Proclaim the power of God,
    whose majesty is over Israel,
    whose power is in the heavens.
You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary;
    the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

Praise be to God!

(Psalm 68.34-35, NIV)

The Thunder Rolls
Author: Rob Anderson

For many years, the people of Texas could only imagine what it would look like to have their cities flooded. The state was in one of the worst droughts we had ever seen and too much water seemed an impossibility.

Over the last couple of years, however, everything has changed. While the farmers may tell you that you can never have too much water, we have seen across the state what too much water in too short an amount of time can do.

The National Weather Service office warns that 6 inches of moving water can cause your car to stall and will cause you to lose control of the car. A foot of water can float a car, while two feet of water will sweep away almost any vehicle. When you think about it, that is not a lot of water. Imagine what five or six feet might do.

When we read about the God thundering “with a mighty voice” in Psalm 68, I cannot help but think of the scenes we have seen played out throughout the state of cars trying to cross low-water crossings, only to be swept downstream, sometimes with deadly results. The power of a storm can be both exhilarating and terrifying.

That image of strength and power is found all the way through Psalm 68. It is a psalm written to celebrate the awesome sovereignty of God, who goes before his people to provide them victory.

What may be most amazing about this psalm, however, is not the overwhelming power of God, but on whom he chooses to use that power. We discover he is a father to the fatherless and a defender of the widows. The lonely? He places them within families. It is the people who have the least power for whom God displays his greatest work. And it is this same God who gives power and strength to us, his people. We should indeed proclaim the power of Him!

Questions:

As you read through the entire Bible, God seems to love most saving those whom others seem to value least. What sort of people would you consider least cared for in today’s world? If God is a “father to the fatherless,” in what ways does he also care for those you just thought of?

In what ways has God provided for you in abundance? How does your definition of abundance compare to what the world might define as abundant? How can we as followers of Jesus do a better job of showing the world a value system that recognizes God’s abundance, not a worldly definition of it?

What burdens you most today? Do you believe, as the psalmist has said, that God daily bears your burdens? What would have to happen for you to understand and celebration God’s providing rest from those burdens?