There are many reasons for the people of God to praise Him with “Hallelujah” from our hearts. One of those reasons is looking back over our heritage and tracing the hand of God through trials and victories. Abraham was a stranger in the land of Canaan. Yet by the covenant God made with him, that land became the land promised to the Jews. Four hundred years later, the children of Israel, who had come to Egypt numbering about seventy, left Egypt as a nation of over a million people. Overnight, they had become rich with the spoils of Egypt, and by the time they got to the Jordan River to cross into the promised land, they were like a marching army under the leadership of God’s chosen man.
Historic times are good to remember. We can remember them in a variety of ways. Hebrew poetry uses precise expressions, dramatic words, and parallel imagery to bring vivid thoughts and words of praise. In this psalm, the words give balance to the Hallelujah psalm. That balance can be seen in them coming from a place of “strange language” to their home, where the temple was the center of worship. It begins with the birth of the nation, intended to be a kingdom of priests. The nation that left Egypt the night of the Passover was to be god’s dwelling place. Because of sin and failure, that hasn’t happened. The tribe of Levi was the only one able to be priests, but there is a day coming in the millennium when the nation of Israel will be what God intended.
When that whole nation was on the move, the effect of God’s power to overcome all obstacles was open and obvious to everyone, even their enemies. There were miracles all along the way, every day, to bring them to the place the Lord wanted them. From the crossing of the Red Sea to the crossing of the Jordan River, God’s actions for the blessing of His people were there for all to see and experience. How strange it is that we can experience God's guidance and miraculous power in our own lives and yet doubt Him and question what He does at other times. That is why reviewing the past is an important exercise for God’s people today.
We can identify ourselves in a sense with what happened to the children of Israel. The miracles in Egypt brought them to the place of deliverance by the blood of the lamb. They were redeemed by blood. They crossed from the place of bondage in Egypt to the wilderness by the power of God to control the sea. They were fed with bread from heaven and water from the Rock. God’s actions and presence change even the typical actions of creation to do what is above and beyond normal or natural. Who would think of getting water from a rock or a flint stone and changing it into a fountain? God does.
The opening of the Red Sea made the way plain for the Jews to get out of Egypt. The Jordan River's opening made it plain for them to enter the promised land. We have been delivered from this evil world and brought into the kingdom of “His dear Son.” Sea, river, mountains, and hills are all moved to take actions out of the ordinary as God acts to do His will and goes with His people to the place of His choosing. The miracles at Calvary opened the way for us to go from the bondage of sin in the world to enter the kingdom of God and ultimately to our home in heaven.
The wonder of the exodus is one thing. The wonder of grace and its eternal blessing is another, far greater wonder. The power of God was seen in that small location in the Middle East in the past, and it is still being seen there today. However, of far greater importance is the power of God’s grace, which is seen worldwide today in the life-changing, eternal, destiny-changing power that God demonstrated at the cross and in the lives of His people now. Technology doesn’t remove the tremendous obstacles and challenges of controlling the sea, rivers, mountains, and hills. Humans still can’t do that. To our God, there are no obstacles that He cannot remove by the power of His will and word. He can control nature and can make it do exactly what He wants. His greatness and His glory bring “Hallelujah” from the hearts of His people. Our frailty can be our strength when we live by faith under His divine control. His power and authority are supreme.
PSALM 114 GOD LEADS HIS CHILDREN v.1-2. The birth of the nation. “Israel went out of Egypt…” v.3-6. The effect on creation. “The sea saw it and fled… Jordan… mountains… hills…” v.7-8. The power over creation. “Tremble, thou earth…”