The God of the whole earth

"The God of the whole earth" - Psalm 114 In this Psalm God is spoken of as leading His people from Egypt to Canaan and causing the whole earth to be moved to His coming. The God of Jacob is exalted as having power over river, sea, and mountain and causing all nature to pay homage and tribute before His glorious majesty. C.H.S.

I. The wonders of the Exodus.

A. When Israel left Egypt.

1. "They were as one man in their willingness to abandon Goshen"; Although there were many, "not a single individual was left behind."

2. What a beautiful union!

3. Unanimity is a pleasant sign of the divine presence and one of its sweetest fruits.

4. How sweet it is for the Christian who has been compelled to listen to the profane conversation of the wicked when at last he can come out of their midst and reside with his own people! C.H.S.

5. (v. 2) Judah became His sanctuary temple, and Israel His dominion (domination, power).

6. The word "His" comes where we would have expected the name of God; but the poet is so "full" in his thought of God that he forgets to mention the name, like Magdalene when she exclaimed, "Tell me where you have put Him." (John 20:15)

7. All were in the sanctuary of the Deity and "their camp was a great temple."

8. What a change it must have been for the faithful among them to be out of the idolatry and blasphemies of the Egyptians and under the righteous orders and holy worship of the great King in Jesus!

9. They would see themselves in a world of wonder, in which they saw God in the bread they ate and the water they drank, as well as in solemn worship in His holy place.

10. When the Lord is manifestly present in a church and His merciful "orders" are "recognized" with "obedience," what a golden age has come and what honorable privileges the people enjoy!

11. (C.H.S.) If only it were like that among you!

12. (Matthew 28:20); and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age! Amen.

13. Isn't it a privilege of His people to live for Him, to live with Him, and to live by Him?

14. (Zechariah 13:9) I will say, My people; and he will say, The Lord is my God.

15. (Psalm 114:3) The sea saw Him and fled; The Red Sea was divided before them, to deliver them and destroy their enemies; and the Jordan, upon entering Canaan.

16. This was God's work; the poet does not sing about the suspension of natural laws, or of a singular phenomenon that is not easily explained: but for him "the presence of God among His people is everything".

17. "In his lofty song, he tells us that the river receded" because the Lord was there.

18. The division of the sea and the drying up of the river are in an interval of forty years, because they are the initial and final scenes of a great event.

19. Thus, it became clear that Jehovah did not need protection from Israel.

20. At Jehovah's command, the priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred symbol of the divine presence.

21. There were no fighters was the Ark.

22. Thus, it became clear that Jehovah did not need protection from Israel, but was their guard and guide, since the priests were not armed; and they were not afraid to separate themselves from the Israelite armies and settle themselves with the Ark in the river in full view of their enemies.

23. It was at noon, in the sunlight and in the presence, undoubtedly, of the inhabitants of the surrounding territory (surround), something that terrified the kings of the Canaanites and Amorites west of the river.

24. The waters know their Master and do not dare to wet the feet of the priests who carried it.

25. (Psalm 114:4-6) These mountains are uprooted the moment Christ begins the work of conversion.

26. (Psalm 114:5) What happened to you, O sea that you fled?

27. Why did your strength fail? Did your own heart dry up "How bad were you, O sea that you fled?

28. You were a neighbor to Pharaoh's power, but you did not fear his hosts (army); the stormy wind never prevailed against you so that you were divided in two; but when the Lord was about to pass through your many waters, you were frightened and fled before Him. C.H.S.

29. O mountains, why did you skip like rams, you hills, like lambs?

30. What hurt you that you moved like this?

31. There is only one answer: "the majesty of God made you jump."

32. A mind of grace will reprove (disapprove, criticize) human nature for this strange callousness, when the sea and the river, the mountains and hills are so sensitive to the presence of God.

33. Man is endowed with reason and intelligence, and yet he remains unmoved by what material creation contemplates with fear.

34. God has come closer to us than He came at Sinai or the Jordan, because He has assumed (taken over) our nature, and yet the mass of mankind does not shrink from their sins or advance in the ways of obedience. C.H.S.

35. At the presence of God, the earth trembles.

36. (Psalm 114:8) The rock in a pool of water.

37. He turned "the rock into a source of water" for Israel.

38. Just as they were protected by miracles, so they were fed by miracles. (Rock: large unhewn stone, as produced by nature) (waters coming out of the stone). Amen.