God
stretches out heaven over empty space,
and hangs the earth upon nothing.
He wraps the rain in His thick clouds
and the clouds are not split by the weight.
He shrouds His throne with His clouds.
He sets a boundary for the ocean, yes,
and a boundary for the day and for the night.
The pillars of heaven tremble at His rebuke.
And by His power the sea grows calm;
He is skilled at crushing its pride!
The heavens are made beautiful by His Spirit;
He pierces the swiftly gliding serpent.


-Job 26:7-14



Why
are you using your ignorance to deny my providence?
Now get ready to fight, for
I
am going to demand some answers from you,
and
you must reply.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell me, if you know so much.

Do you know how its dimensions were determined,
and who did the surveying?

What supports its foundations,
and
who laid its cornerstone,
as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?


Who decreed the boundaries of the sea
when they gushed from the depths?

Who, clothed them with clouds and thick darkness,
and barred them by limiting their shores, and said,
'Thus far and no farther shall you come,
and here shall your proud waves stop!'?

Have
you ever once commanded the morning to appear,
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

Have
you ever told the daylight to spread
to the ends of the earth, to end the night's wickedness?
Have
you ever robed the dawn in red,
and disturbed the haunts of wicked men
and stopped the arm raised to strike?

Have
you explored the springs
from which the sea comes,
or walked in the sources of their depths?
Has the location of the gates of Death
been revealed to
you?
Do
you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!

Where does the light come from,
and how do you get there?
Or tell me about the darkness.

Where does it come from?
Can
you find its boundaries,
or go to its source?
But of course

you know all this!

For
you were born before it was all created,
and
you are so very experienced!

Have
you visited the treasuries of the snow,
or seen where hail is made and stored?
For
I have reserved it for the time
when
I will need it in war.

Where is the path to the distribution point of light?

Where is the home of the east wind?

Who dug the valleys for the torrents of rain?

Who laid out the path for the lightning,
causing the rain to fall upon the barren deserts,
so that the parched and barren ground
is satisfied with water, and tender grass springs up?

Has the rain a
father?

Where does dew come from?

Who is the mother of ice and frost?
For the water changes and turns to ice, as hard as rock.

Can
you hold back the stars?

Can
you restrain Orion or Pleiades?

Can
you ensure the proper sequence of the seasons,
or guide the constellation of the Bear
with her satellites across the heavens?

Do
you know the laws of the universe
and how the heavens influence the earth?

Can
you shout to the clouds and make it rain?

Can
you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct it?

Who gives intuition and instinct?

Who is wise enough to number all the clouds?

Who can tilt the water jars of heaven,
when everything is dust and clods?

Can
you stalk prey like a lioness,
to satisfy the young lions' appetites
as they lie in their dens,
or lie in wait in the jungle?


Who provides for the ravens when their young cry out to God
as they try to struggle up from their nest in hunger?

Do
you know how mountain goats give birth?

Have
you ever seen them giving birth to their young?
Do
you know how many months of pregnancy they have
before they bow themselves to give birth to their young,
and carry their burden no longer?
Their young grow up in the open field,
then leave their parents and return to them no more.


Who makes the wild donkeys wild?

I have placed them in the wilderness
and given them salt plains to live in.
For they hate the noise of the city
and want no drivers shouting at them!
The mountain ranges are their pastureland;
there they search for every blade of grass.

Will the wild ox be
your happy servant?

Will he stay beside
your feeding crib?

Can
you use a wild ox to plow with?

Will he pull the harrow for
you?

Because he is so strong, will you trust him?
Will you let him decide where to work?
Can you send him out to bring in the grain from the threshing floor?

The ostrich flaps her wings grandly,
but has no true motherly love.
She lays her eggs on top of the earth,
to warm them in the dust.

She forgets that someone may step on them and crush them,
or the wild animals destroy them.
She ignores her young as though they weren't her own,
and is unconcerned though they die,
for
God has deprived her of wisdom.
But whenever she jumps up to run,
she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.

Have
you given the horse strength,
or clothed his neck with a quivering mane?

Have
you made him able to leap forward like a locust?

His majestic snorting is something to hear!

He paws the earth and rejoices in his strength,
and when he goes to war, he is unafraid
and does not run away
though the arrows rattle against him,
or the flashing spear and javelin.

Fiercely he paws the ground
and rushes forward into battle when the trumpet blows.
At the sound of the bugle he shouts, 'Aha!'
He smells the battle when far away.
He rejoices at the shouts of battle
and the roar of the captain's commands.

Do
you know how a hawk soars
and spreads her wings to the south?

Is it at
your command that the eagle rises high
upon the cliffs to make her nest?
She lives upon the cliffs,
making her home in her mountain fortress.
From there she spies her prey,
from a very great distance.
Her nestlings gulp down blood,
for she goes wherever the slain are.

Do you
still want to argue with the Almighty?
Or will you yield?
Do
you-- God 's critic--have the answers?"

-Job 38:2-40:2



Tell Me!
by Nancy L. Meek © 2002
Who designed our glorious earth
Gave it birth between Venus and Mars?

Whose arms can encircle the girth
of the universe and control its roaring stars?


Who can shout to the clouds to bring the rain
and command the mighty waves to part the sea

Who can heal the lame, make them walk again
as choirs in heaven shout and sing with glee?


Who can number the hairs upon every head
at any hour or second of any given day?

Who can instill breath into those long dead
or create flesh and bone from a lump of clay?


Who can raise the waters to flood the land
and compel the rainbow to grace the open sky

Who holds our souls in the palm of His hand
or never needs to ask the question "Why?"


Who created the amoeba and every drop of mud
Who is the great artist of all creatures ever formed
Who put the pulse in the power of the blood
giving the heart what it needs to perform


Who holds the key to that place called Hell,
a realm where too many believe they won't go

Who loves us more than any words can tell
sending His only Son so we all would know?


Who can instill faith inside the heart of hungry man,
send His Spirit to steer his thoughts and dreams,
lift the darkest veil that he might see, thus understand
that a greater plan will outshine man-made schemes?


Who will judge the souls when the time has come
to open the Book of Life and pronounce the final score?

Who will give the saved all he ever wanted and then some?
Who will say to the remainder, "I never knew you! Now go!"

Who then will command Heaven to close its door?
Who is it now? Who can do all of this and more?
Who knows the day or the hour that last trumpet will blow?

Tell me, if you know!




Lilripple@hotmail.com


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