Gods voice

Ps 29

1 Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, 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.

3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty 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.

6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.

8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

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.

Living in Florida and memorizing this Psalm gave me a pleasure when we experienced a hurricane. And really I never thought much about an event as far as it connecting me to the power of God like  a hurricane. In the 80s I would meditate on this Psalm and wonder what Gods voice was like in this storm. Well 92 came along and I got a front row seat on how powerful Gods voice was in Andrew. This storm was so devastating that it made Miami look like a war zone. Andrew uprooted every tree as it passed by. I was in a house this two story house when the winds started to pick up. Most of the people were told that the storm would drift northward as it passed over Florida. But the storm stayed south on a straight line. I was so happy looking back that God had given us a place to stay north of the storm so we did not get the second half of the storm as bad as those who were south of us. 

But I remember how noisy Andrew was. I was listening to the radio to the weather man in our town who was hunkered down in a basement under neath the studio. His words as the storm approached was that this storm was gonna be devastating. They interviewed a few people who began to confess that their lives were in the hands of God. I remember the sound that was so loud it rang in my ears . I considered this a time to try to understand this Psalm so I meditated on it all nite long as the storm passed over our heads. As I meditated I heard the sound of the storm and it sounded like breathing. Can you imagine something being produced with such power that it sounded like a person breathing? It would start with a quite blowing sound and then it would get louder and louder with more and more force. Every time it would blow to the max I would pray and hope that the highest pressure would not be so strong that it would blow the roof off the house. 

This is what this Psalm is talking about . God blows the winds and the power of the pressure is too much to stand up against. All of creation is uprooted. Believe it or not my interest in remembering this was how helpless I felt and what I needed to do to trust that God who was in control would preserve me and my families lives.It was the first time in my life that I had heard the voice of God exercise His power over creation. That storm increased my faith as I meditated on it for all of these years. I also got lesser examples going through 4 more hurricanes with lesser power. 

After the storm had passed I wanted to see what this Psalm was talking about when it says that after He blows His powerful winds the whole creation becomes still. I remember laying on my bed after the storm and being amazed at how still and quite everything around me had become. All of the noises that we produce like the noise of power-lines...tvs...city lights had been silenced. There was a distinct sound of peace I will never forget. God blows through the city and brings a quite rest that cannot be duplicated in this world. This is the same kind of rest after I have cursed and blessed for a day. Its as if the presence of God causes us to have a sensitive ear where we muse ...like being swallowed up in a kind of vortex of quieting all the voices of the opposition. Its the foundation of the sweetness of the voice of God that comes upon us . A distinct quietness over our souls.