Psalm 104 - Playing With Leviathan

Wolf Point, Keweenaw - a calmer day

Well there is that Leviathan...  I have never been able to include Leviathan in a sermon.  Eighteen years of preaching and somehow I've never managed it. During Worship as we have sung this Psalm, I have thought: "Missed another opportunity!" 

The awesomeness of God's creating activities and His playing with Leviathan according to this psalm, reminds me of my first kayak trip on Lake Superior.  So this morning, I'm going to take the opportunity to share a story with you. 

It was a 4-day journey from Big Bay to Marquette with a group of clergy. Big Bay is only about 25 to 30 miles from Marquette, so it wasn't going to be a hard paddle. Except... 3 out of the 4 days we were paddling in small craft warnings.  Now, them were some waves! Leviathan was mentioned more than once!  We had to actually paddle quite a ways from the shoreline where the waves were more rolling and we could ride them.  The closer to shore, the more threatening the water.  It was actually pretty awesome!  I remember Pr. Peter Vorhes riding the waves in front of me, singing hymns!  Now that was really awesome!  Especially, since he has such a fantastic voice.  "O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hands hath made..."

Was it scary!  I hate to admit it, but it was not.  The wind and rain and waves were so great that it took all of my concentration to ride the waves much like a surfer would do.  There was no time to be afraid.  At one point, there was a long narrow peninsula we had to go around.  Not far from the end of this peninsula was a small rock island.  To get around this peninsula and the island, where the wave action was pretty fierce, we would have had to paddle a long ways out... So, we chose to go between the little rocky island and the peninsula point, where the waves were bouncing off the island and crashing into the waves as they had bounced back from the little island.  It was wild in there. We went through two by two.  It only took about 5 minutes to get through - a ride of a life-time.  Pr. Peter was only a couple yards away from me, but there were moments when he and his kayak disappeared from my sight completely as huge waves came up between us.  I still cannot help but smile.  When we made it through to slightly calmer seas; Pr. Peter, smiling, yelled at me through the storm, "let's do it, again!"

Playing with Leviathan...

There's my story. That was a long time ago, when I was much younger. My young paddling partner of today is not really into getting wet for no good reason and she would probably insist on staying home if I suggested that we should go and play with Leviathan. The sturgeon make her nervous enough.

That reminds me of another story... when my own children were young, I tried to get them to go canoeing with me on the New River in NC. I told them I was going to try to photograph some alligators.  I realized then that is not the way to try to get someone to go paddling with you... Alligators and Leviathan should usually be left out of the big picture...

Please, read all of Psalm 104! Meditate on His Glory and the awesome work of creation that He has done.  And, I'm really not recommending playing with Leviathan.  That really is something that should be left for God alone.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, You are very great:

You are clothed with honor and majesty,
This great and wide sea,
In which are innumerable teeming things,
Living things both small and great.
There the ships sail about;
There is that Leviathan
Which You have made to play there.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!  (Psalm 104:1, 25-26 NIV)

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 104:18 Or rock hyrax (compare Leviticus 11:5)

 

Psalm 34 - The LORD Answers

"I sought the Lord, and he answered me..." (34:4 NIV)  And... He will answer you, too. 

I often hear the cries of those who feel lost and alone.  They do not know where to turn for help.  I only know of one place where there is genuine relief to be found.  As a Marine's wife, I spent a whole lot of time alone, raising our children.  We often joked that my husband spent more time on ships than many of the sailors that we knew. It wasn't really a joke, though, because he did.  Where to turn when you're a young wife and mother far from home?  There is, there was, only one place and that was to the LORD.

I could lament the years I spent alone, but instead I rejoice in them.  If it were not for those years, far from family, raising sons, taking care of a household alone, working, and going to school at night, I might not know the LORD.  I needed help, so I sought the LORD, and he answered me. God, through my family in Christ at Calvary Lutheran in Jacksonville, NC, helped keep me going.

Seek the LORD.  Knock and the door will be opened.  (Matt 7:7)

"I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together."  (34:1-3)

God's Peace - Pr. J