Psalm 18:6-16 "Song in the Storm"

Psalm 18:6-16

In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears.

Photo by Mandy Beerley on Unsplash

⁷ Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations also of the mountains trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke went up from his nostrils,
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹ He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰ He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
    thick clouds dark with water.
¹² Out of the brightness before him
    hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

Photo by Brandon Morgan
on Unsplash

13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
    and the Most High uttered his voice,
    hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
    he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea were seen,
    and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.

Comments:

Recently I was listening to the August Rush soundtrack which I have loved since I first saw the movie. I was reminded of a couple of lines from the movie that stood out to me. Robin Williams’ tormented Fagin-like character “Wizard” argued in a lucid moment that it is not that many people can’t hear the music, but that not many are listening.  He encouraged August, “You got to love music more than you love food. More than life. More than yourself!” Unfortunately, Williams’ Wizard loved the money more than the music…and ended up alone with only a harmonica under the L. However, his mystical thoughts about music are brought full circle in the faith and longing of a child. After the performance of August’s Rhapsody, the 11-year-old August whispered, “The music is all around you. All you have to do is listen.”

David the psalmist also heard the music—the music of God’s love—all around him. He wrote this longish psalm (50 verses), to celebrate his deliverance from the years of false accusations, threats, betrayals, and violent pursuits of King Saul. He had believed that the Lord was his refuge through all his troubles, and had seen God continually providing help, strength, and salvation in so many situations. In verses 6-16 above he used the powerful poetic description of a terrible storm to communicate the emotion of his song of deliverance. God was working on his behalf, in answer to his prayers. Do we hear God's song in the storm? Do we, like David, have ears to hear the Lord working in love? Do we, like August, want to be found?

It is such “music” in his soul that inspired David to sing v. 28-32 with infused enthusiasm as he faced the new battles ahead, now that he had stepped into God’s calling for his life.

For it is you who light my lamp;
    the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
This God—his way is perfect;
    the word of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?—
the God who equipped me with strength
    and made my way blameless. 

The deliverance of God is not just from something but unto something. David was delivered from running for his life unto serving Israel as God’s anointed king.

What is it that God has delivered us from? What is it that we are delivered unto? What enthusiasm, what courage, what freedom now that we have been found and he has removed the shame and the blame of the past?

Dare I say it? The word has been so overused and underapplied. Yet God has equipped us for a mission…should we choose to accept it.

The music of God’s steadfast love is all around us. Today I am repeating the seven words of verse one, "I love you, O Lord, my strength!"  

 
Can you hear the music? I hope it gets stuck in your head too!