The Lodestar

While adoring the Lord, performing amazingly on a cosmic scale, and winning battles for his people, Psalm 68 suddenly turns to what he does for his people. The Lord, who astonishes them with his cosmic spectacles, is here on earth with his people to “bear” them up.

Israel has experienced the power of the Lord in the past as they journeyed as unarmed nomads through the wilderness. “O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel” (Psa 68:7—8).

The Psalmist described that when the Lord marched ahead of them, clearing the obstacles, at each step, the earth quaked, and the sky poured out the rain. The Red Sea blocked their way, and the dry land had no food or water. Finally, they crossed the overflowing Jordan to get to the promised land. They made it!

The psalmist encapsulates their experience: “he bore us up.” The verb “bear up” in the original language carries the sense of carrying a burden (on the head or shoulders) from one point to another. Prophet Isaiah broadens the scope of their experience to say that the Lord has been bearing his people during their wilderness wandering and since their birth. “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb” (Isa 46:3).

The narrow escapes from accidents, the strength to move on in tough times, and the uplift when our spirits fail—all have one simple explanation. The Lord is bearing us upon his shoulders, and let his name be praised.

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