Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Tuesday, 30 December 2014 - Scripture: Psalm 147:12-20

Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Tuesday, 30 December 2014 - Scripture: Psalm 147:12-18 Jerusalem, worship God!
    Zion, praise your God!
He made your city secure,
    he blessed your children among you.
He keeps the peace at your borders,
    he puts the best bread on your tables.
He launches his promises earthward—
    how swift and sure they come!
He spreads snow like a white fleece,
    he scatters frost like ashes,
He broadcasts hail like birdseed—
    who can survive his winter?
Then he gives the command and it all melts;
    he breathes on winter—suddenly it’s spring!
19-20 He speaks the same way to Jacob,
    speaks words that work to Israel.
He never did this to the other nations;
    they never heard such commands.
Hallelujah![The Message]
The psalmist speaks of statutes and ordinances. Ordinances are authoritative orders or decrees. The Ten Commandments are often what we think of when someone mentions God's laws or ordinances. And that is appropriate. But God speaks more than ten "words" to us. When God speaks creation is made, justice is served, salvation is at hand. When God speaks it is an authoritative order that cannot be ignored.
We might try to ignore these decrees. We are able to ignore injustice with the best of them. Yet God will not allow us to remain settled in our denial. God speaks and we are drawn out into the world. God speaks and we are compelled to join in speaking words of truth in the face of corrupt power. God speaks and the Word made flesh draws us into a love that will not be denied.
Lord God, you have spoken through the prophets and now you speak through Christ who calls us to pursue the way of peace. Bless us with your ordinances; speak and we will obey. Amen.
Tor Kristian Berg
Pastor, First Lutheran Church
Bothell, Wash. 
Master of Divinity , 1994
Psalm 147:12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.
14 He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down hail like crumbs—who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord![The Revised Standard Version]
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