...I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If you pay attention to my commands, your peace will be like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Peace on life's river - be it through alligator infested swamps or rushing rapids over sharp rocks, or freezing waters filled with icebergs, or down a quiet lazy calming stream - all depends on the confidence you have in your tour guide.
What a difference when you set out on a river journey alone versus a professional, knowledgeable, well experienced tour guide who knows the river like the back of his hand. Isn't it funny how much peace we have when we ride those rapids with someone who knows what they're doing? Even if the rapid waves wash us over board, we're confident the guide will jump in and rescue us. So confident that we get out in waters no sane person would dare get in - in a little rubber raft at that!
When God used the analogy of a river, He described a peace that can be retained while life twist, turns, and rolls over boulders. To have peace like a river is to have security and tranquility of heart and mind while meeting many bumps and unexpected turns on life's journey through change. Peace is submission to a trustworthy Authority. - Beth Moore
Just living upright before God - paying attention to His commands - honoring this life He gave me, keeps my life headed away from the dangers of the shallow places and rough spots. He keeps me from drifting off course, instead I can float peacefully through deeper waters, knowing full well if the deep waters overtake me He will come in after me. And oh the adventure to go into deeper waters with Him!
I'm so confident in the Tour Guide I've chosen!
How 'bout you? Don't move into uncharted waters alone! Choose wisely. Choose the Guide who rides the waves.
...even the winds and waves obey Him. Matthew 8:27
Psalm 104
1 Praise the LORD, my soul.
LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.
10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the LORD are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go out to their work,
to their labor until evening.
24 How many are your works, LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the LORD, my soul.
Praise the LORD.
