Many of us feel hopeless, or fearful, or anxious when we look at all that is happening in the world around us. It’s easy for our minds to go to those places when we watch all the horrible natural disasters happening all around us in recent times. It can feel really scary.
But a few days ago I read Psalm 29 (NIV), and it gave me a new perspective on what’s happening. A perspective of faith. It starts out with praising God for His strength, and glory, and splendor of holiness.
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
But why all this praise when everything seems to be going wrong. Let me show you what I saw in these verses.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
I read these words and thought of the terrible floods and hurricanes, but the Lord is over it. It’s His voice that thunders over the waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
This made me think of the devastating tornadoes we’ve had that bring down mighty trees and twist other to pieces. But over all of that is the powerful majestic voice of the Lord. God is in the storm.
6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
Here I saw earthquakes, and we have had some devastating ones around the world. But it’s the Lord that makes the ground leap and shake. God is in it.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
I pictured the terrible thunderstorms that have hit some areas with such destructive force. But it’s the Lord that flashes with lightning.
9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
This reminded me of the horrific ice storm that we had in Oregon some time back. Our property and our neighborhood have many evergreen trees. Freezing rain fell throughout the night, building up on every branch. Suddenly there was a loud crack like a gun firing, then swish, swish, swish, thud as the limb fell thru the branches of our other fir trees and hit the ground. This awful sound continued thru the night – sometimes close, and sometimes in the distance. I dreaded what we would see. By morning, we had lost many branches from our trees, as had most of the neighbors. Huge trees had come down on houses, and cars, and across streets. Other less brittle trees were bent clear to the ground.
By morning the rain stopped, and we went out for a walk to look at the damage. Our neighborhood looked like a war zone. The voice of the Lord had “stripped the forest bare”. And at the same time, it looked like a crystal wonderland.
What a contrast of emotions.
9b And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
Why is all of heaven crying “Glory!” when there is such devastation? I believe it is because God is always in charge. He is bringing about the things that will bring about “His Kingdom come, His will be done” in the earth. Sometimes it takes terrible things to bring people to their knees to acknowledge that they need God. His heart is always longing for us. And He is in charge of and “over” everything that is happening in our world. Be encouraged! If we let our faith see Him in His Glory, we can rest at peace whatever comes. His grace will be sufficient for us.
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
Next time you see the news of a disaster, say to yourself, “the Lord is over it! The Lord is enthroned as King forever!” Amen
Blessings, Linnea