"River in the Desert"
(...never ending, never dry....)
"The Lord answered Moses, 'Walk on ahead of the people. Take with
you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which
you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at
Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to
drink.' So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel."
(Exodus 17: 5,6)
******
God is Holy, and like an immovable rock before us, his holiness
judges and condemns both sin and sinner. God's severe holiness and perfect
justice commands and demands holiness in return. Because God is
holy, his Commands are holy as well. They are immovable and
non-negotiable..... like a rock (at Horeb/Sinai).
Unholiness cannot exist in the presence of an absolutely Holy
God. It is not an option. If it were an option, God would
not be holy.
From our (ie., sinful, unholy man's) perspective then, this presents an
unsolvable dilemma. In effect, like the wandering Israelites who followed
Moses, we stand, parched in a desert wilderness between 'a rock and a hard
place', and sooner or later, each one of us must come to grips with the
reality that confronts us: we are desperate for water and the Holy Rock of
God's Law cannot save us. It was never intended to.
We are, in fact, dying of thirst in the desert.....condemned.
The Rock of God's Commandments are as immovable and unrelenting as they
are inescapable. We may try to hide from God's holy commandments by removing
them from our courthouses, but we cannot remove them from our hearts and
minds.God's Commandments require holiness, and we cannot live up to them. We
cannot satisfy God's requirement. The Law judges us and condemns us. And it
does so justly.....
In Exodus 17, God tells Moses, "I will stand there
before you by the rock at Horeb" .
In the Hebrew, "Horeb" comes from a root word that means
parched through drought, to make desolate, destroy, kill, to dry up, slay.
To lay waste. [Strong's Concordance]
Without a miracle....without God somehow sovereignly
intervening....sinful man is helpless and hopeless. The burning bright light
of God's holiness penetrates, exposes and presses us against the immovable
rock of his perfect Righteousness and Justice, his commands and his
Law. Simply put, without a miracle, God's Holy Law would slay us.
Scripture, of course, teaches us that a miracle did occur. The
Holy God of Justice, Truth and Righteousness who delivered the Ten
Commandments to Moses at Horeb, mercifully became flesh. Holy God
became a man...Jesus the Christ. And the Rock, indeed was struck. And so,
now by God's Grace, provision for life (eternal
life in the Presence of God) now flows like a river for everyone......
Because of Jesus, God's Holiness is satisfied. The ransom paid.
"He split the rocks in the desert
and gave them water as abundant
as the seas,
he brought streams out of a rocky
crag
and made water flow down like rivers."
(Psalm 78: 15,16)
"He opened the rock, and water
gushed out;
like a river it flowed in the desert."
(Psalm 105:
41)
*******
"Tho' my weary steps may falter,
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! a spring of joy I see..."*
--Fannie Crosby*
("All the Way My Savior Leads Me")
"River in the Desert"
(...never ending, never dry....)
He's the Ark upon the water.
He's The Promise in the Flood,
Fallen man's Eternal Captain
Who at Calv'ry shed his blood.
He's the navigator's current....
He's the wind who fills the sail.
He's the One who calms the tempest,
And the One who stills the gale.
He's The Compass,
He's The North Star...
He's the Constant Truth man needs.
He's The Measure...
Buried Treasure.
And He lives now, yes indeed!
He's the calm beside still water,
He's our final Resting Place.
He's the wine The Father sent us
Overflowing....
Full of Grace.
He's The Lighthouse always shining
Through the fog of deepest night.
He's The Deep no man can fathom,
Yet The Source of true delight.
He's The Floodgate of God's Mercy
Who appeared in Galilee.
And in him there is no darkness,
From him.... Yes!...
The demons flee!
He's the One who loves the sinner,
And who cleanses prideful hearts.
He can purify the wretched
And provide a brand new start.
He's the Port
And He's the Harbor...
He's Safe Haven for the lost.
He's the Wellspring,
Living Water....
Heaven-sent...
Struck on The Cross.
He's The Drawbridge who was lowered...
He's The Net the Father cast;
He's God's Plan we see completed...
He's the First and He's the Last .
He's Great Wealth for poor in spirit,
Bread of Life true hunger craves.
He's God's Blessing for each mourning...**
God's Son risen from the grave!
He's The Rock who was split open
In this arid wilderness;
He's The Law who pours out Pardon
When we trust him...
And confess.
He's the Father's love Incarnate,
Flowing from his Throne on High...
He's The River in the desert....
Never-ending,
Never dry.
He's the dark cloud's silver lining...
He's the King of kings who reigns;
And He showers us with Mercy
As He takes away our stains.
He's the Blessed Hope we long for...
And He conquered death and sin.
He's The Door...
The Gate swung open!
All who will....
Please enter in!
"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty
again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed,
the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to
eternal life.' " (John 4: 13,14)
******
*Fannie Crosby (1820-1915), blind since the age of six, wrote some
eight thousand hymns to the glory of God.
She also wrote this:
"It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I
should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If
perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I
might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by
the beautiful and interesting things about me."**
** Matthew 5: 1-10
