Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

7. The Voice of the Lord Brings Life- “ The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare…”(or) “makes the deer to give birth.”[NIV] (9) The Hebrew language leaves this verse open to ei- ther interpretation; ‘stripping the forest bare’ or ‘causing the deer to give birth.’ Pliny states: ‘Solitary sheep cast their lambs in thunderstorms…’ 1 The thunderstorm of worship is designed by God to bring people to salvation, to experience being born again as they encounter his majestic love. “ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. So don’t be surprised at my statement that you must be born again.” (Jn. 3:6,7)

III. THE LORD RULES - The Storm is God’s Throne! (9-11)

“ In his Temple everyone shouts, ‘Glory!’” (9)

At certain times the earthly temple of our worship services should sound like the thunderous praises of the heavenly, everyone is shouting ‘Glory!’ “ Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared; there was a great hailstorm, and the world was shaken by a mighty earthquake.” (Rev. 11:19)

“ The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever.” (10)

We must remember that God reigns in the storms of life; he is enthroned in the storm clouds. Ezekiel saw the majesty of his throne: “ As I looked, I saw a great storm coming toward me from the north, driv- ing before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light…Above the surface over their heads was what looked like a throne made of blue sapphire.” (Ezek. 1:4,26)

God does two very important things in the storms of life and the thunder of worship:

1. He Strengthens Us! “ The Lord gives his people strength…”(11) We are lifted, healed, changed, strengthened, empowered, refreshed and birthed into a new realm of faith as we give him the glory due his name. On their voyage to Rome Paul strengthened his traveling partners in the middle of a violent storm: “ …last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said…’God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ So take courage! For I be- lieve God. It will be just as he said…”(Acts 27:23-25) 2. He Gives Us Peace! “ The Lord blesses them with peace.” (11) In the center of the hurricane there is a place of peace and serenity known as the ‘eye of the storm.’ To the believer the ‘eye of the storm’ is being where Jesus is, following him in obedience to his will, worshiping him in the splendor of his holiness. “ Suddenly, a terrible storm came up, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping…Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm.” (Mt. 8:24,26) Living a life of worship places us at the throne of God, in the eye of the storm, in the place of peace and rest.

1 Spence

PSALM 30: MOURNING INTO JOYFUL DANCING The Dance of Grace

This is a psalm of how God ‘turns around’ the negative situations of life causing us to dance with joy. It lists five dramatic changes in David’s life in the first section (1-5): From defeat to triumph, from sick- ness to health, from the grave to praise, from anger to favor, from weeping to joy. The second section (6-10) begins with David in a position of unrivaled favor then experiencing the loss of God’s presence. The last section is a celebration of the restored ‘favor’ of God in double measure. The Lord Jesus is fore- shadowed in verse 3 as rising from the grave. The psalm is presented in three parts:

I TRIUMPH - Favor Lasts A Lifetime- 1-5 II TURNED AWAY - Favor Lost- 6-10 III THANKS FOREVER -Favor Restored- 11,12

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