He Cares, Provides, and Protects

The Israelites were unique among ancient cultures. While other nations had different gods for different aspects of life, the God of Israel was One God, and He was Lord of every aspect of their lives. He was God of agriculture and God of the hunt. He directed military campaigns and commercial endeavors. He regulated public and private conduct.

One psalm reads, Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house: your children like olive plants all around your your table. (Ps. 128:3 NKJV) Another psalm reads, In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. (Ps. 120:1,2)

Central to their belief in an all-pervasive God was their belief in a God who cared about them—a God who provided for them and protected them: Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, from this time forth and forever. (Ps. 125:1,2)

Originally published May 22, 1992.
Picture: Lindenwood Park, Fargo, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

God's Mountain

Moses, a Hebrew slave by birth, became an Egyptian prince through his adoptive mother. As a young man, he tried to help his fellow Hebrews, but he botched it by killing one of the Egyptian oppressors. Then he fled for his life to the Sinai peninsula.

While in the desert regions of the Sinai, Moses probably gave up all ideas of saving oppressed people. I doubt if he worried about whether or not people were of Hebrew descent. He built a new life for himself—married, fathered a son, and became a shepherd by working for his father-in-law.

But God still had his eye of Moses. Without sensing anything unusual, Moses led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (Ex. 3:1b NKJV)

Think of it. God’s mountain. For Moses, this was a literal place. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush . . . God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (v. 2a,4b)

But God’s mountains was and is more than a literal place. It is where God's people encounter God’s presence. Throughout history God has continued to keep His eye on His people. As we wander around, living our lives, we might stumble into a time and place where God speaks to us and calls us by name. We've come to God's mountain.

Originally published January 30, 1987.