To Rejoice in God's Power

  

   Ps 33: 1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
   2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.

   3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

   4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.

   5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. 

   6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

    7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

    8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

    9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

   Beginning here in verse #6 we are told that everything that was made . . . was made or brought into being – by the spoken word of God.

   In the book of Genesis during the seven days of creation . . . God SAID “let there be ____ “ and there was ____”

  To gather the waters of the sea together as an heap – refers to how that it was “the power of God” that formed the seas – This describes how God simply “commanded” the dry land to appear (when in the days of Genesis) He gathered the waters together to form the sea . . .

    This should not appear to be strange to us . . . for in Mark 4 we read where Jesus commands both the wind and the sea . . .

    Mark 4: 35 ¶ And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

    36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.

    37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

    38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

    39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

    40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

    41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

   To answer the question of “The kind of man that Jesus is” . . . we are told here in the 33 Psalm that He is the kind of man that should be praised . . .

   Jesus was present during the days of Genesis . . . we are told in John 1: 1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    2 The same was in the beginning with God.

    3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

    5 ¶ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

   And in verse 14 of this same chapter we are told that this WORD became the literal flesh of the man we know in the scriptures as Jesus Christ.

    14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

   This passage teaches us WHY Jesus had the power in Mark 4 to command the wind and sea . . . Jesus had the power to command them . . . because just a few years before this (about 4000 before) He was with God in the beginning . . . 

   In fact in the days of Genesis He WAS God . . . and all things were made by Him . . . Psalms 33:7 contains the phrase “to lay up the depth in storehouses” . . . this refers to the layer of water that is found under the earth – to what we refer to today as the “underground” water table – 

   In the days before the flood of Noah – it is believed that the continents actually floated on layers of water the way we know they today “float” on layers of molten rock called magma . . . and the flood resulted when “the 

   fountains of the deep were broken up” and this vast layer of underground water that God had caused to be “laid up in the depth in storehouses” was suddenly released . . . and the result was the Great Flood of Noah.

   Gen 8: 1  And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

   2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

   If the heavens and the earth came into being by the word of God – then this same God still has power over His creation . . . and if we are Indeed His   creation – then we have a responsibility to fear, to honor and to respect our creator . . .

   Pr 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

  To deny God as creator – is to give man no reason to fear God – and without a reason to fear/respect God . . . a man will never find knowledge – wisdom

  – or understanding . . . knowledge of God as creator teaches man the wisdom of seeking God (we seek God in order to avoid the pain of being separated from God) . . . eternal separation from God is what occurs in a place called HELL as a result of condemnation.

   and knowledge of condemnation – this is what teaches man to “understand” the consequences of what it means to reject God . . . Wisdom allows us

   to see “the difference” between right and wrong . . . knowledge is what puts "a face" on the truth so that it can be recognized through wisdom . . . and 

   then there is the motive for seeking knowledge and wisdom . . . and that motive is called “understanding” as we realize the consequences of walking through life blind – without any idea of God’s definition of what is truly right or wrong . . . 

   the fool is guided through life by HIS OWN concept of right and wrong . . . while the man who fears God is guided by how his creator has defined right and wrong . . .

    Pr 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

   Wisdom teaches us that the right thing to do is to obey God . . . knowledge teaches us WHO God is (He is Holy – He is our creator) . . . understanding

   teaches us that the smart thing to do . . . is to give in (or surrender) to the one who has power over the wind and the sea and to allow Him to also have power over our lives . . .