Psalm 114: God turning up!
When was the last time you felt God ‘turning up’? And knew in the pit of your stomach … it was Him?
“Tremble thou earth at the presence of the LORD.” (V7)
Surely at some point in life we need to know the experience of this ‘God-turning-up’ bit, don’t we?
Many followers of Jesus Christ I know, lack real assurance of God being there … on their side … turning up when things are tough.
It seems to me a given that we need God to turn up for us when we need Him:
- Do you love me, God?!
- Are you really there?
- Have you honestly got the power to help me … even me ... with all my faults!?
“Tremble thou earth at the presence of the LORD.”
My wife and I have just been in retreat with the LORD. I say ‘in’ rather than ‘on’ retreat because all plans to go away somewhere have had to be constantly changed because of my chronic illness.
But my wife and I marked the date nevertheless.
30th September 1984, my 40th anniversary of taking Holy Orders in the Church of England. On that day in Rochester Cathedral in the South East of England, I stood before God, the Bishop, the gathered church of Christ, my wife, my parents, my friends, and the local community, and declared my commitment to serve Christ as a sold-out-servant in His church, to the best of my ability, because God had turned up in my life and called me.
I will never forget the day.
Glorious autumn sunshine beaming down through narrow clerestory windows into the Nave, as I and other Ordinands processed down from the Chancel to the sound of Handel’s ‘Zadok the Priest’ filling the space with voices of a grand choir and organ accompaniment.
I remember that moment as if it was yesterday.
And I knew what I was doing.
I had been called by a God that had turned up in my life over and over and over again … and whom I sold-out-wanted to serve with the very last breath in me.
“Tremble thou earth at the presence of the LORD.”
Indeed!
I was under no illusion that before Almighty God, the LORD of heaven and earth and everything in it … I was utterly nothing.
And every time I renew my vows, I feel exactly the same way.
Nothing.
Nobody.
But serving a God who just keeps on turning up in the most unbelieveable ways, time and time and time again.
“Tremble thou earth at the presence of the LORD.”
Now, 40 years later, my wife and I, ‘in retreat at home’ settled for a nice lunch out and a walk on the anniversary date.
After the LORD provided a totally wonderful and unexpected lunch (which is another story), we drove up a long straight country lane to the top of Sawdon Hills, 650ft high … with a view to match.
It was raining; sheet-rain raining; and pouring down the road beneath us like a river. As we drove higher, the cloud drew in around us inch by inch ... thicker and thicker. So when we stopped at the top and put on our waterproofs, and began our walk on totally deserted hills … the only thing we were aware of … was the LORD … turning up big time, in a dense thick cloak of cloud.
NO view.
Just cloud … and the LORD.
Sometimes in our daily life, the earth may tremble, the rock may split, and the flint may crack with water. But as we stepped into cloud, and walked in it, we became aware of the LORD turning up in a way we could never have planned or expected.
The 66 books of the Bible are jam-packed FULL of God turning up for people over and over and over again. My prayer for you as you read this wonderful psalm, is that you will find God turning up in your life today in a way that will make you tremble with joy at how much you matter to Him.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for turning up in my life in ways that stop me in my tracks.
- Reminding me … that I am not alone.
- Teaching me … that my life is in Your hands.
- Keeping me … safe under the shadow of Your wings.
- Caught up … with all the people who’ve ever lived since Genesis 1 vs 1.
- Kept … by the power of God.
And making sure that I know … I am loved.
When I’m tempted to tremble for all the wrong reasons … fear, anxiety, doubt, pain … remind me of the God who has turned up on earth since ever it existed, and is turning up all over the pages of history today.
Including my history!
And whenever You turn up in my life, Lord, everything and anything is possible. (Matthew 19 vs 26).
Amen.
Guest blog by Rev Robert Ireton (Copyright October 2024 ©)
Image supplied by Rev Ireton: Sawdon Hills, N Yorks, 30th Sept 2024