Psalm 114 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 114 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Verse 2Judah became God's sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
Verse 3The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back.
Verse 4The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
Verse 5Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?
Verse 6O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs?
Verse 7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
Verse 8who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.
Devotion
This year, spring has come remarkably early where I live. It's amazing to watch as creation responds to its creator.
The tulips cannot resist stretching out of the cold ground toward the warm sun. The magnolia trees have burst with bright white blossoms, refusing to be shut up any longer.
The psalmist recounts how the land and water responded as God led the Israelites out of Egypt. Immovable land and water became moveable as they made way for God's purposes to be accomplished.
The people were being led to freedom; they were on their way home, no longer able to be held captive. Their liberation is as beautiful as the spring emerging from winter.
Now, as we revel in the beauty of Easter, we too know the freedom that God has provided through Christ. Sin and death have been destroyed, and we are free to move and delight in God's amazing gift of love.
Prayer
Living God, the earth trembles at your presence. Who can stand in your way? Fill us with wonder and awe at all the ways you liberate us from all that holds us back from knowing your love. Give us wisdom to delight in your grace. Amen.