Psalm 114

Today I felt led to read Psalm 114. You can read it here. To be honest, it was a boring read at first. "What do parting seas and skipping hills have to do with me?" I thought. It seemed like the lost verse to a song in The Sound of Music. Not only are the hills alive, they skip! Sometimes the Bible's imagery is weird to me.

Then, of course, I read it again and the Holy Spirit helped me understand. The writer was re-counting Israel's rescue story from Egypt, and God's faithfulness to Israel when they were in the wilderness, going to the Promised Land. It struck me that, hundreds of years after the event, there were still people talking and writing songs about it. Then, I realized that it was probably one of Israel's favorite histories to recall, because it was so AWESOME. God, through a series of miraculous events, miraculously released the Israelites from their merciless captors, and then miraculously parted seas, rivers, and performed wonders to keep His people safe in the wilderness. That is a pretty sweet story. Who wouldn't want to be reminded of God's miraculous faithfulness - even hundreds of years after the fact?

The Israelites' tendency to remember this awesome rescue reminded me of how I love to insert God's rescue story to me whenever I can, and we're talking about God's ability to redeem anything. Inspired by Psalm 114, here would be my version:

When I left the rebellion of my youth

and turned from practicing wickedness,

You embraced me and called me your own.

The hopelessness I had before turned on its head,

My companions marveled at the change,

And You restored me to my first love.

Why do you run, hopelessness?

Why do you marvel, friend?

How do you accept me, beloved?

Embrace wisdom and stand in awe of ferocious love - 

which restores a concubine to a king

and makes her whole destiny new.

Thank you, Jesus, for making me new.