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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Ps. 102
“He looked down from His holy heights – the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth – to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to set free those condemned to die, so that they might declare the name of the LORD in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem when peoples and kingdoms are assembled to serve the LORD.” (Ps. 102:19-22). That is the good news of the Gospel message in a nutshell!
Ps. 103
God is so far beyond our capacity to understand! I think that makes it easier for most people to dismiss Him than to accept the overwhelming awe that results from considering Him. It is indeed a humbling experience. If we are willing to accept the enormity of our insignificance, however, and let that awe wash over us, our humility will melt into gratitude as we realize His love for us. Though we are but dust, here today and gone tomorrow, “from eternity to eternity the LORD’s faithful love is toward those who fear Him” (Ps. 103:17a). His love has no end, cannot be measured, and will never fail. Mind humbly and gratefully blown.
Ps. 104
I commented a few days ago on Psalm 191:1, which reads, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of His hands.” So this morning I noticed Psalm 104:19a. “He made the moon to mark the festivals”. The CSB footnote gives an alternate translation of, “He made the moon for the appointed times”. That brought up something I noticed when reading about David and Saul. Among God’s ordained offerings for the Israelites was one at the beginning of each month, marked by the new moon. Because I know that God’s ordained offerings and festivals map out His redemption plan for the world, this got me to wondering about the moon’s role in all of that.
On poking around a little with this question, I ran across an interesting article on the moon on a website called, “Answers in Genesis”. The article points out several unique attributes of our moon and how they work together for a very unique purpose. The moon’s design serves to keep the earth’s tilt relatively constant in order to maintain the times and the seasons. We actually see this purpose stated in Genesis 1:14 as well as in this Psalm.
When I commented on Psalm 191, I noted how the movement of the constellations quite likely told of Christ’s birth. I have also noted in the past how even the seasons tell of God’s plan to transform us from death to life. Now I see that the moon plays an integral part in both of those things. Also, just like the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of the moon could be a demonstration of how God plans to take us from darkness to His full light. We also know that the cyclical nature of creation speaks of God’s faithfulness to us. It’s fascinating to me how many different ways God’s creation really does declare His glory.