Missiology Through Scripture: The Mountains Melt Like Wax
“The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.”
– Psalm 97:5-6
The use of the visual of mountains melting like wax seems odd but is not inconsistent in the Old Testament. Both moving mountains (Is. 40:3-5; Zech. 14:4,10) and melting like wax (Ps. 68:2; Micah 1:4) can be seen throughout the Old Testament. The purpose of the imagery is to show the power of the strongest things we know (mountains) is nothing compared to the power of the Lord. In our wildest imagination we cannot comprehend the power of the God. Even the most outlandish imagery imaginable does not do justice to scope of our beautiful Creator.
The glory of Jesus is seen, but not acknowledged, by every person in creation. God’s actions and design and observed and admired throughout the globe. Some falsely attribute his work to nature, man, or random chance. Jonathan Edwards said, “So in the prophecies the Messiah is represented as God, whom the Old Testament often speaks of as ruling sun, moon, and stars. And the heavens are represented as declaring the Messiah’s righteousness. And the heavens, and earth, and sea, and the whole universe, is represented as rejoicing and worshipping and praising the Messiah on occasion of his coming and kingdom.” Those who know and worship the name of Christ understand His righteousness and seek His glory.
God’s hand is seen in everything, and deep within each of us, God has placed a knowledge of Himself. Through the wonder of our surroundings every human understands there is a Creator and is given the burden to discover and worship Him. Many times, we suppress this knowledge. The purpose of the missionary is to help the lost uncover the truth which God has already placed within them. The missionary shares Christ with the nations and connects the dots from Creation to salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus. God’s glory is multiplied among the nations when His righteousness is revealed to the lost by Christ’s messengers.
Mike Pettengill is a veteran MTW missionary and the director of MTW’s West Coast office.
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SEE MOREPray for missionaries as they face a wide variety of stressors related to living and serving cross-culturally on the mission field.
Pray for current missionaries, future missionaries, sending churches, and donors to be willing to ask the question, "How could God use me?"
Pray that God would remind the Western Church of the critical importance of sending missionaries to serve internationally.
In the aftermath of the Turkey/Syria earthquake, pray that the Lord would multiply the “fish and loaves” being given to the hungry crowd and that His great name would be praised.
Ask God to raise up new missionaries from among those who have retired and are thinking about their next calling.
Pray for students in West Africa receiving business training through our Work+Place Ministries, that they would flourish and the gospel would go forth as a result.
Pray for the Roma people in Slovakia, that God would draw them to Himself, and grow the young body of believers there.
Pray for those who have been left alone with no surviving family members. Many stories are emerging of entire families, save one, who died in the earthquake.
Pray for local bodies of believers to be strengthened, resourced, and further equipped to help provide care for those who have been so terribly impacted by this earthquake. Continue to pray for wisdom as they come alongside those in the region with the love of Christ.
Pray for our field workers as they continue to work with and through local partners and churches to help with both short-term and longer-term needs.
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