Bible Studies

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We have gained a little power and have been shown the enemy's weakness. "Because they don't pay attention, they don't see how the Lord's instruction works," we were told. These enemies may be people who exploit the poor and take advantage of the uneducated, but they can also be tendencies in our own selves. The only difference between them and us is that we pay attention by paying homage, we praise God always. It is our path for improving the world and ourselves.

Before we can continue, we must be clear about this power we seek. It does not come from us; it comes to us from the One who created it all. Man, in his vanity, comes to believe in himself and in his ability to harness creation; but this natural world has seen disasters since the beginning of the earth. The sun and comets, ice and water, earthquakes and volcanoes have changed land and oceans while storms have scrubbed clean every square mile.

A great, shining metropolis in harm's way gets no respect from the forces of nature. We bring our disasters upon ourselves when we know better, but decide to take the chance anyway. Disasters will cause us less damage when we learn better how to live with nature instead of against it. The power of the hurricane is not the wrath of an angry Father, it is only a storm, but it is a symbol of a power far greater than our own which is in control of the creation.





29. A Call To Arms

Know who is Lord, no matter your strength, give to the Lord all glory and power.
Give to the Lord the praise His name beckons; worship the Lord by knowing the truth.
The sound of the Lord is upon the sea; the God of thunder can be heard drawing near.
The voice of the Lord is full of power, the sound of the Lord commands all respect.

The fury of the Lord breaks down the trees, yes; the Lord tears apart the proud towers of wood.
They jump and shake like a newborn calf; the timbered hillsides romp like a lamb.
The voice of the Lord is seen by all; split tongues of fire come out of the gale.
The storm of the Lord moves over the land and the wilderness absorbs it.

The voice of the Lord is the spring of new life;
It comes through the forest and refreshes the earth.
The Lord in his glory on his throne in the clouds,
Is the King who was and who always will be.

The Lord gives his strength to the people who love Him,
And the Lord will bless his children with peace.





This Psalm is about action, it is God’s doing and it is about our doing, too. He makes the storm as He has made everything, and we make Him in our lives by our knowing it and giving Him our joyful praise. Every day a virtual storm of sensations and possible courses of action are shown to us. We show our worship by our praise and knowledge of the truth and we also show it by the choices and paths we take. We don’t worship the storm, and we don’t worship nature either because it is only a reflection of the truth.

We impact and manipulate our surroundings but it is vanity to think we can control nature or even ourselves. The price of vanity is that we cannot enjoy the power of others. The joy isn’t in the mastery, it is in seeing what is true and being a part of the reality instead of the fantasy world made by desire. God lives and joy is real: his life is in his creation and it is in us and what we seek is the joy of life. Praise God, praise his name by saying it and hearing it always.

Make praise the background music of your day, in words and deeds but also in what you see and hear from others and from nature. Make praise in your doing and your being and make it beautiful for that’s what beauty is. Jump and shake like a newborn calf and listen to the spring of new life. The face of God is reflected in his creation and when we look for it is when it finds us.

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