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Calm in the Storm

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February 5, 2012

"The Lord gives strength to his people;
The Lord blesses his people with peace." — Psalm 29:11

If you’ve ever experienced a violent thunderstorm, with bolts of lightning and earth-shaking claps of thunder, then you know the sense of awe that David must have felt as he watched a storm pass over the land of Israel. In Psalm 29, David attributed the awesome power of a storm to God’s control over nature.

David must have witnessed a terrifying storm. He describes the cedars of Lebanon – favored for their great size and strength – as breaking off and shattering (v.5). He describes the voice of God in the thunder as shaking the mountains, including Mount Lebanon and Mount Sirion (Hermon), and then rolling across the land to shake the Desert of Kadesh (vv. 6, 8). The storm was so terrifying that everyone in the Temple cried “Glory!” to God in reverence and awe of His great power (v.9).

Seven times David attributed this storm to “the voice of the Lord” (vv.3–9). This is more than a poetic metaphor for thunder. God’s voice spoke the world into existence (Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24). At His bidding, the heavens open up to unleash a furious storm. But the God who makes the storms rage and the mountains quake also brings the peace after the storm. And if you’ve ever been in a violent thunderstorm, you’ll know that the greater the fury of the storm, the greater the sense of calm afterward.

David used the image of a storm to remind God’s people to stand in awe of God’s power: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength” (v.1). Then he concluded that the awesome power God demonstrated in the storm is available to work on behalf of His people for “The Lord gives strength to his people” (v.11). Likewise, in the same way that God calms the storm, “the Lord blesses his people with peace” (v.11).

Whether we need God’s power or His peace today, we will find what we need in Him – the God who both creates and calms the storms. We can rest in His power and peace.

With prayers for shalom, peace,


Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President

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