Pause

Water is powerful – a necessity for life and also a threat to life when it surges out of control.

There is One who is always in the midst of the waters, bringing life every day and sustaining life when it is threatened. This same Spirit is with you now.

Feel and know the Spirit's presence.

Listen

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.

Psalm 29:1-6

Think

This is a song about power. The waters were one of the most powerful images in nature to the Hebrew people. They could provide food, but they could also easily take a life. The psalmist was saying, β€œGod is more powerful than the most powerful thing you can imagine.” β€œThe voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,” doesn’t mean that God breaks things to be destructive. It means God is stronger than even the strongest things we value. The cedars of Lebanon were the same trees God later chose to build the temple (1 Kings 5:6). And the thunder? It was associated with the voice of a false god called Baal. When the voice of the Lord thundered, the psalmist was saying, God is also more powerful than those false gods.

What are the things in your life you think of as unbreakable? What are you tempted to worship? God is stronger than all of those things. Like the psalmist, will you praise God for this?

Laura Rector

Pray

Lord, thank you that you for being strong, powerful, and mighty, even when the world shakes all around me. Amen.

Go

Beside the healing stream,
Drink in the Spirit's power.
In the midst of the whelming flood,
Know the Spirit's care.

Let the Spirit carry you
As the river carries a vessel
To its destination,
To its home.