"O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people. Blessed be God."
Psalm 68:35
Part 2
Yesterday:
“O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places.” (a)
Today: God’s Power is From His Throne
“O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places.” (b)
“Out of thy holy places”
“[To be feared] is God from His Sanctuary” [1] (Bullinger).
The Lord God seated upon His throne is an overwhelming, fear-inspiring sight. Isaiah, the prophet, was shown that splendor, and we see his response.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphim… And one cried unto another, and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.’
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Then said I, ‘Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts’” (Isaiah 6:1-5).
What an astonishing scene! Our God is the only one worthy of our praise, glory, and reverence. When we see Him on His throne as Isaiah did, we realize what puny, weak creatures we really are. We bow before Him. He is the object of our worship. It is remarkable that we could ever do anything for such a Holy God.
“The God of Israel.”
Make no mistake about who our verse is talking about. Only He has accomplished these great and mighty works. He is the God of Israel! There is no other god who can do the works He can do. This is our God, the God of the Scriptures. The God of Israel is incredible in His works among people.
“Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee” (Psalm 66:3).
“Come and see the works of God: He is terrible in His doing toward the children of men” (Psalm 66:5).
Believers, we ought to be able to point to event after event and action after action of God’s working in our lives. What a blessing and testimony to our children and to their children of His care for our family!
We are weak, and He is strong! How does God give us His strength? Come tomorrow, we will look at the verse and see.
Quote: “We must make a great difference between God’s Word and the word of man. A man’s word is a little sound, that flies into the air, and soon vanishes; but the Word of God is greater than heaven and earth, yea, greater than death and hell, for it forms part of the power of God, and endures everlastingly” (Martin Luther).[2]
[1] E.W. Bullinger, The Companion Bible, the electronic version in eSword. His translation of the Hebrew “terrible.” Psalm 68:35.
[2] Luther’s quote is from the book, The table talk or familiar discourse of Martin Luther, by W. Hazlitt, p. 20 (1848). Downloaded: Wednesday, October 28, 2020. From: https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/power-of-god.html.