Friday 23^rd November

Psalm 97:1-6

“The mountain melt like wax before the Lord….and all peoples see His Glory”

Have you ever had the privilege of witnessing something incredible that just brought you either to you knees, made you speechless or even made you emotional? Sometimes we get this feeling when walking through mountains, awestruck at the one who created such magnanimous beauty.  Other times it could be watching nature programs mesmerized by such small intricate creatures that our Creator God has put some much detail into. My humbling experience came as I watched a jazz band last night. The sheer talents of such great musicians not only impressed me and caused me to become speechless but I was humbled by such a display of musical ability.

Upon watching this display of musical euphoria, I pondered what it must be like to stand before the great throne of God in absolute humility knowing His all-powerful omnipotence. If one can be impressed by mere human talents, as great as they were, how much more should be awestruck by the one who created everything, including their talents.

I was reminded of this wonderful psalm were the Psalmist also awestruck by such a great and mighty God. He starts off in verse 1 exclaiming the Lords sovereignty, “The Lord Reigns”. See when God made creation it was in the intention that it would worship Him. In fact it is the pure beauty of Gods creation that leads us to worship Him today. The Psalmist here understood that creation was meant to worship God because of His Kingship and authority.

Verses 2-4 then summarise the Lords Judgement and Power. They highlight His righteous and just judgement but also that as He is the Creator of all the earth, He alone reserves the right to pass that judgement. Again in at the end of verse 4 we see the same kind of imagery that Habakkuk used in his prayer, the imagery of the earth and sea trembling at Gods supreme magnificence.

The climatic crescendo is found in verse 5. The imagery here used by the Psalmist gives God the highest praise I think is possible to give God. “The mountains melt like wax before Him, before the Lord of ALL the earth.” Imagine for a second, Mount Everest of Nepal, one of the tallest mountains on planet Earth. Measured from its top to base, its stands at 8,848 meters tall. An average male is around 170 cm. It would take over 5000 men standing on each others shoulders to reach the top of this mountain. Then imagine that mountain melting like wax, bowing its knee before it maker and creator. That image blows my mind. How vast, immense, and EPIC is our God.

In fact in verses 6 and 7 the Psalmist tells us that not only is He the God of the Earth but of the Heavens and all other made up gods who submit to His supreme authority. Do you know that the God who made both Heaven and Earth knows you by name, the hairs on your head and even sent Jesus to die for you? WOW, that’s truly humbling!!

Remember that when we come before the throne of grace, be in awe as it is a THRONE!!