Psalm 146 from Lake Michigan: Nature Reflects The Glory Of God DMW#180

Nature, Psalm 146, and the Glory of God

Dead men walking start. Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of dead men walking podcast. This one's a little different coming to you live from Warren Dunes State Park. That's right on Lake Michigan as you can see behind me if you're watching in the video.

You might hear some of the lake going. We have a beautiful night here. It's about nine o 'clock. So we got about 20 or 25 more minutes of daylight, and we've got a slight wind coming in from the west so we have some whitecaps coming in behind us here, but I I'm on a camping trip with my family right now and They're getting ready for bed.

So I snuck away walked down to the beach here and wanted to record a I don't know a quick video for you guys quick audio as well and Was reading something earlier today psalm 146 and wanted to talk to you about it.

I Absolutely love nature. I love when I go hunting. I've talked about it before on the podcast You're out in nature. I love when we come to the lake, you know I'm very blessed to live in Michigan to where you're never more than two hours away from a Great Lake and The five Great Lakes of Michigan make up about 60 of the total freshwater in the whole world.

So across the whole globe 60 of the freshwater resource is in between the five Great Lakes here in Lake Michigan. I'm about three hours from Lake Michigan. I live about five minutes from Lake Erie so we came here for a few days with the camper and Spent all day at st. Joseph, which is about 20 miles north of here yesterday.

We were here at this beach in Warren Dunes. And if you were if I were to turn the camera around you'd see these huge glorious sand dunes that you can you can hike and play on and walk on and it's just a spectacular part of Michigan and very appreciative that we're able to come here and spend this time, but I Wanted to go over psalm 146 because I was reading it this morning and it kind of had some stuff in it that made me realize.

You know why I appreciate being out in nature, so let's read through it Psalm 146 and if we see some people walk behind or said it ever if you're watching the video just ignore it. The beach is still pretty active even you know even in the evening like this, so Let's read through Psalm 146.

I'm reading from the LSB and it says Psalm 146. I will praise Yahweh throughout my life. Praise Yah, praise Yahweh. Oh my soul. I will praise Yahweh throughout my life. That's verse 2. I love that throughout his entire life David was saying I will praise Yahweh the good times the bad times the valleys the mountains.

He says I will praise Yahweh throughout my life. I will sing praises to my God while I still have my being. He's saying if I'm drawing breath, and I'm still a human being I'm going to praise my God. Verse 3 do not trust in nobles in merely a son of man in whom there is no salvation.

So even here in verse 3 we're seeing a little bit of foreshadowing of Christ. Saying I'm not putting my hope in nobles or Kings or just another human being there is no salvation in them. And we know who our salvation is the Son of Man Jesus Christ fully God fully man verse 4 his spirit departs he returns to the earth.

In that very day his plans perish. It isn't that true all of our plans perish when we try. To plan now that's not saying don't be responsible and and have a plan and a work ethic. You know I own a business and believe me.

There's lots of stuff. I have to plan but Ecclesiastes also says that all planning or planning for tomorrow meaning putting your trust in tomorrow is foolish because no one is promised tomorrow. And David in the psalm is echoing that verse 5.

How blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob whose hope is in Yahweh his God. I? Love that verse 6 who had who made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them who keeps truth forever. And you know that really stuck out to me because when I'm out in nature like this when I'm at a lake or I'm in the northern Michigan woods, or I was just in Arkansas a few months ago duck hunting with my father-in-law.

Yeah, I have to sit back and look who made heaven and earth. It was God it was Yahweh our God Says the sea and all that's in it who keeps truth forever. Who doesn't. Who does justice for the oppressed.

Who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh sets the prisoners free. Oh my goodness. I love that first. He he addresses Who does justice for the oppressed. You know we have a lot of? Talk in a social justice gospel in the secular realm just social justice and We don't have to put an adjective in front of gospel and say social justice gospel.

God is a God of justice. He brings justice to those oppressed. And many times it doesn't look like the justice that man thinks. Because man is just wants fairness and there is a difference between fairness and justice.

God is just he isn't fair. We've said that on this podcast before and I think people get it confused. God is not fair. Fair just means equal. God is just God is not a God of Equality. He's a God of justice which means you justly get what you deserve, right?

Later in verse 7 it says. Who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh sets the prisoners free. Amen. I would say even physically spiritually and emotionally. God sets The prisoners free. Verse 8. Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind.

And we saw that when Christ came to earth opening eyes of the blind some more foreshadowing. Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down. So we see here that God raises up those who have a position of humbleness.

Who are bowed down. Who are? Not prideful yet humble. Verse 9. Yahweh keeps the sojourners. That's the foreigners. He helps up the orphan and the widow. So we're seeing right after he's saying he's a God of justice.

He's listing some of the people that can't find justice for themselves in his day. David's day when he's writing this psalm. Any orphan or widow would have no rights would have no way to take care of themselves would have no legal recourse for things that might Happen to them.

Yet David is saying God sees the orphan. He sees the widow. He sees those that can't take care of themselves in the legal system or in the Country that they're living in and God will have justice for them.

He will have justice on their behalf. But here's the caveat listen what he says after he says he'll kill take care of the foreigner who take care of the orphan. He'll take care of the widow. He says but he bends the way of the wicked.

So the wicked plan and they go. Okay I'm at point A and I want to get to point B and I have these wicked plans and he says no he bends the Way of the wicked. He thwarts the wicked plans in other psalms and even Proverbs says God thwarts the plans of the wicked.

And here we see it echoed here in this psalm if we go on to verse 10 as we finish it up. It says Yahweh will reign forever. So we're seeing God establish Not only God's reigning but Christ's reigning throne forever and later on in verse 10 your God Oh Zion from generation to generation praise Yah appraise Yahweh so we see a promise at the end of Psalm 146 that not only will his reign last forever, but his promises last to us generation to generation.

And when I read through this this morning I said what a great psalm that I just randomly turned open to especially when it says you made the heaven and earth the sea. And all that's in them, you know, I was swimming out in this very lake Earlier and with my son Oliver and he goes who I think a fish just touched my leg and sure enough we looked down.

And there was some bass Swimming in the shallow waters that had come in because it was nice and sunny and they were probably Sunbathing a little bit in that 72 degree water and I just went wow how awesome that is to be in nature.

In the lake that God created the fish of the sea even the unknown things of the sea, you know with the implosion of that submersible a few weeks ago. People have been becoming more interested in Titanic again and the depths of the sea and we've only explored about 10 or 15 percent of The ocean floor.

We don't know what's down there. We still as men don't understand the depths of the sea and this was something that was written Thousands of years ago, maybe five thousand years ago and David is saying, you know, you made the heaven and the earth.

You made the depths of the sea and everything in it, and I don't even know what that is but I trust in you and I find it ironic that we are still exploring the depths of the sea sometimes to our detriment sometimes to our death.

In that submersible. They were only going down three miles and couldn't make it. You know in Challenger deep you can go six seven eight miles down I believe to the depths of the sea and we still haven't reached the deepest parts of the sea and the animals that live down there in the in the Food chain and the ecosystem ecosystem and all that.

So I look at stuff like this these these beautiful sand dunes this beautiful lake with the white caps rolling in. You know the trees and it just reflects the glory of God. I mean even nature in itself is a common grace, you know Ecclesiastes says that it rains and the Sun shines on the wicked and the righteous alike.

God even allows the wicked to partake in his glory, which is nature. Which is a common grace to us all and I truly believe if we slow down in life. And we actually just look at the bird making its nest.

You know at the squirrel and the ant. Storing up for winter, you know Proverbs says be like the ant. Have a work ethic like the ant, you know the wisest man in the In the world and the history of the universe was looking at the ant and taking lessons from him.

And I truly believe that we can find Lessons in nature that reflect the glory of God not only work ethic but in beauty in and of itself and You know I just wanted to make this video just a short episode to allow you to see some of this beauty that I'm seeing here today in Warren Dune State Park on Lake Michigan and we just rejoice that we serve of God of beauty anything that man touches is Usually is not beautiful and if it is beautiful it imitates God.

Because God is beauty. So as the Sun setting here and I might be running out a little bit of light I just wanted you guys to hear Psalm 146 go through and read it for yourself as well. Meditate on that as the word says to meditate on his word and Be encouraged, you know be encouraged today that God made the heavens and the earth everything in it the seas.

We will rejoice with all our being worship him. Like I said in the valleys or the mountains and the good times are bad. And when we're having a bad day, we can go outside. We can look up and say Lord thank you for the Sun that shines down on us and Provides us with that vitamin D that our bodies need the sunlight and the warmth that we need to survive.

Thank you for the fresh water that we have at our disposal. Thank you for the Trees and the plants and the bushes. I mean, it's just a posture of thankfulness when we really slow down and we look at all that the Lord has provided us just in nature by itself.

So guys, thanks so much for listening to another episode of dead man walking podcast. This wasn't a long one, but I just wanted to bring you that Psalm. Make sure you check us out at DMW podcast .com.

We have some new shirts up there as well, too. And you can find out a little bit more about the podcast there as always you can find us on Twitter. You can find us on well now on threads as well. We're on rumble.

We're on Instagram and Facebook. Just type in dead man walking podcast and you can find us there guys I'm gonna let you go. The Sun is going down. I've got a little bit of a walk back to the truck. God bless guys and as always remember the chief end of man is to glorify God.

Enjoy him forever. Even if that means you're sitting out here on a beautiful evening and listening to the light come in. God bless. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at dead men walking podcast for full video podcast episodes and clips or email us at dead men walking podcast at gmail .com.