Water from Flint! Psalm 114, Proverbs 16

May the mumbling commence!

What does flint produce?  The usual answer to that question is fire – when it strikes together and sparks.  What happens when one tries to cross a sea?  Again, the usual answer to that question is wet – drenched in fact.  God has other ways for those who trust in Him and follow Him unquestioningly.  Read Psalm one-hundred fourteen:

When Israel went out of Egypt,

The house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 

Judah became His sanctuary,

And Israel His dominion. 

The sea saw it and fled;

Jordan turned back. 

The mountains skipped like rams,

The little hills like lambs. 

What ails you, O sea, that you fled?

O Jordan, that you turned back? 

O mountains, that you skipped like rams?

O little hills, like lambs? 

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,

At the presence of the God of Jacob,  

Who turned the rock into a pool of water,

The flint into a fountain of waters. 

Oh, to become the sanctuary of the Lord!  And that is what we are.  Prepare us, O Holy Spirit to be a proper sanctuary for the Lord – both individually and together as children of God.  When we accept this invitation to what the Lord has already accomplished through the work of Jesus, look what happens:

Seas will flee from us.  We will be able to walk through the storming seas of our lives unscathed.  Our trials are as nothing to the Lord.  There is a reason to not be afraid. 

Rivers – even at flood stage – will not prevent the will of God happening in our lives.  We may be strong willed – flowing with rapids in our souls.  But God can quell those rapids and bring us to the Promised Land – if we allow it to happen in our lives.

And, then, there are the last two lines.  The Rock is transformed into a pool of water – living water.  That is the cornerstone, the capstone is Christ Jesus.  The flint, which we associate with the making of fire, is transformed.  Fountains of living water will continuously flow from it.

What miracles these are!  We need to hear them in this dry and weary land without water.  We are parched for moisture, here in the plains of the United States.  Worse yet, we are parched for the redeeming Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Let us learn to trust again the directions and decisions of the Lord in our lives.  Though our lives may seem random and senseless at times, the Lord informs every decision of those who seek His heart.  Read from Proverbs chapter sixteen:

The lot is cast into the lap,

But its every decision is from the LORD. (Verse 33)   

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out