God's Voice In Storms

Psalm 29

Living in the Chicago area, my family and I get to witness all types of weather all throughout the year.  We definitely experience all four seasons!  Right now, in the middle of summer, we frequently get rather strong thunderstorms, with lightning, thunder, wind, and occasional hail.  I love to stand out on our front porch and watch these storms, the giant storm clouds, wind, and lightning bolts flashing across the sky!  Powerful storms like these show the might and majesty of the Lord God.  In our psalm for this week, David describes the power of God through a visualization of such a storm.

The early years of David were spent as a shepherd, out in the fields watching over his father’s flocks of sheep.  Then he spent many years out in the wilderness, fleeing the murderous intentions of King Saul.  In both situations David would have witnessed numerous strong thunderstorms.  Rather than looking at them with fear, or just a wet inconvenience, David saw such storms as an expression of God in all of His awesome power and glory.

David looked at these storms as an expression of the voice of the Lord (vs. 2-8).  He speaks of the voice of God breaking cedar trees, and shaking the wilderness. I have seen lightning strike a tree, and that tree, which was once at one second standing tall, is now splintered, smoking, and lying across the ground.  The cedars of Lebanon were famous for their wood.  They are fairly tall trees, with fairly large circumference.  Out in the west of the U.S. there are huge redwoods and sequoia trees.  It takes many men and a lot of time to cut one down, yet God can topple them in a second with just His word!

Lightning and thunder are symbols of God’s voice in Scripture, as Job 37:2-5 is an example.  It speaks of His power, majesty, and awesomeness.  A bolt of lightning contains 1 billion volts of electricity.  They race to earth at 200,000 mph.  The air around lightning is five times hotter than the surface of the sun.  People are right to be concerned when conditions for a lightning strike are present.  Many pagan religions have deified lightning, turning it into a false god or a tool of a false god.  However, lightning and its accompanying thunder are just part of creation.  It is an awesome example of the power and might of God.

The voice of God can snap huge trees.  It can shake the wilderness with earthquakes, making mountains crumble and topple.  His voice will make powerful nations and rulers to tremble and shudder.  They cannot stand and oppose Him when He speaks forth His truth and judgment.  The voice or words of God called the universe into existence (Genesis 1).  Everything created, from the giant stars and galaxies down to the tiniest particles of atoms, all came into being at the voice of God.  He spoke and they were created.  God’s voice spoke to the weak, the blind, the lame, and they were healed.  It called the dead back to life, as with Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter (John 11:1-45, Mark 5:35-43).  On the Cross, the voice of the Lord Jesus called out triumphantly “It is finished!”  (John 19:30).  His voice of victory announced that mankind’s salvation had been achieved!

His voice also brings us peace (vs. 11).  When we are trusting in Jesus, we will have a state of tranquility or quiet in the place of anxious thoughts and emotions.  He will bring us freedom from external pressures.  God’s peace should govern our life in all things, and at all times.  God will give us both the peace and strength to weather all of the storms of life.