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God of the Storm

Written by Myles MacMillan.

Our scripture reading today is one of the shorter Psalms in the Bible but even so, packs a powerful message. As you are reading through this Psalm, try to imagine that you have no prior knowledge of God or who He is.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 29

In the reading, David is witnessing a mighty and powerful storm complete with rain, thunder and lightning. David, being a spiritually focused man, is able to recognize the power of God at work in the storm as it tears apart mighty cedar trees and makes the mountains shake to their foundations. In his writing, David draws comparisons between the power of the storm and the power of God and acknowledges Him as the source of the power of the storm.

This Psalm got me thinking about the power of God and what our response should be to that power. After pondering this, it seems clear that how we view the power of God really depends on what kind of relationship we have with Him, and Deuteronomy 28 does a good job of illustrating this. In verses 1-14, Moses explains how God will bless His people if they follow all of His commands, but in verses 15-68, he explains how God will curse them if they do not follow His commands. In Psalm 29, we see that God is all-powerful and in Deuteronomy 28, we see that God can either use that power to bless those who are obedient to Him or curse those who turn against Him.

If you read Psalm 29 while trying to imagine you had no prior knowledge of God, you might have made it to the second last verse of the Psalm with a very different picture of God in your mind. In verses 1-10 we get a picture of a God who is very powerful and has the power to destroy things that seem indestructible to us. We may even get the feeling that God is terrifying and unapproachable. The real gem and the beauty of Psalm 29 to me is the final verse that says, “The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.” This is profound! Our God, as powerful and mighty as He is, chooses to bless us, mere mortals! Our God is willing to use His amazing strength and might, not for destructive and terrifying purposes but to bless His people with “strength” and “peace”.

Expanding on this truth into the spiritual realm we can see that we serve a God who wants to give us strength and peace during the “storms” we face in our lives. When we go through illness, setbacks, persecution and struggles in our faith, we can remember that we serve the same Jesus who was able to calm the waves with just His voice saying “…Quiet, be still…” (Mk 4:39).

The next time we are caught in a powerful storm (either literal or metaphorical) I pray the words of this Psalm come to us and that we are also reminded of how God can use His amazing power to either bless us or curse us. Brothers and Sisters, we will be blessed now and for eternity if only we will turn and follow after the God of the storm.

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