[Dailydevo] Daily Devotion Thursday February 2, 2006

[Barry Ludwig]

Daily Devotion Thursday  February 2, 2006

The daily devotions this week are written by Pastor Ludwig, who during this
week of predicted cloudiness in Southeast Michigan, looks at Biblical
references to clouds.

 

Psalm 68:4-5

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon
the clouds; his name is Yahweh, exult before him!  Father of the fatherless
and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.  

 

In what was one of my first confirmation classes as an ordained pastor, I
asked the 7th graders to draw sketches on the chalkboard of what they
thought heaven looked like.  The one caricature that stands out in memory
was that of an angel riding on a cloud with a set of handlebars sticking out
of it! What an imagination!

 

What an imaginative way to picture God in Psalm 68. He "rides upon the
clouds."  Interestingly, this phrase was also used by Canaanites in the 14th
century b.c. to describe Baal, one of their many "gods."  It was a phrase
the implied power and majesty and might. But that is where the similarity
ends. For the false god, the cloud was his war chariot. He rode the clouds
and from it he waged war as a kind of ancient "terminator."

 

But the one true God, Yahweh (or Jehovah if you prefer), rides the clouds in
strength and power not to make war but to bring restoration and hope.
Notice that the psalmist describes our God as father to the orphan and
protector of the widows. These were the most vulnerable as well as most
easily neglected in the ancient world. Our God tenderly cares for the weak
and defenseless. Does this remind you of what Jesus commands us about caring
for the "least of these" in Matthew?

 

When you see the clouds today, think of the one who rides them. Your
gracious and merciful God who comes to you again this day with healing and
restoration for your life. No problem is too small, no worry too
insignificant for his healing attention.

 

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