REFLECTIONS ON THE FIRE

from Psalm 148

Praise the LORD from the earth,

You great sea creatures and all deeps,

Fire and hail, snow and mist,

Stormy wind fulfilling his word!

Vs. 7,8

All the creatures and elements of the earth have a common call: to praise the LORD.  The animate and the inanimate are commanded to glorify Him: even the fire.   The LORD is sovereign over the fire, and it must obey His command.  As it does so, He is glorified.  As the stormy, raging wind obeys Him, which it must, it glorifies Him.  As He is exalted, man is put in his place, and we are reminded that God is God, and that we are not.  The raging elements, though they appear to be out of control, are not, but serve to remind us of our humanity, our mortality, our limitations, our dependence upon a Higher than ourselves.  They remind us to depend upon Him, to fear Him, to serve Him, and to labor together as His children to overcome the challenges of living in this temporal, fallen world.

He has raised up a horn for his people

Praise for all his saints,

For the people of Israel who are near to him,

Praise the LORD!

Vs.14

The fact is, God has His favorites.  Some people are near Him, some are not.  His hand is on His people.  No surprise there.  It has always been so.  There are some who are close to the LORD in their daily living, in their awareness of Him, in their fear of Him, in their obedience of Him.  They live under His authority, and under His mantel.  He loves them, He cares for them, He disciplines them for their own good, with the loving purpose that they may share His holiness.

There is another, larger group – and always has been – who are not close to the LORD.  Perhaps they give Him lip service, a tip of the cap - or not - but they  have no real interest in being under His care and authority.  They are the independent ones who might attempt a semblance of interdependence or community in order to survive or overcome the challenges of life, but their attempts bear only as much authenticity as does a statue to a living, breathing human.  There is no true life, no hope of discovering true meaning, purpose or fulfillment apart from a proper connection with the Living God.  We were made to live in a dependent relationship with Him.

LORD, I want to be among those who are near you, near you in truth.  I want to behold you, I want to gaze upon you, I want to live in communion with you and your people at all times.  As the fire has revealed only so clearly the very temporal nature of this world, which is passing away, I long for the eternal, the authentic, the true.  I am not saying I desire to die, but there is great hope in the thought of being eternally with you, though my finite self does not comprehend that.  As I observe the rage of nature and the fallibility of human systems, I realize there is no real hope in them.  My only confidence is in you.