David Bahn – Reflections

³ The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
⁴ The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.

⁵ What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
⁶ O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?

⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
⁸ who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.

We are a sophisticated people. We know to look behind the curtain of the Wizard of Oz. We know that the Cracker Jack prize is a cheap nothing. We know that airplanes and elephants don’t disappear into thin air – no matter who the illusionist might be. We know that behind every claim is a mountain of fine print and lawyer-speak that renders the claims meaningless. We even know there are charlatans who use God to deceive and take people’s money.

“N.B.” is an abbreviation for the Latin, “note bene” which means “note well.” I first learned it from a professor who used and explained the notation as a way of indicating important insights from books or articles. It was the fore-runner of highlighting a passage – in the days before Kindle readers and even highlight markers! Maybe we can’t really put a literal N.B. next to the miracles of God, but we certainly can note well what God does. We can take note of the reality of God’s presence and power, and stand in awe at God’s work.

This Psalm points us toward the Exodus – God’s great deliverance miracle at the time of Moses. Today we look to the cross of Jesus, his rest in the tomb and his resurrection from the grave. When God acts sophisticated skepticism does not serve us well. When God is present we had better not try to look behind the curtain to see what trickery is there. God does not deceive. God does not do illusions. When God acts we do well to take note, and fear, love and trust in him above all things.