The past several months have seen some rather severe and strong thunderstorms in the Chicago area where I live. Lots of heavy rain with plenty of lightning and loud thunder. There have even been several tornadoes popping up in the general area. Some people, like myself, enjoy watching these storms. Frequently my son and I will sit out on my front porch and watch the storm go by. Others, like my daughter, don’t like storms at all, and retreat inside somewhere where they feel safe. Strong storms have a lot of power which can strike fear, or at least valid caution, in people. Our psalm for this week gives a description of strong storms, how powerful they are, and where that power comes from.
Psalm 29 was one of the many psalms written by King David. From the days when he was a shepherd watching over his father’s flocks of sheep, to the days when he was in the wilderness on the run from King Saul, David must have seen a number of very strong storms. He also knew that the pagan nations around Israel had a multitude of gods that they had assigned to each facet of storms. They had gods and goddesses of rain, gods of lightning, of thunder, of the wind, etc. However, David knew that it wasn’t any false pagan idols that controlled the weather. He knew that it was Yahweh, the Creator of the universe, and that He, alone, deserves the glory and worship (vs. 1-2). The Lord Yahweh is Creator and Supreme Sovereign over all nature and weather phenomena.
As many of us can attest, strong storms can often be noisy. When the rain pours down, we hear it hammering on the roof and streets. When lightning hits a tree or a building, there is a sound, the cracking of tree limbs splintering. And of course, thunder will follow the lightning, and the closer it is, the louder the thunderclap. Strong winds, especially that of tornadoes, can have a terrifying sound. David described the sounds of these storms as being the voice of the Lord (vs. 3-9). The Scriptures frequently associate thunder as being the voice of God (I Samuel 7:10; Job 37:4-5; Psalm 18:13).
God’s voice spoke creation into being, as we read in the first chapter of Genesis. He spoke, and there was light. He spoke, and there was dry land, there were fish and birds, there were animals. God spoke, and He created mankind. God’s voice also brings life to the dead. When Jesus spoke, He called forth Lazarus from the grave (John 11:43-44), and a little girl from the dead (Mark 5:41-42).
Yahweh is supreme over all of the forces of nature. David spoke of the mighty cedars of Lebanon (vs. 5). These cedar trees that grow in Lebanon have been known to grow to 120’ tall, and be 30’ in circumference. A voice that could break trees this big would be a mighty and powerful voice!
As indicated above, Scripture often calls thunder the voice of God. In order for there to be thunder, lightning has to always occur. Thus God is also the Creator and power of lightning. About 100 bolts of lightning strike the earth’s surface every second. Each bolt of lightning can contain 1 billion volts of electricity It travels at 200,000 mph. When a lightning bolt flashes through the sky, it will heat the air five times hotter than the surface of the sun. Lightning surely shows the power of God!
We all go through literal, weather-related storms no matter where we live. And we all go through storms in our own personal lives, those of either sickness, financial struggles, problems on our jobs, and relationship difficulties. Sometimes these storms can be just as powerful and even as destructive as a physical storm. This is when we need to turn to the Lord for His help. He will protect us during physical storms, and also carry us through our personal storms. We can trust God to bear us in His arms and give us the strength to weather each and every storm in life. Then when He has brought us through those storms, the Lord will give us His peace, just like the peace and sunny blue skies that appear after the wild thunderstorm.
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