Gentle as the Dew
Let My teaching fall like rain,
And My words descend like dew.
Like showers on new grass,
Like abundant rain on tender plants.
(Deuteronomy 32:2 NIV)
This morning I took my dogs for their usual walk. The sun was just coming up. The air was crisp and clean. The dew was sparkling on the grass. Later, during my quiet time, I came across this scripture, “your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew” (Psalm 110:3 NLT). It was a word sent in perfect time because I was dragging myself around trying to build some energy to face the day.
In the Bible, dew is seen as a blessing. Dew is silent and humble. Unlike rain, it does not draw attention to itself. Dew never causes damage. It is a beautiful likeness of Jesus—humble, gentle, nourishing, and coming down from above.
When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down (Numbers 11:9 NIV).
God sent the dew along with the manna each night to sustain the children of Israel in the wilderness. Dew was a nightly reminder of God’s care.
Dew is vital to the existence of Israel. It does not rain from April to October, and all vegetation would die if it were not for the dew. Rain is needed in the winter season for the grass and early crops to grow. Dew is needed in the summer for the later crops and fruit to grow.
The dew is amazingly abundant in Israel thanks to the proximity of the country to the Mediterranean Sea, which allows vast amounts of moisture to be soaked up into the atmosphere. Gideon wrung out a full bowel of water from the fleece he had put out overnight because it was so full of dew. (God had called Gideon to be a judge and a deliverer of His people. Gideon needed reassurance that it was indeed God who was speaking to him, so he asked for a sign in the form of a fleece. The Lord graciously made the fleece wet at Gideon’s request as proof it was Him calling Gideon to service.)
And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water (Judges 6:38 NASB).
Like the dew, God’s Word soaks us and nourishes us. It help us grow and flourish. It is as essential to our life as water.
The Lord by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew (Proverbs 3:19-20 NASB).
I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon (Hosea 14:5-6 NLT).
Let His heavenly dew settle down into your soul, soak yourself in His Word and be refreshed.
