Psalm 114
This psalm is a poem about God bringing Israel out of Egypt. He used nature--the sea, the mountains, the rocks--to make a way for them. Likewise, He will bring us out of our sin, take us through our troubles, and lead us through our future if we will trust Him.
"When you are in the will of God, all of creation works for you to accomplish God's purposes." Warren Wiersbe
Luke 23:1-25
We are coming near the time of the crucifixion. What I want to look at in these verses is how different individuals responded to Jesus.
The multitude accused Jesus of telling people not to pay their taxes to the Roman government (not true) and claiming to be the Messiah (true). They were not looking for a fair trial--no "innocent until proven guilty" here. They had already convicted Him in their own minds and would not be satisfied with less than His crucifixion.
Pilate did not want to make a decision. He tried to pass the responsibility off to Herod and he tried to pronounce Jesus innocent, but in the end he bowed to the pressure of the crowd and sentenced an innocent man to death. It's also interesting to note that he released a guilty man, Barabbas, and made friends with an evil man, Herod. We can learn from this that it's impossible to NOT make a decision about Jesus. We either believe and accept the truth about Him and put our faith in Him or we reject Him.
Herod was a wicked man who only wanted to see miracles performed. Jesus does not perform on command like some kind of magician, and so He was silent. Herod, after mocking and ridiculing Him, sent Him back to Pilate.
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