The God of Creation
Thunderstorms! Most of us woke this morning to news of last night’s devastating storm in Virginia which injured over 200 people and destroyed a great deal of property. Thunderstorms are among the most powerful forces we know and yet they are little more than an atmosphere stabilizer. A thunderstorm forms when there is a lot of cold air sitting on top of a lot of warm air. In order to re-balance the atmosphere, a thunderstorm pumps the warm air upward and the cold air downward until the atmosphere evens out. Once that happens, the thunderstorm has achieved its stabilizing purpose and it dies out.
But along the way these storms can produce incredible winds, including a micro burst that can roar down toward the ground at 100 mph and tornadoes which can reach 300 mph. In addition to wind, thunderstorms also produce rain and even ice. The storm's strong currents can super cool water particles to well below freezing, and if enough of the ice builds up, it falls to the ground as hail. Though usually no larger than pebbles, some strong storms have produced so much ice that it falls in chunks as large as a grapefruit. The force of energy within a thunderstorm is so great that it can cause a high-voltage chasm that equalizes itself through a fiery flash of lightning. Lasting only 30 microseconds, a bolt of lightning peaks out at one trillion watts with a surface temperature of 20,000 degrees centigrade (three times hotter than the surface of the sun).
As I thought about the power of storms, I remembered Psalm 29.
Psalms 29:1-11 (ESV) 1 Ascribe to the Lord, O 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 holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, "Glory!" 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!
We were made for worship. Our inner being has a deep seated need to worship something. In our culture, there is a fast-growing movement toward the worship of nature. Much of the “Earth First” counter-culture is based not on science, but emotion. Note that many of the leading voices of the “Green” machine are celebrities and not scientists. The shallowness of their lives leave them with a yearning for significance and they “find it” by championing a new and exciting “cause.”
But the “cause” is not new! Psalm 29 throws down the gauntlet of challenge to the pagan religions of the Ancient Near East, which claimed that the forces of nature are gods and goddesses in their own right. Psalm 29 reveals the falseness of those idolatrous claims by revealing that the God of Israel is the One who creates all those wonders. Moreover, He is the one who is greater than them all. Psalm 29 is a rebuke to those who worship the creation instead of the Creator.
Psalm 29, like numerous other passages of Scripture, reveals that the grandeur of creation is our first source for encountering God. Yet, it calls us to look closer and see the Lord of the storm, the King of Creation, the one, only true, and sovereign God who alone can give peace to our souls.
But along the way these storms can produce incredible winds, including a micro burst that can roar down toward the ground at 100 mph and tornadoes which can reach 300 mph. In addition to wind, thunderstorms also produce rain and even ice. The storm's strong currents can super cool water particles to well below freezing, and if enough of the ice builds up, it falls to the ground as hail. Though usually no larger than pebbles, some strong storms have produced so much ice that it falls in chunks as large as a grapefruit. The force of energy within a thunderstorm is so great that it can cause a high-voltage chasm that equalizes itself through a fiery flash of lightning. Lasting only 30 microseconds, a bolt of lightning peaks out at one trillion watts with a surface temperature of 20,000 degrees centigrade (three times hotter than the surface of the sun).
As I thought about the power of storms, I remembered Psalm 29.
Psalms 29:1-11 (ESV) 1 Ascribe to the Lord, O 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 holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, "Glory!" 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!
We were made for worship. Our inner being has a deep seated need to worship something. In our culture, there is a fast-growing movement toward the worship of nature. Much of the “Earth First” counter-culture is based not on science, but emotion. Note that many of the leading voices of the “Green” machine are celebrities and not scientists. The shallowness of their lives leave them with a yearning for significance and they “find it” by championing a new and exciting “cause.”
But the “cause” is not new! Psalm 29 throws down the gauntlet of challenge to the pagan religions of the Ancient Near East, which claimed that the forces of nature are gods and goddesses in their own right. Psalm 29 reveals the falseness of those idolatrous claims by revealing that the God of Israel is the One who creates all those wonders. Moreover, He is the one who is greater than them all. Psalm 29 is a rebuke to those who worship the creation instead of the Creator.
Psalm 29, like numerous other passages of Scripture, reveals that the grandeur of creation is our first source for encountering God. Yet, it calls us to look closer and see the Lord of the storm, the King of Creation, the one, only true, and sovereign God who alone can give peace to our souls.
