake of being miracles... they were revelational disclosures... they were communications from the eternal to the temporal and thus their ultimate significance was not in what they did but in what they revealed.
So it is with these Psalms as the singers rejoice in God's self-disclosure. He is the God who does "Whatever... pleases Him, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places." The whole world consists in "clouds and clouds" of witnesses to Him and His Glory. He does what He please and what pleases Him is to lovingly care for His people, His "special treasure", throughout their entire journey. It is because of His special love for them that He fights their enemies for them (135:10-12) and gives them a heritage in His Kingdom (136:21). He has set the sun and the other "great lights" in the heavens to serve His people and bring them joy and nourishment. (136:7-8) He gives food to all flesh (136:25) and shows special providential care for those whose hope is in Him alone and who despise all forms of idolatry (135:15-18).
Even when it is for their own good that they be chastised, yet God's love is so strong that He upholds them in their grief and keeps the memory and conviction of His particular love for them alive. (Psalm 137:1) Even when "sorrow attendeth our way", when we "hang up our harps" (137:2) because we just can't find it in our hearts to sing, yet God is doing mighty things to reveal His Presence among us.
All it takes is to shift our gaze away from our sorrow, look at the mighty works recorded for us in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus AND the corresponding mighty works ongoing all around us in creation, and the stirrings of praise again begin to rise.
Whatever 'mighty work' we consider... this we can affirm with a sincere heart... His mercy endures forever (Psalm 136).
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