August 22

Psalm 29 Constant streaking, crackling, thundering, flashing, lightning, pulsating, rumbling filled the sky from one horizon to the other. Occasionally the strikes were so close that the sound and light were simultaneous and deafening. The display lasted for about 30 minutes. It was the early fall of 1994, and I have never been so awed by a thunderstorm in my life. Oklahoma is famous for its violent weather, and this had to have been the most awesome barrage that I have ever experienced. It illumined the sky in a fireworks display that is unequalled by man. Such displays overwhelmingly speak to me about the judgment of God. “The God of glory thunders!” My personal theology leads me to believe that before the flood of Noah, certainly before the fall of Adam, such displays did not exist in our environment in a destructive form. They are the result of the curse of the fall and the radical change in the earth’s land masses and atmosphere stemming from Noah’s flood. Electrical storms are a constant reminder of God’s hatred of sin and His sovereignty over the earth. His rainbow is His promise of peace. David was a widely traveled man for his generation. He spent 10 years on the run from Saul. His travels took him from far south in the Negev to the northern limits of the promised land. Apparently from this Psalm, he had been as far north as Lebanon and Mt. Hermon (Sirion). He was a friend of Hiram, the King of Tyre, who helped David with cedar to build a palace. Early in David’s life the Philistines were the major power in the promised land. Philistines were a sea-going people. Consequently, their gods included sea gods sometimes depicted as part fish. So when David says that the voice of the Lord is over many waters, he is declaring in poetic fashion that the Lord is greater than the gods of the Philistines. The Lord controlled the great flood of Noah; He certainly controls the waters of the Philistine gods, and He certainly controls the elements of the gods around me. But He is not limited to just the sea-gods. He also is sovereign over the mountain forests. This glorious God of ours is sovereign over all things! His power makes the best lightning displays of Oklahoma seem like a mere ripple of 1.5 volt direct current. Whoopee. Just His voice is full of power and majesty. When Jesus was in the boat in the middle of the storm in the Sea of Galilee, His voice spoken firmly and once, “Peace, be still,” caused the wind and the waves to be still. I have no doubt that His voice not only calmed the sea, but it also caused the storm. Why? Because He wanted His disciples to know His voice was over many waters. He wanted His disciples to know that He is God. No wonder they said to themselves, “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” His voice speaks storms into my life and speaks peace into my life. Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john