The God of Sinai and of the Sanctuary.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
68 [a]Let God arise, [b]let His enemies be scattered,
And [c]let those who hate Him flee before Him.
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish before God.
3 But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God;
Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
[d]Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is [e]the Lord, and exult before Him.5 A father of the fatherless and a judge [f]for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6 God [g]makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.7 O God, when You went forth before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, [h]Selah.
8 The earth quaked;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
[i]Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You shed abroad a plentiful rain, O God;
You confirmed Your inheritance when it was [j]parched.
10 Your creatures settled in it;
You provided in Your goodness for the poor, O God.
This psalm begins with a stark description of what happens to those who oppose God, as they melt like wax before a fire. The wax doesn’t stand a chance, but then we switch gears. The psalmist speaks of those in the desert, the fatherless, the homeless, the lonely, the widows, and prisoners. In the last case, we see a transformation from prisoner to prosperity.
God is there for them, and he can change their lives completely. But there’s also some action in here, and the end of verse 6 is interesting, “Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” We could easily fall into the age old trap and ask, “Does that mean if your land is parched, you are God’s enemy?”
Well maybe, but think of it this way. If you’re dwelling in a parched land, and God has made a place where it rains, He invited you, and you still live in the parched land, what does that say about you? God doesn’t want to leave you in your mess, and yet some of us are stuck there. We don’t want to give up our old familiar ways, and we still pitch our tents in the same old place, expecting rain.
We have to decide to change, to get uncomfortable, if we want to see God move in our lives. This isn’t a one way deal, where we can sit on our hands and let God do all the “work”. He’s not interested in filling his family with puppets or couch potatoes.
Wherever you find yourself today, take a good long look in the mirror and see if you’re stubbornly clinging to a parched place. Then ask God to show you the rain, trust Him and watch him work as you get up and prepare to do whatever He asks of you.