A God We Cannot Control
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
(I want to jump right in here and pray for us in just a few moments…)
On May 31, 2013, a tornado touched down in the rural areas just outside of Oklahoma City. It is the widest tornado that has ever been recorded. At some points during its 40-minute tracking it reached a diameter of over 2.5 miles across reaching wind speeds of over 300 miles per hour.
Thankfully the tornado remained in mostly open terrain and never impacted any cities or towns, especially the densely populated, Oklahoma City. Although, four storm chasers were killed just in tracking the storm itself. After the storm dissipated, William Hooke, a senior policy fellow at the American Meteorological Society stated that “Oklahoma City dodged a bullet…you lay that path over Oklahoma City, and you have devastation of biblical proportions.”
Psalm 29 describes the incredible power of God to that of a raging storm. Just as a tornado destroys anything in its path and cannot be controlled, the power of God is beyond us and is not something that we can bend and shape to our will.
If you’re wondering why David would compare God’s power to that of an uncontrollable and violent storm, we need to recognize that our God is not a weak, feeble, or puny God. We do not control him. Let me personalize that statement: you do not control him. Our God is in the heavens, and he does whatever he pleases. That’s Psalm 115. Anything he desires, he does.
We do not control him with our actions, with our good works, with our will. Just as you could not stand in the path of a tornado and demand it to stop, you cannot bark orders at God expecting that he’ll bend to your will. What we see in Psalm 29 is the raw power of God and our right response to it. Now, the good and comforting thing is, our God is good and wise and full of grace, mercy, truth, and love. Yes, we are to fear him, but he will always do what is for our good because he is full of love.
The purpose of this Psalm is to remind us of who is truly deserving of worship. At the time of Psalm 29’s writing, the people of Israel, God’s people, were continually rebelling and wandering from him to worship the false gods of the surrounding nations. Throughout Israel’s history God had proven and shown his strength and divine power and protection for them time and time again.
He rescued his people from slavery in Egypt. He parted the Red Sea so that they could escape their pursuers. He provided food and water for them. He led them into victory over their enemies. Israel’s story was one of God’s redeeming power and grace and yet Israel’s history is also one of continual rebellion, complaining and adultery. They pursued and loved false gods rather than the one true God who made them.
This really is our story too because it is the heart of humanity. We are sinful, rebellious, adulterous people who continually look to the false gods of our culture to make sense of our lives. And here’s ultimately why we do that… because can control them. Deep down within our soul and our heart we want a god that we can manage, that we can control. Psalm 29 paints a picture of a God that cannot be controlled.
This Psalm forces us to decide between one of two things.
1. We can either, in our flesh pursue the false gods of this world who we think we can at least control but are powerless and useless.
2. We can pursue the one true God. A God that we cannot control but one who is good and powerful and alive.
This Psalm leads us to fear God and hope in Christ who has made a way for us to be made right with this awesomely powerful, majestic, and mighty God. This Psalm calls us to turn from the false gods of this world who can do absolutely nothing and turn instead in faith to a God who isn’t safe, isn’t manageable, but is good.
This is how C.S. Lewis described God in his story, “The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe.”
When the little girl in the story, Susan is about to meet Aslan the lion, the King, she’s nervous to meet him. And so, she asks a question to Mr. Beaver that reveals our hearts of desiring to control what we fear.
“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr. Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”
And so, here’s the question for you to wrestle with in your heart this morning by God’s grace and the power of the Spirit as we go through this Psalm: Will you gladly and joyfully submit to this awesomely powerful, majestic, and mighty, uncontrollable but amazingly good and loving God?
(Let’s pray as we dig in)
I’ve broken this Psalm down into three sections. You have 1) The warning of the approaching storm. 2) The power of the storm. 3) The calm after the storm.
Let’s look at, number 1,
The Warning.
The Warning.
Verses 1 and 2.
Psalm 29:1-2, Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
Now, I actually struggled for a bit on whether or not to use the word, “Warning” in my first point. Typically, when we think of a warning, we’re thinking of something bad that is approaching us. And so, I don’t want to give off the impression that the ascribing of worth to God is something that is negative.
But what the Psalmist is doing here is calling out that God alone is worthy of all worship because it is God alone that is most powerful and that for us to ignore his power would be something incredibly dangerous for us to do.
Growing up here in Bloomington/Normal I remember quite well as a kid many springs when the weather would begin to change, and strong storms would pass through the area. Many of these storms would produce the conditions right for a tornado which meant that the tornado sirens would go off. Now, every time those sirens went off, they would produce a right fear and anxiety within me. These sirens would also warn me that you need to take appropriate action. These sirens were a warning to us of an impending, uncontrollable power that was approaching. And there was only one right response to take.
That’s what David is doing here. He’s sounding the warning. There is an awesome, uncontrollable power heading our way and there is only one right response to take.
And that is to “ascribe” or simply put, “to give” to the Lord that which he is worthy of: worship.
Notice though, David’s brilliant way of calling God’s people to heed the warning of God’s uncontrollable power.
Look at verse 1. Who is he calling on to hear the warning and give glory and honor to God? “The heavenly beings.” Who are they? He’s not referring to angelic beings. This phrase literally means “gods” or “goddesses.” And so, David is calling on all the false gods of the surrounding nations to bow down in worship before the one true God of the universe.
Now, this is clever because David ultimately is of course calling on God’s people to worship God. But the way he gets there is by calling on the false gods and idols of the culture to worship. And so, what he’s saying is, why would you worship some puny, weak, and false god that it itself is looking to the one true God of the universe. All these false gods and idols are nothing compared to the greatness of God and so, don’t look to them for your hope because they themselves must acknowledge that they are nothing compared to God.
And so, we need to hear this warning today. All of the gods and idols of this world that we look to for hope and identity are nothing compared to glory and majesty of God.
The god of career, the god of money, the god of family, the god of success, the god of comfort, the god of sex, the god of power, whatever false god that we often follow is powerless and impotent. They can do nothing and they themselves bow before the authority and power of almighty God. And so, we must ask ourselves then, why do we follow them so often? And I propose, it’s because we think we can control them. Let’s repent of idol worship and spiritual adultery and turn back to God. Hear the warning.
Number 2.
The Power of the Storm.
The Power of the Storm.
After a storm or tornado passes through an area you can typically track its path of destruction. Now, God doesn’t leave a wake of destruction but he does leave evidence of his power and that’s what David reveals in verses 3 through 9. What we’ll see in these verses is that so often what we often put our hope in or that which we fear is seen as feeble and weak compared to our God. Follow here the path of God’s storm.
In verses 3 and 4 David describes God’s voice as “over the many waters.”
The storm is over the seas right now.
The storm is over the seas right now.
If you’ve ever stood on the shoreline looking out at the ocean, just the sound of the crashing waves can be intimidating. In Portugal, there’s a city where many people gather to just watch the waves crash against the shore. Some of the largest waves in the world are measured here, sometimes reaching over 80 feet high. That’s over 7 stories if you’re trying to imagine the height of that.
And David says, God’s voice is over the waters.
We see this power in Jesus in Mark 4. Jesus and his disciples are in a boat on the sea of Galilee when a fierce storm overtook them. The storm was tearing the boat apart and these experienced fishermen thought they were going to die. Meanwhile, Jesus is asleep during it all. They wake him up and Jesus simply speaks to the storm saying, “Peace, be still.” And immediately the storm stops and there’s a great calm.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters. There’s nothing outside of his control. The seas here for us I believe represent that which often stirs up fear, worry, or anxiety in our lives. Sickness, suffering, loss of a job, uncertainty of your future, a wayward child, unexpected tragedy, there are many things in this life that can cause us to worry or fear. And what we see here is that God is in control. And so, hope in him.
The storm of God’s power makes landfall in verses 5-6.
The storm of God’s power makes landfall in verses 5-6.
It’s here the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars and makes Lebanon and Sirion to skip like a calf.
The cedar trees of Lebanon were strong and impressive. They were large, beautiful trees that could reach heights of 130 feet. When he speaks of Lebanon and Sirion he’s referring to two large mountains found in those regions.
We could contextualize this passage today to say, “The voice of the Lord breaks the mighty Redwood trees of California and makes Mt. Everest to skip like a calf.”
What’s he saying? He’s saying that the things that look mighty and strong to us are nothing compared to the might and strength of God. The Redwood trees snap like matchsticks when God speaks, the mountains tremble under the mighty voice of God.
What do we often look to to find safety and security? What are the seemingly strong things in this worl that we turn to for help and hope instead of God?
We may look to the security of a strong retirement account. A secure job. A safe city or neighborhood to live in. A good school system for our kids. The right college to send them to. The danger here is we so quickly center our lives around and look for hope in God’s creation rather than in the God of creation who merely has to speak and everything comes trembling before him.
And so, what is it that you look to for strength and security?
Lastly, we track the storm of God’s power over the wilderness in verses 7-9.
Lastly, we track the storm of God’s power over the wilderness in verses 7-9.
It’s here in these verses God’s words cutting through the distractions of life.
Verse 7 says, “The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.”
Have you ever been standing outside when a flash of lightning crashed nearby to you? What’s your immediate response? Duck, cover and run. Why? Because there is power in that bolt of lightning that is not to be messed with. Let’s say you were in a conversation with someone when that lighting hit? Do you continue it where you are? No, of course not. What if you’re on the golf course or in the swimming pool? Do you continue because you’re not done? No, that would be incredibly foolish. We respond because the lighting is demanding our attention.
As I read through this text, I couldn’t help but think of the things that often distract us from mission.
And often, we use good things given to us by God to distract us when looked at through the wrong lens.
So, for instance. Family is a wonderful gift given to us by God. But family can become an idol when we place them before God. And so if your mission with your family is, we’ve got to live in the safest neighborhood, they’ve got to go to the best school, play in all the travel leagues, go to the right colleges, get the right job and it’s not about how can I lead my family to treasure and love Jesus above all things, then we’ve taken a good thing and made it destructive.
We often do the same thing with our jobs or careers. We make life about them rather than about making much of Christ and seeing his glory spread.
Even here, in the local church, our mission is often neglected because we become distracted with, and I’ll just say it, interpersonal conflict. And I’m not speaking in response to something that has recently happened, but just in my observation over the past 15 years in ministry and in my talks with other pastors and ministry leaders around the city and around the country. What hinders the mission of the church more than anything is not the world, but Christians who fight and argue with one another.
We’re all guilty of this for sure. Myself included. What happens is we have our own agendas, our pride, our self-centeredness which stirs up gossip, slander, divisiveness, mistrust, lack of grace and forgiveness, all of which are deeply destructive to the mission of Christ. And sadly, it’s what is found a lot of times within the church, rather than love, gentleness, humility.
And I know I’m coming on a little strong here, and I do it out of love for you. But I’ll say this again, like I said last week. Most of us, don’t think I’m talking to you. Most think, yeah, it is a problem. I sure hope, so and so listening right now. Go get them Matt! And please hear me, by God’s grace…I’m talking to you!
What we need is the voice of God, through His Word to speak to us and cut through the distractions of life like a hot knife through butter. And that’s what God’s Word does, if we humble ourselves and are willing to be trained by it.
If we feel roughed up right now. Good. That’s what a storm does. And God is powerful.
Which is why though we close with, number 3,
The Calm after the storm.
The Calm after the storm.
Verses 10-11.
Psalm 29:10-11, The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!
Is the King safe? No, but he is good. The power of God can’t be controlled or manipulated. God demands a healthy and right fear because he is awe-inspiring. And yet, the reason why we can, as the author of Hebrews says, “boldly approach the throne” is because as Hebrews says, it’s a “throne of grace.”
Psalm 29 should drive us to Christ. Without Jesus, the power and might of God will destroy us. Without Jesus on the boat with them in Mark 4, the disciples would surely have drowned. But because Christ was on that boat with them, they were secure in the midst of the awesome storm.
The hope we hold onto and rest in is not that we have the strength or might to endure the mighty power and judgment of God, but rather we find rest and hope because, through faith in Christ, he keeps us secure. The sole purpose of this Psalm is to drive us to worship this awesome God and that now through Christ, we are held secure forever. There’s nothing that our God can’t do.