day no. 14,345: forests are felled

Psalm 29

We do not make God anything. He is what He is, that's His Name: YHWH. So when we ascribe value and honor to Him, we do not make Him exalted or praiseworthy by our words; He already is those things, we're just agreeing. Our voices merely enter the chorus of Heaven already chanting, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!"

God's voice, however, is powerful and creative. Where it is heard, it creates, and it makes. By merely His speaking, forests are felled and kingdoms are conquered. By His voice life is illuminated. So great is His might, in fact, He can rule the world from a seated position.

Agree with reality by ascribing value to God. Use your words to give glory to His Word -- not because His Word needs your support, but because you are supported entirely by His Word! -- not because He relies on your testimony, but because you rely completely on His.

day no. 14,344: hot nostrils

Exodus 11:8

And he (Moses) went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

Hubris is always hard to watch. The Hebrew here is literally, "hot nostrils." Moses was very angry. The kind of angry we get when we breath heavily and hotly through our noses with our jaws clenched tightly and blood pressure soaring. Moses was mad. Pharaoh would not listen. He was walking into a furnace insisting he was flame retardant.

day no. 14,343: deliberate distinction

Exodus 11:6-7

There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

This calamity will be without a doubt the worst thing that has ever happened to Egypt and God wants full credit for it. He wants everyone to watch and witness the distinction He makes between Israel and Egypt. Their stories will end differently and distinctly and this is not accidentally. Behold the God of the elect.

day no. 14,342: when God is the plague

Exodus 11:4-7

So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

When the previous plagues God sent became too much for you, you could appeal to Him to take them away, but what do you do now that God Himself is the plague? This last devastation is experiencing the presence of God without a Mediator, meeting God unprepared. When frogs filled the land, you cried out to God, but to whom do you cry when God fills the land? God rescued you from the locusts, but who can rescue you from God?

day no. 14,341: grace and mercy, strength and shield

Psalm 28

Mercy is not getting the bad you have earned. Grace is getting a good you have not earned. We cry for mercy and grace in order to be forgiven of our sins for which we have earned death and in order to receive God's righteousness which we could never earn.

Everyone gets a reward. Some choose the wages of this life which rewards in men's applause, wealth, comfort and ease, etc... but carries with it the eternal reward of death. Some choose the wages of Heaven in this life which rewards in men's criticism, poverty, difficulty and tribulation, but carries with it the eternal reward of life everlasting.

God is my strength and my shield, my righteousness and my sacrifice, my grace and my mercy.

day no. 14,340: right conclusion, wrong assumption

Exodus 10:28

Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” 29 Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.”

Pharaoh's threats of death assume a certain control of circumstances. This is particularly audacious in light of being completely outmatched at every turn by God's sovereignty. Yet Pharaoh stubbornly holds on to the faith that his will can be done merely by willing it. Moses turns Pharaoh's threat on its head by saying, "You are quite right! We will not see each other again. But it won't be because I'm too afraid to come back here, but rather because you'll be dead."

day no. 14,339: on the skin

Exodus 10:21

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.”

This line always strikes me. What a beautiful turn of phrase. We've all seen darkness, but feeling it is a sensory experience beyond mere vision. It goes deeper into your person than just not seeing. It is on the skin. It's darkness engulfing and enveloping everything without light's impediment. That is the darkness that God sent to Egypt by removing His light entirely.