Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

Earth Rises Up! - (The back-stroke of God’s lightening)- “ Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a huge crowd, or the roar of mighty ocean waves, or the crash of loud thunder: ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

II. THE VOICE OF THE LORD - The Seven Voices of Thunder- (3-9)

God’s worship is to be as the Mediterranean storm full of the lightening of his power, the rain of his presence and the thunder of his voice. God is speaking and working his wonders as we give him the glory due his name. Jesus glorified his father’s name on one occasion and was answered by a thun- derous voice: “’ Father, bring glory to your name.’ Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, ‘I have al- ready brought it glory, and I will do it again.’ When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.”(Jn. 12:28,30) We are able to understand what the thunder is saying as we have the Holy Spirit within our hearts. 1. The Voice of the Lord is Pre-eminent- “ The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea; The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.”(3) This is a picture of the warm air over the Mediterranean Sea lifting the moisture into the thunderhead clouds. Thunder takes command, it is ar- resting, and it demands an audience. John heard the worship of the Lamb on the heavenly Mount Zion as thunderous: “ And I heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a great waterfall or the rolling of mighty thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together.” (Rev. 14:2; NLT) 2. The Voice of the Lord has Authority- “ The voice of the Lord is powerful …” (4) God does powerful things in the atmosphere of worship; he takes control. On several occasions peo- ple came to Jesus and worshiped him and he responded to them by healing their diseases and infirmi- ties: “ Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Jesus. He knelt before him, worshiping. ‘Lord,’ the man said, ‘if you want to, you can make me well again.’ Jesus touched him. ‘I want to,’ he said. ‘Be healed!’ And instantly the leprosy disappeared.’”(Mt. 8:2,3) 3. The Voice of the Lord is Awesome- “ …the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” (4) The voice of God has changed the lives of everyone who has heard him speak: “ He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’” (Acts 9:4) Paul became the great apos- tle because of the majesty and beauty of his voice. All believers have the privilege of knowing his voice today: “ My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (Jn. 10:27) 4. The Voice of the Lord is Invincible- “ The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shat- ters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf and Mount Hermon to leap like a young bull.”(5,6) As the natural thunderstorm causes the mighty cedars to be split and the moun- tains to skip and run away as a frightened bull, God speaks in the storms of life to remove the trees of opposition and the mountains of impossibility before us. We must continue to glorify him and not loose our faith in the storm. 5. T he Voice of the Lord Has Purpose- “ The voice of the Lord strikes with lightning bolts.” (7) This psalm was traditionally sung at Pentecost where God sent out the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. As the believers waited upon God in prayer and praise, they were specifically targeted: “ Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them, and it filled the house where they were meeting. Then, what looked like flames or tongue of fire appeared and set- tled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” (Acts 2:2-4) Their open hearts made them like ‘lightning rods’ attracting the power of the Lord. 6. The Voice of the Lord Transforms- “ The voice of the Lord makes the desert quake; the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.” (8) The wilderness of Kadesh only receives rain on rare occasions such as this storm. In the dry earth of the desert there are seeds of beautiful flowers that have been dormant for as much as 150 years that burst into bloom at the touch of rain. Each one of us has seeds of God’s word within us, seeds of his promises that are lying dormant in our souls awaiting the refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit.

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