"Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you?" (v. 14)

For Reading and Meditation:     Ezekiel 22:1-16

God is powerful in judgment. When He smites none can resist Him, as our text for today so clearly shows. The Flood of Noah's day is one such example, when the entire race - with the exception of eight people - was swept away (Genesis 6:1-9:18). A shower of fire and brimstone from heaven and Sodom and Gomorrah and all the cities of the plain were destroyed (Genesis 19:1-29). Pharaoh and his hosts were impotent when God blew upon them at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:1-31). What does the contemplation of God's great power do for us? First, it causes us to tremble before Him. The trouble with many modern men and women is that they do not tremble before God. To treat with impudence the One who can crush us more easily than we can an ant is, as someone put it, "a suicidal policy." "Kiss the Son," said the psalmist, "lest he be angry and you be destroyed – for his wrath can flare up in a moment" (Psalm 2:12). Second, contemplating God's great power causes us to adore Him. Who can consider the might of this awesome God without wanting to worship Him? The rebellious heart will resist this, but the heart cleansed by the blood of Christ will bow in homage and say: "Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?" (Exodus 15:11). Well may we as believers trust such a God. No prayer is too hard for Him to answer, no need too great for Him to supply, no predicament too great for Him to solve. Lay hold on this great and gripping truth: this God is your God.

O Father, I see that contemplation of You tilts my soul in Your direction. I realize that without You I am nothing. May I tremble before You until my trembling turns to adoration and ever-increasing trust. Amen.