Psalm 68:9 “You shed abroad a plentiful rain O God. You confirmed your inheritance when it was parched.”
I feel that this Scripture is significant on 2 levels:
1. On one level, I’m tired of people saying that New England is dry and cold and a burned over field. The Lord will confirm our inheritance even when the land is parched.
2. On another level, I was hit with the idea that the Lord enjoys doing things contrary to our natural thinking. He sends rain down in parched areas and He sends fire down on drenched altars.
To further expand on bullet #2 above, we read in I Kings Chapter 18 about Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal. I believe that it was critical for Elijah to drench the altar with water before the fire fell down due to the significance of what it would mean to our generation specifically.
All throughout the Bible, water is a type/shadow of the Holy Spirit. We think, in our natural minds, that not getting the sacrifice wet will create a better environment for the fire to fall and consume. However, the Lord wants our sacrifice, our offering, etc. to be absolutely drenched with water (the Spirit).
Others might talk and say “Don’t you know that with all that water (Spirit) that the fire won’t come down and impact other people”. However, if we keep our pursuit towards God and His Spirit, the fire WILL come down.
It was also significant to me that Elijah didn’t just pour water over the offering and the altar but he built a trench around the altar (enough to hold 4 gallons). He didn’t just want to water to be on the sacrifice, but he wanted there to be a way that the water could be stored (i.e. entertaining the Spirit and creating environments where it can rest). Then, the fire of the Lord consumed everything, including what was in the trenches.
Through all of this, it caused the people to say” The Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God”!! I believe that if we pursue God and His spirit, regardless of the manifestation, that our city and region will fall to their knees and say “The Lord is the God!”.
