Thunderstruck
“1 Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in holy array.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord is over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful,
The voice of the Lord is majestic.”
I love a good thunderstorm. And I kind of get excited when it’s hurricane season. I love watching the storm roll in and unfold. When the lightning crashes and the wind howls and the thunder booms, it doesn’t fill me with fear, it fills me with awe. Lightning cracks across the sky, and if you are in the thick of the storm, the thunder that first pops, then booms and rumbles, quickens your pulse and runs through you. You can feel the thunder. Science says those are shock waves produced by the lightning and if the lightning strike is close enough, the shock waves can rattle your house. The sheer force of nature captivates me. It is incredible to see the strength the elements can have. It is not a stretch to say that nature is awe-inspiring.
In Psalm 29, we see the psalmist says that the “God of glory thunders...the voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic.” When God speaks, His voice is powerful, it is majestic, it creates thunder. Thunder is the result of lightning. It is the sound that is created from the shock waves when lightning changes the atmosphere around it. Further on in this Psalm it says that His voice can break trees; it shakes the wilderness, it strips forests bare. When God speaks, He speaks light. He changes the atmosphere. And the effect of His voice rumbles, creates shock waves, and changes the environment. Take a moment to reflect on that. (I could go on here about the significance of this, but that’s for another post!)
I wonder if part of the reason we struggle in our faith is because we’ve lost our awe of our wonderful God. I wonder if we believers spend enough time praising God for His majesty, His splendor, and His glory. I wonder if we spend enough time in His presence and if that sends shock waves through us? If a simple thunderstorm, which is only a fraction of the splendor of God, fills me with such awe and fascination, how much more should the Creator of our universe cause me to wonder. We should be thunderstruck by our God. The beginning of the Psalm gives a directive: ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. The word ascribe means to credit or assign; to attribute or think of as belonging. In other words, give God his credit due for his glory.
When I read Psalm 29, I took time to reflect on His glory, but what I wanted to do was to ascribe to God His glory in my own words. Here is what I wrote, but it by no means compares to the psalmist.
We must remember God is strong and worthy of all glory. When I think of the powerful force of nature, I am overwhelmed. A tornado at full speed is powerful and awe-inspiring. A lightening storm in the sky is beautiful and breathtaking. The raging sea is a force like no other. And yet, your voice is more powerful than any of these things. Your voice commands that waves that surge and swell. You voice stills the winds that blow. Your voice breaks trees and clears forests like a tornado. For as powerful as nature is, even it must yield to your voice. You sit enthroned on high above all of Your creation. Lord you are mighty and I am thunderstruck by you. But I do not need to be afraid, because you show us mercy and you give us grace and peace.
Take time to ascribe to God His glory. Read a psalm, sing a song (So Will I...100 Billion X by Hillsong UNITED is a great one), and take time to praise God for His splendor.
And the next time there is a storm that passes through (and if you live on the East coast like me, you will have plenty of opportunity right now), take a moment to pause and marvel at the storm. When you hear the thunder rumble, I hope you remember how mighty God’s voice is compared to that and that you are thunderstruck.
