The Calm after the Storm

Today’s reading is Psalm 29.

Are you as shocked as I am by the final verse of Psalm 29? The entire psalm has been a storm. We’ve heard the voice of God thunder seven times. We’ve witnessed the tumultuous waters, the earthquake in a mountain, cedars of Lebanon breaking, flames of fire falling from the heavens, wildernesses shaking, deer being frightened into premature labor, the peals of thunder peeling trees, and we come to the final verse and it says, “May the Lord bless his people with peace!” Wait! What? Peace? Are you sure, David, that is what you meant to say? Not “Victory,” not “conquest,” but “peace”? “Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I did mean Peace,” David would reply. Because David is pointing to something more profound. Yes, the psalm looks back to Creation, to the flood, to the Red Sea, to Sinai, but it also looks ahead. Can we today read this psalm without thinking about the thunderstorms on the sea of Galilee and the disciples crying out, “Don’t you care that we are perishing?” Aren’t they crying out like David did, “Don’t let us get swept away! Don’t let us be like those who go down to the pit!” And how did Jesus respond? He calmed the storms. After all, isn’t that what Jesus was sent to do? Luke 1:79 says Jesus was coming “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (ESV). At Jesus’s birth, the heavenly host sang out, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14, ESV). In John 14:27, Jesus told the apostles, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (ESV). Yes, the God of the Storm still sits enthroned and so He has sent the Prince of Peace. Praise the Lord!

Next week’s reading is Psalm 30.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk podcast conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

The Lord’s Voice on Sinai

Today’s reading is Psalm 29.

While the Psalm 29 story of the storm mentions Sirion (another name for Mt. Hermon on the northern edges of Israel, see Deuteronomy 3:9), the quaking of that mountain and the flashes of fire should call to mind another historical moment of God’s powerful voice over a trembling mountain. This one is south of Israel: Mt. Sinai. We read about it in Exodus 19-20. However, I especially like how Moses describes the whole event when he retells it in Deuteronomy 5. God had called the people to be ready for the third day on which He would speak to them from the mountain. On that third day, He declared from the top of the mountain what we call The 10 Commandments. However, the people flat freak out. The cloud, the smoke, the fire, the darkness, and the thundering nature of God’s voice was more than they could stand. Moses says this is what happened: “And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die…Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it'” (Deuteronomy 5:23-27, ESV). Both God and Moses agreed to this plan. However, the point of all this was that “God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin” (Exodus 20:20, ESV). In other words, the trembling of the mountain, the flashing of the fire, the thundering of the voice was intended to have one consequence. The people were supposed to recognize the power of God and His voice. This was supposed to prompt them to obey God’s voice always. Shockingly, they almost immediately forged the golden calf, a violation of commandment #2. And then later, in the wilderness of Kadesh, they refused to enter the Promised Land despite the voice of the Lord. May we learn from Israel’s failure. May we listen to the voice of God always. May we who are not in His holy temple, but are His holy temple cry out “Glory!”

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 29.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes and listen to the Text Talk podcast conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.