Tag: ocean

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Our Grand Globe

Reading Time: 2 minutes

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small. See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea. Psalms‬ ‭104‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Psalmist often writes about God’s majesty and compares it to the grandness of the oceans of the world. I never get tired of looking out over the vast beauty of the sea! Whether I sit and gaze from a cliffside perch, dig my toes in the sand where the waves continually crash upon the shore, or look out from the bow of a ship sailing the deep blue depths where the horizon goes on forever. It is always an ominous moment. And, because I agree with the Psalmist of who created the massively vast ocean, I too am overwhelmed with God’s creativity.

Imagine sailing a great ship in ancient days and seeing a Leviathan, a giant sea creature playfully rise from the water and then disappear. Terrifying right? I have a tremendous respect for both the water and the beasts that live within it.

These are the visions and feelings the Psalmist wants us to emote about the grandness of God in all His glory. By the way, science has scoured the universes as far as they can telescopically see, searching for life out there somewhere. Our culture is obsessed with aliens and other life forms beyond the blackness and twinkling stars in the night sky. So far… nothing. Are we so unique and alone in creation. Is the earth deemed the “dark planet” as C.S. Lewis proposes in his space trilogy books? I don’t know.

However, I do know that God created a beautiful planet and determined to create us and give us this place to work, live and play. Even with its ominous dangers of places on the earth, and the even more dangerous humans who are broken and inhospitable, this place is still amazing. I agree with the author of this Psalm, what a great God we serve and what a glorious variety of things He has made.

Prayer

​Dad,
This place, this spinning, floating miracle is absolutely stunning to behold and explore. And the myriad of creatures and variety of plants are spectacularly amazing. From the mountains to the valleys, the deserts and the seas, we enjoy the beauty of all your creation. Thank you. As I fly past my five second neighbors on the highways of my city, I am also reminded of the individual beauty and wonder you created in every human being I see. Thank you for them as well. Let everything and everyone that has breath praise you for your unending beauty and grace! Amen.

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Untamable

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The floods have risen up, O Lord. The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves. But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore— the Lord above is mightier than these! Your royal laws cannot be changed. Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever. ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭93‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The power of the sea. I can imagine that the Psalmist had access to vistas of either the waters of the great rivers of Euphrates and the Tigris, the pristine, Persian Gulf (both located by the city of Babylon) or maybe the beautiful Mediterranean Sea by Jerusalem. This Psalm was likely written by Ezra the Scribe.

There is nothing more ominously powerful than the oceans of the world. A massive 71% of our beautiful blue globe is water! I have often sat for hours looking out at the expansive vista of our own shores of the Pacific ocean. Mesmerized by the rhythmic power of the crashing waves, pounding the sand. The sight and sound is comforting.

But imagine the ocean as a tantrum-throwing toddler, raging with fits of fury. Its mighty, giant storms, tidal waves and tsunamis know no resistance strong enough to stand against it. The ocean is untamable. Ezra is in awe of our God that is magnificently, compoundedly more powerful than the sea! The sea roars, lifting its waves higher than an elevation of 1720 feet, a megatsunami in 1958 that hit Lituya Bay, in southeast Alaska. What could be mightier than the power and unpredictability of the ocean? It is God who created it!

Ezra’s love and respect for His mighty God and His Word declares and compares this awesomeness to the power of God’s royal laws. They cannot be changed. God’s Word cannot be swayed or subdued! Nothing can compare or compromise the capability of God’s Word. One my favorite verses concerning the durability and life-giving sustainability is found in Isaiah 40:8, The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen Ezra! Indeed our God and His reign is holy forever and ever.

Prayer

​Dad,
The vistas of the sea are my most favorite places to pray and think about your power and strength. With wind and sun, with white-noise sound of waves, I feel safe and at peace knowing that you are powerful enough to crush us, but instead invite us, in relationship, to know you. How ominous is your presence in those moments. Thank you for being expansively beyond what I can even imagine! Thank you for Your Word, which is enduring and powerful, to keep your promises and complete the work you are doing in me. I am in awe of You! Amen.

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Answering to ultimate power

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord? You are entirely faithful. You rule the oceans. You subdue their storm-tossed waves. You crushed the great sea monster. You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world is yours—you created it all.” Psalms‬ ‭89‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Psalmist writes these broad strokes of power and huge overarching themes of ultimate control over all things – heaven and earth. This Psalm is written while Israel is parked in a 70 year timeout under Babylon’s rule. Daniel is the main character during this time, and even though he could have written this tribute to God it’s more likely that Ezra, the scribe wrote it.

I live close enough to the Pacific Ocean to enjoy parking along the cliffs of Big Corona and sitting on benches overlooking the expansive sea. It is breathtaking to watch the waves constantly, consistently crash on the shore and the reflective sunlight to dance on the endless vista to the horizon.

The ocean is so vast it’s intimidating. Every seaman story tells of its dangerous and untamable nature. No serious captain or crew underestimate its power and often merciless mysteries. That is why it so poetically appropriate for the Psalmist to declare God’s strength and dominion over the waters that cover 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and hold about 96 percent of all Earth’s water. As humans we all basically live on an island!

The Psalm says, “You rule the oceans.” I am impressed with God’s power, we all should be. All heavens and earth are His. How can God, with this much power not only be concerned but involved and in love with US? How can God with this much power and control not be feared, respected and obeyed? How can this mighty, ocean-ruling God put up with so many who mock, profane and arrogantly ignore Him as creator of all things? It’s shockingly unbelievable! Why doesn’t God just instantly zap every mouthy, foul fool into oblivion?

Because He made us, and has determined to love us. His enduring mercy and patience is utterly, unconditionally FOR us! However, time, like all created things, has an end. There will come a time when everything wraps up and concludes this existence. Every human is given time and every opportunity possible to remind us of God’s existence and His plan for our redemption, our rescue. Many have decided, with full recognition of God’s plan, to go at life and eternity their own way – which we know is simply death, then the moment of accountability. If you have rejected THE most powerful and most loving force in the universe? God will ask why and you will answer.

Prayer

Dad,
When I stand on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and look out to the unending vastness of the sea, I feel so feebly small. I also get just how powerful and as the Psalmist wrote, MIGHTY you really are. You tame the tides and control the storms, yet with our human hearts your greatest power is not force or constraint, but love and freedom. I am overwhelmed, undone, as Isaiah wrote, with your mercy. I will recognize your power and submit to your everlasting love.