Streams of Life

Psalm 65:9-13

 

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
   you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
   to provide the people with grain,
   for so you have ordained it.
¹⁰ You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
   you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
   and your carts overflow with abundance.
¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
   the hills are clothed with gladness.
¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
   and the valleys are mantled with grain;
   they shout for joy and sing.

I very often like the idea of abundance.  But I do not as often like the transformation and change that precedes it.  I came upon this passage at a moment last fall when I was wrestling with God over a significant decision.  The imagery was so deep and powerful to me that even today as I came upon it again while revisiting some Psalms, it still carries much depth of meaning.

In the deserts of Israel, run-off from rainstorms was not only highly valued for the sustenance it provided in a water-scarce environment, but it was also a profoundly shaping force on the physical features of the landscape.  On any given year, there may be different streams and rivulets cut by the water through the sandy mountains and geography.  The result of this, as we see in the Psalm, is an abundance of life and produce stemming from these streams that have flown through.

And so it is with us.

Our ability to produce fruit and live abundantly is linked directly to being “drenched and leveled” by the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  We often speak of abundant life but neglect the radical transformation that happens in bringing forth that life.  Just as the physical landscape is dramatically altered by these “streams of God,” so our souls and spirits must also be shaped to produce the fruit God desires.

How are you allowing the “streams of God” to form and shape you?