ASAPH SPEAKS
Key Verse: “Our God approaches, and He is not silent, fire devours everything in His way, and a great storm rages around Him.” (v. 3)
Key Theme: God as supreme and the righteous judge of the earth.
Key Descriptives of God: Mighty God; Righteous Judge
This feels like a very significant day. We begin a new month, it is day 50 and we are 17 days from Psalm 67 and Rosh Hashanah. This chapter aligns with our actual realities in so many ways. Of note, this is the first Psalm that is listed as authored by Asaph, the most renowned of David’s musicians. He is mentioned in some detail in 1st and 2nd Chronicles and was a skilled singer, poet, and seer as well. This is his only Psalm among the first 67.
SUMMONING ALL HUMANITY
“He has summoned all humanity” is the key line of the first verse. What we are about to hear is God calling everyone into account. He will further identify them as MY PEOPLE in verse 4, and then reclassify them as “My faithful people” in verse 5 and “the wicked” in verse 16. It all ends with a powerful truth for all in the final verse 23, “But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors Me. If you keep to My path, I will reveal the SALVATION of God.” What revelation in the last line. As you may by now recognize that word “salvation” is in Hebrew YESHUA which was Jesus’ Hebrew name. Essentially, to all humanity, He was and is saying, “When you honor Me by thanking and acknowledging Me in your words, you are on the very path that will lead you to Jesus— who is your Salvation.”
OUT OF ZION
“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.” (v.2) What a mouthful is said by Asaph, who spoke with great prophetic insight. Zion is another descriptive for Jerusalem. Here Jesus gave His life for all of humanity, here He rose from the dead, and here the long-awaited and promised Holy Spirit made His entry into our world. “God will shine forth” is truly the understatement of the ages.
A GREAT STORM RAGES AROUND HIM
Now our key verse for today. “Our God approaches, and He is not silent, fire devours everything in His way, and a great storm rages around Him.” This is a huge 2020 reality. “Our God approaches”, is always when the Lord chooses to “make His face shine” UPON some and AGAINST others. God approaching is like the literal sun approaching. It atmospherically changes everything. “Fire devours everything IN HIS WAY.” This is not a time to be “in His way” whether in society or in the church. “A GREAT STORM rages around Him”. We heard so much about how God was coming in 5780 (Hebraic calendar) and in 2020. Well, He is. A special visitation means a special “great storm”. He does not command a storm to happen it just “rages” around Him. When “God approaches” He comes not into a vacuum but He displaces IN HIS WAY stuff. The King and His Kingdom are disruptive. A “raging storm” does not evidence more of Satan’s control, it evidences more of God’s control. As Nahum 1:3 says “He will have His way in the storm”. I released a word last night on my Facebook that in September He is calling US to be the storm of this month. Be the storm or Face the storm.
HE IS NOT SILENT
“He is not silent”. In the year of the masked mouths (PEY in Hebrew) and the virus that attacks breath (also PEY in Hebrew), our God is decidedly NOT SILENT. He is the One individual who has not put a mask on in 2020. He approaches. He is speaking. He is roaring. Perhaps there has been a measure of appropriate “let the earth be silent” in 2020, so we could all come under His gaze, His mouth, His face, and thus properly RESET. But of course, a “reset” that goes on too long implies a fatal crash in the hard drive. It is time to be done with that.
LET THE HEAVENS PROCLAIM HIS JUSTICE
“Then let the heavens proclaim His JUSTICE; for God, Himself will be the judge.” (v.6) This is a huge verse for us today. There is a proclaiming of JUSTICE that is in this “our God approaches”. And in this time where we wonder if our own justice system will work as it should against the exposed evildoers, “GOD HIMSELF will be the judge.” This is not just “one day” God will judge, but as He approaches us in 2020 The Summer of His Love, God WILL be the judge.
ALL THE WORLD IS MINE
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you for ALL THE WORLD IS MINE AND EVERYTHING IN IT” (v.12) This could have easily been “the key verse” as well. Again for those who say God doesn’t really have this kind of sovereignty because Satan is “the prince of the air” and man has been given authority— put this in your pipe and smoke it :). (Sorry, I picked up from God’s own feistiness in this verse) Notice this was all even BEFORE JESUS reclaimed anything lost through His blood on the cross. ALL is His and EVERYTHING IN IT is His. Creator’s rights. Is that clear?
MAKE THANKFULNESS YOUR SACRIFICE
“Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God” (v.14). This focus on “thankfulness” is a prevailing theme of Psalm 50. I already read the last verse that emphasized that as being the pathway to YESHUA. When this verse later says “keep your vows” it is still speaking of this. Vows of thanksgiving. Ultimately all of our firstfruits and other giving are to be with that focus. He just made “attitudinally” clear, HE doesn’t need OUR charity. It is verse 10 here that has the very famous, “I own the cattle on a thousand hills”. That was said not in the context of “and I want to share with you” but in the context of “I don’t need what you have to give Me.” He just wants acknowledgment that you can see Him. That is what thanksgiving and thankfulness are all about. Absence of gratitude simply implies absence of seeing Him. How can one’s Creator be out of one’s purview?
THE WICKED?
As we close today, it is worth noting what is addressed as “wicked”. They didn’t have “saved” versus “unsaved” categories in Psalms. #1, “You hate instruction”— an unteachable spirit. #2, “You approve of thieves and endorse adulterers”,— thieves and adulterers of the highest order are being exposed. It made the news only a few days ago that 350 evangelical leaders just came out endorsing Biden citing “need of moral leadership”!!! A man tied into the thievery of billions of dollars and of moral inappropriateness of the highest level. I think that qualifies as “wicked”. #3, “Your tongue frames deceit”, the evil of fake, distorted and suppressive “news” qualifies as part of this “wickedness”. Verse 23, “These things you have done AND I KEPT SILENT;” Past tense. Now in the 80’s decade of the Hebraic calendar, HIS mouth (PEY) will no longer keep silent. “YOU THOUGHT I WAS ALTOGETHER LIKE YOU” (v.21). What a massive deception that is and one all of us need not fall in. We don’t make a God in our image. That is a catastrophic distortion that can not be made. Let us be sure we are the ones always upgrading (being transformed into HIS image) and not Him the One being downgraded into ours.
Written by: Johnny Enlow
Featured Image by chris ganser on Unsplash
67 DAY COUNTDOWN SERIES
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The 67 Day Countdown Series is brought to you by Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of Restore7 ministry, as well as international speakers and best-selling authors. Among Johnny’s books are The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, Rainbow God, The Seven Mountain Renaissance, Becoming A Superhero, and RISE. Elizabeth serves as CEO and penned Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love and God in Every Season.
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