Tuesday 1 December 2015

The voice of the Lord breaks, hews, shakes, strips!


Psalm 20:
1. Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name. Worship the LORD in holy array. 4. The voice of the LORD is powerful ... majestic ... breaks the cedars ... hews out flames of fire ... shakes the wilderness ... strips the forests bare... 9. And in His temple everything says, "Glory!" 10. ... the LORD sits as King forever. 11. The LORD will give strength to His people; the LORD will bless his people at peace.

When I read this Psalm, I picture David out in the wilderness, maybe as a shepherd, or maybe when he was fleeing Saul, high up on a rocky barren mountainside, perhaps in the mouth of a cave, crouching before a little campfire for warmth during a long dark winter night.

He gazes out over the land as far as the eye can see, as a great storm sweeps across the land, great black clouds fleeing across the sky, pushed by roaring mighty winds, pierced by brilliant flashes of jagged lightning striking the earth right before him.

Great cedar trees crack in half as they are struck, as thunder rolls, rumbles, roars. Instantly, rain pours down, and the deluge fills dry mountain gulleys, rushes and roars into valley bottoms, sweeps soil and rock and vegetation before it.

And despite the rain, trees, like dry wicks, candle as lightning strikes and brilliant orange flames envelop the dry desert vegetation
.

Sometimes the voice of God may be small and still -- but sometimes his awesomeness cannot be held back! Creation does speak of Him - No excuses!

(Originally written Jan 14, 2014)

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