Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Our look at the word 'desert' in the Bible brings us to the book of Psalms. Psalms being a songbook, just going straight through verse by verse seemed kind of ...repetitive. So, I decided to look at all the verses before jumping in and roughly group them by topic. I found four different groups; so I'll take them one at a time.
Chronologically, the first verse that mentions 'desert' is Ps. 29:8 and is one of six verses in this Psalm that describes the action of
God's voice. It is also the first of the group of verses that I've grouped
under the topic 'The Greatness of God'. (All references are from the NIV 84)
The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadish.
The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust. (Ps. 72:9)
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert. (Ps. 74:14)
No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges; he brings one down, he exalts another. (Ps. 75:6-7)
Of course, the greatness of God is one of the recurring themes of the Psalms; but these four verses also mention the desert.
29:8 probably is more significant to the folks who lived in and around the desert than it would be to someone who has only seen the desert in pictures and documentaries. The desert is vast and unyielding; barren, hostile and yet beautiful. And the voice of God is enough to shake it.
72:9 pretty much speaks for itself; I don't think it needs any exposition, while 74:14 is a puzzle I'm not sure anyone has quite worked out. 'Leviathan' is a study in and of itself; you can google it and follow the trails. I just think it's significant that we see plural heads but a singular creature. Some believe Leviathan was an actual beast; some believe it represents a demonic principality. Keeping in mind, this is poetry, so it could easily be either...or both: a demonic principality allegorically equated with a conquered beast. Whichever, God has completely and utterly defeated it...which is more important than whatever 'it' was. And if God defeated a multi-headed something so utterly that only its name has survived in human history, he can surely defeat whatever something that is facing us today.
I added verse 7 to the reference in Ps. 75; verse 6 by itself was too vague. The desert there is mostly a reference to 'the center' or 'where we are'...to complete the thought that no person anywhere has the ability to put people into positions of power unless God allows it. And that's a selah moment right there. It applies from the people in power globally to the local level to the work scene. God has reasons for what he does. Sometimes the reason is to uproot, tear down, destroy and overthrow...and sometimes the purpose is to built and plant. He does what is needful to bring people to him and he doesn't mind working in the scope of generations. If one generation rejects him, as they did at Kadesh, he will do the building and the planting in the next one. And he doesn't object to tearing down religious structures if they are inhibiting folks from coming to him.
His voice shakes the desert. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Don't be surprised when it happens.
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