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Daily Devotion: Psalm 115:2-3

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Psalm 115:2-3    "Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?  (3)  But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased."

Recently, we answered the question of the heathen. Today, we wonder why they would ask that question? Could it be they ask it of us because they have asked it of their own gods? Very quickly, I think of three times when OUR GOD was pitted against their gods. Remember when the Philistines were allowed by God to take the ark of the covenant? Israel had taken God for granted. They captured the ark and took it back to the temple of their god, Dagon.  They set it beside their idol and then came back the next day. When they arrived, Dagon (a man-made ugly idol) was on its face before the ark. They had to set it back on its pedestal. When they came back the next day, Dagon was on its face before the ark except that time its head and hands were cut off. So, I ask this question: Where was their god?  He was bowing before the true and living God.

Another time, OUR GOD was pitted against the god of the world, Baal. Elijah placed this challenge before King Ahab and the prophets of Baal: whichever God/god sent fire from heaven to consume the offering would be the true God. If you do not remember the details of the account, you can go to 1 Kings chapter 18 and read all about it.  The short of the story is that the prophets of Baal cried out to their god all day and nothing happened. Elijah prayed to the only true and living God.  "Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench." (1 Kings 18:38) Where was their god? He didn't hear. He didn't seem concerned. He didn't answer. He didn't exist.

The third account took place when Judah was in captivity in Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar built a great idol that stood 90 feet tall. He commanded that at the sound of the music, everyone was to bow down to his idol. There were three Hebrew men who refused to bow to the king's idol. Again, short of the story: the king demanded the three men to be thrown into a furnace that had been heated seven times hotter than usual. The guards who took the men to the furnace were killed by the heat. The three men fell into the fire. When the king walked over to look into the furnace, he asked if there were not three men who had been cast into the furnace.  "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:25)   Where was his idol?  It was nowhere to be found and never mentioned again.

Where was OUR GOD in all these situations?  He was alive, well, and doing just fine!  He was active in showing His power and glory in all these times. He still is today. The gods of this world bow to the glory of OUR GOD.  The gods of this world cannot compare to the glory of OUR GOD. The gods of this world never show up in time of need; but OUR GOD walks with us through the fire. "He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." Where will we place our trust?  To repeat the words of Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

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