God’s Voice in the Storm

April 18, 2008

My books are in my office at church, but I have a desk at home in our sun room that provides a wonderful window on the world. The stormy weather that has punctuated April was the filter for my thought as I sat there today reading Psalm 29.

<A Psalm of David.> Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace. Psalm 29:1-11

Prominent in this psalm is the voice of the LORD. When the psalm speaks of the voice of the LORD being upon the waters and thundering in his glory, it is very possible that David had the image of creation in his mind. Genesis 1 describes the Spirit of God moving upon the waters and God’s voice booming “Let there be light.” Then, the text relates how God divided the waters which were above the firmament from those beneath the firmament. Eight times in this brief psalm great power is ascribed to the voice of the LORD.

In Psalm 29:10 the Hebrew word translated flood appears for the only time outside of Genesis 6-11. Whether to create or to judge, God’s power presides over the realm of nature. God’s word, the voice of the LORD, is the thundering manifestation of his majesty and power.

The great storms that I see out my window are testimonies of God’s great power. Whether hurricane, tornado, torrential rains, or earthquake, all are the sovereign thundering of God’s power. Lost men see storms as the logical and natural results of the impersonal forces of nature. The Bible sees storms as God using the forces of nature to thunder forth his word to accomplish his purposes. In light of storms and the voice of God, David rightly concludes that the indicated response is to speak of God’s glory in his presence (29:9).

Often our impulse is to implore God to protect us and deliver us from the storm. I wonder if a more mature and biblical response would be to prayerfully listen for the voice of the LORD in the storm.

Got storms? What is God saying?

Last night Cheryl and I hosted a dinner in our home for some of my pastor friends. A group of us has met together for fellowship for years. Dr. George Westlake, Jr., Pastor Emeritus of Sheffield Family Life Center was telling us about the time he preached in Paul Yonggi Cho’s church in Seoul, Korea and then spent time with him in his office. He asked Pastor Cho about his prayer life, knowing that prayer is a integral part of Christian life in Korea. Pastor Cho replied that in recent years the majority of his prayer time is spent simply listening. Profound!

Mike Kenney

Dr. Jeff,
I thank God for the ministry He has used you to pass on to others. Our church has used the Discipleship tools for over 5 yrs and just recently I began to teach D2 to a small class. Great stuff! I have a question. I had heard a guy teach on Genesis 6 with the sons of God assuming it is angels. When I look at the words as emphasized in D2 Phase III I don’t see judgement rendered on angels there but men and it appears that a different word is used for angels elsewhere in the Old Testament. I would translate it that the sons of God were Sethities not angels. What is your comment on this passage?

In Christ,

Mike Kenney

http://www.kcbt.org Jeff Adams

Hello Mike! You have correctly identified the two main views regarding Genesis 6 – those who see the sons of God as Sethites and those who see them as fallen angelic beings. My personal view is that they are angelic beings. There are numbers of reasons for holding to that, including the language and context. Both Peter and Jude speak of the judgment on these fallen angels and the context appears to be the same. Unfortunately, this is a bit too involved for a blog post. Much has been written on both sides of the issue through the years. If you ever find a recording of my teaching on Genesis 6 you can hear my position, but it’s been a while since I have taught through Genesis. Obviously, there are good and reasonable people on both sides of this issue that will never be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction as long as we are on this earth.

I guess I wasn’t aware that this was referenced in what we used to call the second level of discipleship training. We have not used that material for a few years, though, and I don’t even think I have a copy in my office. So, I can’t remember what you are referencing about words being emphasized in phase III. A few years back I wrote a book called Searching for Truth that we now use as one of several tools to help people continue to grow in their understanding of scripture and their walk with God. Blessings to you!

John Schell

In the midst of one of our storms here, I think we ought to establish a new course of study: God Appreciation 101. We could start by placing the student on a flat plain in Kansas; then we bring up a thunderstorm. What undeniable power!, from which there is no escape. Then we could put the student in a small boat on the ocean, no shore in sight, and make him aware of the horrible depth beneath him and the everlasting height above him. A storm here and he is undone. Then there is nothing to do but to be still and know…
http://sjps.tv Scott Jolley

I love storms, I have this weird desire to run out in the middle and get pelted. Growing up in western Kansas I was always in awe at the huge thunderstorms that would blow up. To me, it was one of those early clues that there must be a God.
I also like the concept of just listening in prayer. With that, I’ll shut up.
JP

Be still and know that I am God.

I was telling a friend the last couple of days…..This doesn’t just mean in our actions or calm down and just sit there in a chair or something and go OK I am still now. This also means in our spirit! To the point where you can reach out and let every vein thought that comes into our mind bounce off of the shield of faith that is in front of us as we walk forward…but we must realize this shield of faith SURROUNDS US as we sit still!

We are in the shadow of his wings and they fully envelope us. This is our position.

I told my friends that we truly can find that within the storms there is rest. Just like with Mary at the tomb of our Lord, the disciples as they walked away defeated. They were so focused on the circumstances they couldn’t see that our most gracious Lord in all of his majesty and power was right there, in the still, in the quiet.

The beautiful thing about the storms of life is this. We either find ourselves within Gods plan of restoration and redemption bringing honor and glory to his name, or we find ourselves through the hardness of our hearts bringing dishonor to ourselves, that God will still get glory out of. (See example.. Judas lol ) You see it doesn’t matter our Fathers plan moves on and there is nothing that can stop it.

I told my friend to do two things:

Concentrate on hearing the silence, and learn to see the invisible.

Let me say that again…

Concentrate on hearing the silence, and learn to see the invisible. (Spiritually speaking that is. Chew on that…)

For it is truly when you can do this that you will have rest as Joseph, David, Paul and many others have, realizing that God is right there, in the silence, in the quiet, in the lion’s den.

When we are resting in our father’s protection fully focused on him and all of the circumstances of life are bouncing off of the shield of faith we become unaware of anything but God. Yes the circumstances are still there but because we are aware of our position in Christ we are free to see the beauty of God in everything. We can face pain, suffering, we can face anything.

As we have our focus correct and we rest in our Lord then his power that fills the heavens and every atom that the universe is constructed of is much freer to flow through us. God has chosen to use us to bring him glory, so we find ourselves gates of his kingdom that can let his glory shine to the world.

Concentrate on hearing the silence, and learn to see the invisible.

For in the silence of the thunder….there is a great liberating power.
Monnie

It seems to me all of our words are so inadequate when it comes to God’s power.
Jon C

What a great reminder of how we tend to fill our prayers with our own hot air if you will. I was reading in Psalm 46 this morning when I had that same thought as I read versus 9 & 10. In verse 9 it says that “He maketh wars to cease”, then in verse 10 something we all probably need to do more “BE STILL and know that I am God”. Jeff you make a great point, so often when the storms of life and nature come we tend to pray for our protection, or its please help me out of this situation, we want to make the situation to be about us, when what God really wants is for us to BE STILL and listen. Great post!

Jeff Adams

God’s Voice in the Storm