Psalm 65

“By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas; Who established the mountains by His strength, being clothed with power; You who still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples. They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.”  Psalm 65:5-8 (NKJV)

Could we ever fathom the awesomeness of God?  I have been blessed to have traveled to all 50 of the United States, as well as to many wonderful places overseas.  I have sailed on the Sea of Galilee, surfed South African waves with whales slapping their tails in the distance, feasted on fresh lobster cooked on the pier where the lobstermen empty their boats in Bangor, Maine, thrown open the drapes at the Prince of Wales Hotel and been in awe of the Canadian glaciers…and the list goes on.  But all those experiences together do not come close to trying to fathom the beauty of the One who made it all!  He made the world, and He controls it at His will.  

Who could stand face-to-face in God’s presence? I am still blown away by the fact that He desires to commune with us.  Can you imagine what it must have felt like to be one of Jesus’ disciples who traveled with Him during His earthly ministry?  What was it like when the lights began to flicker on in their minds when their idea of Jesus started to transition from “really good rabbi” to “LORD of all”?  Surely, today’s psalm must have echoed in the minds of Jesus’ disciples the night that a sleeping Messiah was woken during a raging storm, only to see that storm be rebuked and calmed with a word.

“But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, ‘Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’” Matthew 8:26-27 (NKJV)

We serve a Savior Who, in a moment’s time, can cause raging storms to become still silence!  It is one thing to put the Scribes and Pharisees in their place with a profound Bible argument.  But to control the weather?  Manipulate the waters?  That was a move only reserved in Scripture for guys with names like Moses, Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha.  However, none of them on their own could control the elements so effortlessly.  No, the passenger in the disciples’ boat was none other than God, Himself.  It was God made flesh.  (John 1:1-5; 14)  And He is that same God Who not only saves us but also promises never to leave or forsake us: Emanuel, God with us! (Matthew 1:21-23)

“Who has ascended into heaven or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know?” Proverbs 30:4 (NKJV)