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“The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty … The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, 'Glory!'" —Psalm 29:4, 8-9
Index finger to the cheek with the rest curled to support the chin –– It is the universal gesture signaling the pondering of the mind; those Hmmm moments when you are trying to wrap your brain around a deep concept or a challenging thought. Admittedly, the following idea, conveyed by the late Old Testament scholar, James Luther Mays qualifies as a prompt for the labor of such contemplation, yet I believe it is worth the effort. So, with apologies, here goes –– “Existence is subconsciously moved by the need for … the ecstasy of the disclosure of another who is what we are not, confrontation by another in the aura of whose power we find possibilities not ours.” On a much smaller scale, one might imagine the cocky high school baseball phenom stepping into the minor league batter’s box where he is humiliated when faced with an 89mph curveball. Yet, even here, there is still the possibility that one day he will catch up to the curveball. The need Mays alludes to concerns a far greater scale of difference that humans cannot bridge. Mays says, “It is a dangerous need, because in the world of entertainment and politics it can lead us to occupy our spirits with vacuous excitement or to trust ourselves to posturing zealots or to idolize whatever powers are operative in society.” A nuclear bomb is an awful and awe-full creation of humanity, but compared to a supernova, it is a dimly lit nightlight. “Imagine something one million times the mass of Earth collapsing in 15 seconds!” (nasa.gov)
Fourth of July fireworks may produce oohs and aahs, but if a lightning bolt simultaneously strikes within a mile, which grabs your attention? The Psalmist understands the vast scale of difference between human power and divine power. You may admire Michael Jordan or Taylor Swift, support a political candidate or pine for a Porsche, but we worship God alone, and God alone is worthy of our highest praise. Mays says, “The marvelous possibility in worship is a use of time and space and sound to create the doxological [awe-induced praise] situation in which ‘Glory!’ is uttered in response to the one true God.”
Folks living on the coast or on the southern plains are familiar with the Psalmist’s images of whirling oaks and forests stripped bare. They have seen hurricanes and tornados that mock human strength and ingenuity. There is no direct line between these events and the intentions of God, but they do witness to the truth that on a scale of power, humans rank fairly low while God’s power exceeds all else. Neither storms nor earthquakes can rival the glory of God.
Kadesh, highlighted by the Psalmist is a curious location to highlight in a psalm of praise. For Israel it would hold memories of human folly and the Lord’s disapproval. During the time of the Exodus it was the camp from which the people launched an attack on the Canaanites and Amalekites in the land of promise, an attack that failed. It was the location where the people complained to Moses about the lack of water, and where a frustrated Moses took credit for the water God did provide, claiming power that was God’s alone, and thus losing the privilege of entering the Promised Land. It was also Kadesh where Moses’ sister Miriam died. The image of a storm ravaging through Kadesh is a testament to the folly of trusting in human strength alone.
There are some storms in life that we bring upon ourselves both in nature and in life together. We fear facing the consequences of our actions. This is indeed a stormy season in our land –– a summer of storms intensified by global warming; a stormy election season exposing the failure of human efforts to live together. When trusting in our own power to control creation and each other, our record isn’t very good. So, to what power do we look? In what strength shall we trust?
In our Book of Confessions, A Brief Statement of Faith states ––
“We rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God’s commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
exploit neighbor and nature,
and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
We deserve God’s condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.”
Even in the storms of our own making, The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. So, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his temple [Let us] all say, “Glory!”
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