The Lord of the Storm
This message was delivered by Bishop Kenneth Ulmer from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral. It was aired during the Hour of Power program on Hong Kong's ATV World Channel on 7 Feb 2010.
Psalm 29 has been called by some the Psalm of the storm. Throughout this Psalm, there are pictures, motifs, and images of storms and storm language - thunder and wind and lightening. Psalm 29 speaks of a storm and the voice, almost as though there were chess match with one move by the storm, one move by the voice, one move by the storm, one move by the voice. It's a jousting match, if you will. It's a tit for tat, back and forth between the voice and the storm. Seven times sprinkled in this short Psalm, the Psalmist speaks of the voice. The voice and the storm.
"When you walk through the storm," as it says it that beautiful song,"hold your head up high." What is your storm today? I've come to believe that storms are customized, tailor-made. Your storm may not be the storm of the person sitting next to you. Storms are personalized.
What is your storm today? Maybe it's a relational storm; there's a storm in the relationships in which you're involved. And maybe it's a financial storm. Maybe it's an emotional storm and you find yourself being shifted and tossed. Maybe it's a spiritual storm. What is your storm today? Personalize this word as we walk through this Psalm and allow the Lord to speak to you with His voice in your storm.
The Psalmist says the voice of the Lord is upon the storm, upon the waters, upon the flood. One verse says the voice of the Lord sits upon the waters and sits upon the storm. It pictures God being enthroned on top of your storm. It paints an interesting sequence and an interesting picture. It is as though, when you look up wherever you are in this room, in this house, in the hotel room, in your bedroom, wherever you may be, if you look up, whatever you see above you, maybe the roof, maybe the ceiling, whatever it is, imagine the storm that covers you. Imagine the storm in which you find yourself, and you look up and you see storm clouds.
According to the Psalmist, above that storm there's God. And the voice of God sits enthroned above the storm that is above you. And through that storm, He speaks a word. His voice pierces the clouds of that storm. His voice breaks through the calamities that He might get a word to you. For it is in this storm that God speaks. He speaks first to the storm that you are experiencing, that enshrouds you, that covers you, that frightens you. The storm that has you tossing back and forth with the waves and the winds and the billows. You're tossing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and yet He speaks to the storm.
The disciples were out one day on the boat and Jesus said to them, "Get in the boat and let's go to the other side." Actually He said, "Get in the boat and let's go over." Let's go over. Don't miss that. Jesus says, "Get in this boat and let's go over to the other side." About midway, about halfway in the journey, a storm arises. And someone remembers that Jesus is in the boat. It's not bad being in a storm when Jesus is on your boat. I'd rather be in the storm with Him than on the shore without Him.
So, the disciples went and awakened Him, and they said, "Master, Master." There's an old song in the African American tradition that says, "Master, the tempest is raging. The billows are tossing high. The sky is overshadowed with blackness. No shelter or help is nigh. Hearest thou not that we perish, how canst thou lie there asleep, when each moment so madly is threatening, a grave in the angry deep."
The disciples said, "Get up Jesus." And He took His position at the helm of the ship and pronounced the benediction upon the storm. He stood and spoke to the storm and said, "Peace be still."
Jesus speaks to the storm that you are in today, as well. As the Lord of the storm, His voice pierces the thunder, the anger, the lightening, and the angry sea, and He says peace! Be still. He speaks to the storm that you are in today.
Not only that, but He speaks to you in the storm. Did you get that? Maybe you missed it. I'll give it to you again. He speaks to the storm that you are in, but He also speaks to you in the storm.
I need help from the disciples again. Again, they were on a ship in a storm, in a boat. And the Bible says that Jesus came walking to them on the water. Ah, Jesus came walking in the midst of the storm, with the wind blowing in His hair with the wind and the waters misting against His face, He comes walking on the storm. And Peter sees Him and says, "Lord, if it's You, and I know it is, let me come to You."
And Jesus said to Peter, "I'll call your bluff. Come to Me." He speaks to you in the storm and He says if you want to walk on water, you must get out of the boat. He says to you that you can walk on the waters of impossibility, you can walk with the possibilities of His presence, but you're stuck in the boat, and He says to step out, for He speaks to you in the storm.
An old song from the African American tradition says, "Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus. I ain't got long to stay here." Then the line says, "My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder." Even in the midst of the thunder of the storms, He calls you. He says, "Come to me. You don't have long to stay where you are. You're just passing through."
It's a storm that's moving. The storm in this passage is shifting. Jesus, the Lord, becomes a storm tracker in this very Psalm. The storm begins out in the water and then the storm moves to the mountains and then the storm moves to the desert, to the wilderness. You didn't get that; I'll give it to you one more time. The storm is moving. God is a storm tracker. It begins on the waters, raging, tossing back and forth, to and fro. It then moves to the mountains, the mountaintops, the peaks. Then it moves to the dryness of the valleys in the wilderness.
This lets me know everyone in this room is in one of three places. Some of us just came out of a storm. Praise the Lord. Some of us, if we tell the truth, we came here today in a storm. But you didn't just leave a storm and you're not in a storm. As my mother would say, "Keep on living because that means you're on your way to a storm." But the Lord of the storm - listen now - speaks to the storm that you are experiencing, speaks to you in the storm. And here's the last thing: And then He speaks to the storm that is in you. I know you missed that one. I'll give you that one more time. He speaks to the storm that you are in, He speaks to you in the storm, and He speaks to the storm that is in you.
James says that sometimes we are rocked and we are tossed by doubts and by fears like a wave rising up within us. He speaks of the storm that is within. What is that raging storm within you? A raging storm of fear? A raging storm of frustration? A raging storm of doubt? How will I make it out? How will I make it through? How will I make it over?
But remember, Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and let's go over. I came to tell you, today, that you cannot go under when He says go over. I wonder, today, what is the storm that's raging in you?
I have good news. Jesus speaks to the storm that is in you, and He speaks His peace. He speaks peace to the storm of your mind. He speaks peace to the storm in your body. He speaks peace to the storm in your relationships. He speaks peace in the storm of your future. He is the God and the voice in the storm. He speaks to the storm that you are in. He speaks to you in the storm. And He speaks to the storm that is in you.
Well, I have the weather report. And the weather report is the storm is passing over. Hallelujah. Hallelujah! There has never been a storm that did not end. The storm is passing over, hallelujah!
© Copyright Hour of Power 2009. This message was delivered by Bishop Kenneth Ulmer from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and aired on the Hour of Power, July 19, 2009.
This message was delivered by Bishop Kenneth Ulmer from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral. It was aired during the Hour of Power program on Hong Kong's ATV World Channel on 7 Feb 2010.
Psalm 29 has been called by some the Psalm of the storm. Throughout this Psalm, there are pictures, motifs, and images of storms and storm language - thunder and wind and lightening. Psalm 29 speaks of a storm and the voice, almost as though there were chess match with one move by the storm, one move by the voice, one move by the storm, one move by the voice. It's a jousting match, if you will. It's a tit for tat, back and forth between the voice and the storm. Seven times sprinkled in this short Psalm, the Psalmist speaks of the voice. The voice and the storm.
"When you walk through the storm," as it says it that beautiful song,"hold your head up high." What is your storm today? I've come to believe that storms are customized, tailor-made. Your storm may not be the storm of the person sitting next to you. Storms are personalized.
What is your storm today? Maybe it's a relational storm; there's a storm in the relationships in which you're involved. And maybe it's a financial storm. Maybe it's an emotional storm and you find yourself being shifted and tossed. Maybe it's a spiritual storm. What is your storm today? Personalize this word as we walk through this Psalm and allow the Lord to speak to you with His voice in your storm.
The Psalmist says the voice of the Lord is upon the storm, upon the waters, upon the flood. One verse says the voice of the Lord sits upon the waters and sits upon the storm. It pictures God being enthroned on top of your storm. It paints an interesting sequence and an interesting picture. It is as though, when you look up wherever you are in this room, in this house, in the hotel room, in your bedroom, wherever you may be, if you look up, whatever you see above you, maybe the roof, maybe the ceiling, whatever it is, imagine the storm that covers you. Imagine the storm in which you find yourself, and you look up and you see storm clouds.
According to the Psalmist, above that storm there's God. And the voice of God sits enthroned above the storm that is above you. And through that storm, He speaks a word. His voice pierces the clouds of that storm. His voice breaks through the calamities that He might get a word to you. For it is in this storm that God speaks. He speaks first to the storm that you are experiencing, that enshrouds you, that covers you, that frightens you. The storm that has you tossing back and forth with the waves and the winds and the billows. You're tossing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and yet He speaks to the storm.
The disciples were out one day on the boat and Jesus said to them, "Get in the boat and let's go to the other side." Actually He said, "Get in the boat and let's go over." Let's go over. Don't miss that. Jesus says, "Get in this boat and let's go over to the other side." About midway, about halfway in the journey, a storm arises. And someone remembers that Jesus is in the boat. It's not bad being in a storm when Jesus is on your boat. I'd rather be in the storm with Him than on the shore without Him.
So, the disciples went and awakened Him, and they said, "Master, Master." There's an old song in the African American tradition that says, "Master, the tempest is raging. The billows are tossing high. The sky is overshadowed with blackness. No shelter or help is nigh. Hearest thou not that we perish, how canst thou lie there asleep, when each moment so madly is threatening, a grave in the angry deep."
The disciples said, "Get up Jesus." And He took His position at the helm of the ship and pronounced the benediction upon the storm. He stood and spoke to the storm and said, "Peace be still."
Jesus speaks to the storm that you are in today, as well. As the Lord of the storm, His voice pierces the thunder, the anger, the lightening, and the angry sea, and He says peace! Be still. He speaks to the storm that you are in today.
Not only that, but He speaks to you in the storm. Did you get that? Maybe you missed it. I'll give it to you again. He speaks to the storm that you are in, but He also speaks to you in the storm.
I need help from the disciples again. Again, they were on a ship in a storm, in a boat. And the Bible says that Jesus came walking to them on the water. Ah, Jesus came walking in the midst of the storm, with the wind blowing in His hair with the wind and the waters misting against His face, He comes walking on the storm. And Peter sees Him and says, "Lord, if it's You, and I know it is, let me come to You."
And Jesus said to Peter, "I'll call your bluff. Come to Me." He speaks to you in the storm and He says if you want to walk on water, you must get out of the boat. He says to you that you can walk on the waters of impossibility, you can walk with the possibilities of His presence, but you're stuck in the boat, and He says to step out, for He speaks to you in the storm.
An old song from the African American tradition says, "Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus. I ain't got long to stay here." Then the line says, "My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder." Even in the midst of the thunder of the storms, He calls you. He says, "Come to me. You don't have long to stay where you are. You're just passing through."
It's a storm that's moving. The storm in this passage is shifting. Jesus, the Lord, becomes a storm tracker in this very Psalm. The storm begins out in the water and then the storm moves to the mountains and then the storm moves to the desert, to the wilderness. You didn't get that; I'll give it to you one more time. The storm is moving. God is a storm tracker. It begins on the waters, raging, tossing back and forth, to and fro. It then moves to the mountains, the mountaintops, the peaks. Then it moves to the dryness of the valleys in the wilderness.
This lets me know everyone in this room is in one of three places. Some of us just came out of a storm. Praise the Lord. Some of us, if we tell the truth, we came here today in a storm. But you didn't just leave a storm and you're not in a storm. As my mother would say, "Keep on living because that means you're on your way to a storm." But the Lord of the storm - listen now - speaks to the storm that you are experiencing, speaks to you in the storm. And here's the last thing: And then He speaks to the storm that is in you. I know you missed that one. I'll give you that one more time. He speaks to the storm that you are in, He speaks to you in the storm, and He speaks to the storm that is in you.
James says that sometimes we are rocked and we are tossed by doubts and by fears like a wave rising up within us. He speaks of the storm that is within. What is that raging storm within you? A raging storm of fear? A raging storm of frustration? A raging storm of doubt? How will I make it out? How will I make it through? How will I make it over?
But remember, Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and let's go over. I came to tell you, today, that you cannot go under when He says go over. I wonder, today, what is the storm that's raging in you?
I have good news. Jesus speaks to the storm that is in you, and He speaks His peace. He speaks peace to the storm of your mind. He speaks peace to the storm in your body. He speaks peace to the storm in your relationships. He speaks peace in the storm of your future. He is the God and the voice in the storm. He speaks to the storm that you are in. He speaks to you in the storm. And He speaks to the storm that is in you.
Well, I have the weather report. And the weather report is the storm is passing over. Hallelujah. Hallelujah! There has never been a storm that did not end. The storm is passing over, hallelujah!
© Copyright Hour of Power 2009. This message was delivered by Bishop Kenneth Ulmer from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and aired on the Hour of Power, July 19, 2009.
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