Monday Reflection – August 27, 2018

Sing of God’s Guidance

Author: Rev. Jermaine Gibson

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pslZZpUaEk&feature=youtu.be

In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed. Exodus 15:13

Hallelujah!! Praise the Lord!! Isn’t this our response whenever God’s promise is fulfilled in our lives? We have no choice but to be grateful and sing a song of praise to God. When God delivers us from the plans of the enemy, out of bondage, and from a seemingly hopeless situation, we burst into joy and singing that ought not to be restrained. Our praise to God should know no limits and we should not feel hindered by anyone or anything.

We can well imagine then the attitude and mood of the Israelites having crossed the Red Sea on dry land. God created a highway in the sea by driving back the waters with a strong east wind resulting in a wall of water on either side of the Israelites as they passed through. The Egyptians who were chasing them all perished in the sea as God brought back the waters together. God’s 400-year promise was being fulfilled right before their very eyes. They had no choice but to break out in a song of jubilation and victory.

What a grand triumphal celebration! The picture of Moses and the children of Israel singing, and Miriam and the women answering: a gush of national pride and of worship! Can you feel its grandeur? They celebrated the powerful hand in God that they had witnessed, declaring that there is no god like Jehovah. If David was there, he would have said, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” (Psalm 98:1) If Jehoshaphat and his army were there, they would have sung, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 20:21) If Asaph, his trumpeters and musicians were there, they would have sung, “He is good; his love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 5:13) If we were there, perhaps we would have sung, “Jesus is my deliverer, Jesus is my deliverer, Jesus is my deliverer, I know cause he delivers me.”

Today’s Watchword celebrates God who leads and guides by his steadfast love. The emblem of a flock underlies the word used here. There is not only guidance, but gentle guidance. Such guidance also involves God’s judgement, revealed in the drowning of the Egyptians who were chasing them. God’s redemptive acts are like the guiding pillar of fire, in that they have a side that reveals wrath and evokes terror, and a side that radiates wonderful love and kindles happy trust.

God’s guidance is available to us every day to lead us along the paths of righteousness. His guidance provides the light in the midst of a dark world, and clarity in the midst of all the confusion around us. God’s guidance offers us strength for the challenges we face and food for the long journey. God’s guidance directs us aright and takes us safely into the promised land.

Till next week, let’s avail ourselves of God’s guidance, as we sing his praises in the midst of our deliverance.