Psalm 29: God, the dangerous

The God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters

By Peter Roxburgh
Psalm 29 (NIV)


A couple of weeks ago as our worship time in cell group, we were asked to write or draw a characteristic of God. A couple of us drew a sunrise, some talked about God's faithfulness, some about how he gives purpose and direction. None of us, and I suspect the same would be true in your cell groups, drew a violent storm.

And yet that is exactly the picture that David is drawing for us in this Psalm (v 3-9)

In some of the past Psalms I have written about and in numerous other readings in Scripture, I am increasingly seeing God as being entirely different from our comfortable Western perception.

We know the verse that says 'For no-one can see my face and live' (Exodus 33:20) and yet we can be so blasé in asking God to show us His glory and His power, not truly grasping what we are asking for.

We ask God to speak to us and yet here we are told, 'The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forest bare' (v9). I suspect none of us have experienced the kind of violence that would strip a forest bare. And I suspect none of want to. And yet we so happily say, 'Oh Lord, come speak to me.’

Friends, God is not safe. If we truly saw God in His glory we wouldn't whip out our mobile phones to film the 'glory cloud' and post it on YouTube. Seriously! No, our only response, our ONLY response would be to fall on our knees and cry with Isaiah 'WOE IS ME! I AM RUINED' (Isaiah 6:5)

There have been times of worship where I have been on my knees, trying to dig myself through the floor or foolishly hiding myself under pillows, cowering in the corner in total fear of God. And yet sadly, if I'm honest, on a day-to-day basis, I still only have a distant and peripheral understanding of the awesome, violent power of God. But I want to have an increasing heart understanding of God the Dangerous, because if the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then to not fear God is foolishness.

If you have never experienced God the Dangerous, God the Violent Storm then it is entirely Biblical that you do. Pray that you do as an individual but also corporately on Sunday mornings or in your small groups.

If you have experienced God the Dangerous, then continue to ask Him to reveal His power to you. A risky prayer, but a healthy one. For when you understand Him as a violent Storm, then you will find peace in the midst of any storm (v11).

God is your safety, but He is by no means safe.