Song Meditation: Ancient Skies and The Ancient One Who Rides It

https://pixabay.com/en/users/kareni-5357143/

Listen:

Read:

Ancient Skies

(Words and music by Michael Gungor and Michael Rossback)

You have never changed

Your love is endless and Your mercy has remained

Through all the ages You shine so bright

Nothing can compare

You made the heavens and Your glory fills the air

Through all of the ages You ride the ancient skies

And You ride the ancient skies

You're amazing

Creation cries

So will I

You're amazing.

Now we stand amazed

And now we'll sing the word

They sang in ancient days

A single word that's overflowing

Endless praise: Hallelujah!

Ponder:

1. Psalm 68: 33 "[Sing] to the One Who rides across the ancient heavens, His mighty voice thundering from the sky."

The Book of Psalms is a great place to start learning about the character and nature of God. This book of songs is easy to read, easy to process. Like the book of Proverbs, it's one book you may find refreshingly enjoyable and a breeze to read through.

The passage sings of The Ancient One who rides the ancient heavens. He is up there and He is everywhere. As vast as the expanse is, so is His reach. As ancient as this world is, it can't be more ancient than the One who caused it to be. God lives free, He reigns free. He is uncontainable. He is immeasurable.

One highly regarded message about the identity of God, particularly the person of Jesus Christ is that by Dr. S.M. Lockridge. A full audio file of his 1982 message titled, "Seven Way Jesus" is found here:

The last six minutes of his sermon, describing the nature of Christ is highly popular and well-circulated. A transcript is found here:

That's My King! Do You Know Him?

2. Malachi 3:6

"For I am the LORD; I change not."

Hebrews 13:8

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

God is immutable, He is unchanging. As He was, He is, and He will be. Times change. With each generation things evolve or devolve. But God remains unaffected nor is He swayed to become someone else. His perfect mind remains the same. He can never be influenced because His infinite wisdom and knowledge allows for a consistent reliability as to His frame of mind. There isn't a thing He is not aware of. There isn't a thought that is hidden or undiscovered. He knows and He will always know.

There is great relief in knowing how capable God's mind is. I can trust Him to do the thinking and deciding for me. I know He can lead better than I ever could. He has seen the past and has complete awareness of the present. He has clear knowledge of the future. Nothing will ever surprise Him. Nothing will ever catch Him off guard. I can trust His guidance.

3. Psalm 103:11

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;"

Romans 8:38-39

"Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

His love is endless. There is no end. There is no limit. He will always love me. Nothing can turn Him away from loving me, not my sin, not my failures, not my own wish to drive Him away. I will always have His love. In my best and worst, God loves me. He always has. He always will.

4. Deuteronomy 4:31

"For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath."

Psalm 103:10

"He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities."

His mercy is who He is. At all times, He is merciful. At all times, He acts mercifully. He will always keep His promises. He will always stay true to His Nature as God.

What God has to say of Himself

Isaiah 53 is a powerful chapter. There, God declares everything about Himself. Multiple times, God declares His uniqueness, superiority, and sovereignty.

This is what the Lord says:

5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;

    apart from me there is no God.

9 “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,

Does the clay say to the potter,

    ‘What are you making?’

Does your work say,

    ‘The potter has no hands’?

11 “This is what the Lord says—

    the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:

Concerning things to come,

    do you question me about my children,

    or give me orders about the work of my hands?

12 It is I who made the earth

    and created mankind on it.

My own hands stretched out the heavens;

    I marshaled their starry hosts.

“I am the Lord,

    and there is no other.

19 I have not spoken in secret,

    from somewhere in a land of darkness;

I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,

    ‘Seek me in vain.’

I, the Lord, speak the truth;

    I declare what is right.

There is no God apart from me,

a righteous God and a Savior;

    there is none but me.

22 “Turn to me and be saved,

    all you ends of the earth;

    for I am God, and there is no other.

23 By myself I have sworn,

    my mouth has uttered in all integrity

    a word that will not be revoked:

-niv