RETURN TO SENDER

Return To Sender

From atop a lofty volcanic plug and above the confluence of the rivers Leven and Clyde, Dumbarton Castle, turns her all-seeing eye every way, guarding the approach of enemy ships. Dumbarton Castle is a rock and a fortress. King David II, 1324-71 (Robert the Bruce’s son) sought shelter here after a defeat at Halidon Hill (1333). Males born in Dumbarton are affectionately known as ‘sons of the rock.’ In Gaelic the word for ‘echo’ is poetically referred to as ‘mac-talla,’ which is also ‘son of the rock.’ Is it not intriguing and entertaining when rocks ‘give birth’ and talk to you? Apparently quacking ducks create no echo!

The Creator formed us from dust, breathing the spirit of life into us. He is our Rock. He gives birth to us. We are all sons (and daughters) of the rock. We talk to Him in prayer. As the eternal Son eternally echoes the eternal Father by the eternal Spirit, so we echo God in time by our spirits. This echoing is seen even more clearly at the time of our deaths, for Scripture says, ‘Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it’ Ecclesiastes 12:7. Thus, since the Fall of Man our spirits have had ‘return to sender’ stamped on them!

God is all-seeing, but is watching out for friends not enemies! ‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him’ 2 Chronicles 16:9. Are there any who are truly loyal to God? Do any of us truly echo Him the way we ought? In our fallen state we are as quacking ducks! Echo-less! Like a ship or submarine without a sonar device, we are at the mercy of our enemies, not knowing where they are. We need God to be our rock and fortress. When God converts us, as King David says of Him, ‘You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies’, and, ‘You are my rock and fortress’ Psalms 23:5a & 31:3a.

We need to be like the ducks at the duck pond. They approach the one who approaches them to feed them. As the Psalmist says of all wild life, ‘These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season. What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good. You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth’ Psalm 104:27-30.

God sends forth His Word, ‘For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it’ Isaiah 55:10-11. Echo!

The Spirit with the Word of God is also the voice of God echoing throughout creation. Immediately after the Fall Adam said ‘I heard Your voice in the garden’ Genesis 3:10. And, the Psalmist says, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their line [or sound] has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world’ Psalm 19:1-4.

All creation echoes God in some way, shape or form. Yet, none more so than the eternal Word, i.e., Christ ‘the Rock.’ He was looking after His people even in the wilderness, for ‘all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ’ 1 Corinthians 10:3-4.  And, ‘God… has in these last days spoken to us by His Son… who [is] the express image of His person’ Hebrews 1:1-3. As the Son echoes the Father so must we whenever He calls us. As Jesus says, ‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish…’ John 10:27-28.

Let us not be like Adam and Eve who fled from the presence of God after they rebelled against Him. The LORD God called Adam, but Adam fled (Gen. 3:8,10). He drew near to them, but they tried to hide themselves! Rather, let it be as James says, ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you’ James 4:8a. Let us be as ‘son’s of the rock,’ Mac-talla. Let us echo God when calls us by His Word and renews us by His Spirit. Let us return to Him.

King David says, ‘I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies’ Psalm 18:1-3.