Psalm 29 | Riders on the Storm

RIDERS ON THE STORM

PSALM 29

MAY 31, 2015

WHEN I FIRST SELECTED THIS MORNING’S LECTIONARY PASSAGE, PSALM 29, FOR TODAY’S MESSAGE, IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT I WOULD BE PREACHING IT THE DAY BEFORE THE OFFICIAL START OF “H” SEASON.

JUNE 1^ST IS THE OFFICIAL START OF “H” SEASON – (WE DON’T SAY THE “H” WORD DOWN HERE IN SOUTH FLORIDA) AND WE’RE ALL HOPING THAT IT WILL BE ANOTHER QUIET ONE.

PSALM 29 CERTAINLY DESCRIBES STORMY WEATHER.

“THE VOICE OF THE LORD IS OVER THE WATERS; THE GOD OF GLORY THUNDERS, THE LORD, OVER MIGHTY WATERS. THE VOICE OF THE LORD IS POWERFUL; THE VOICE OF THE LORD IS FULL OF MAJESTY. THE VOICE OF THE LORD BREAKS THE MIGHTY CEDARS; THE LORD BREAKS THE CEDARS OF LEBANON.

THE VOICE OF THE LORD CAUSES THE OAKS TO WHIRL, AND STRIPS THE FOREST BARE; AND IN HIS TEMPLE ALL SAY, ‘GLORY!’ THE LORD SITS ENTHRONED OVER THE FLOOD; THE LORD SITS ENTHRONED AS KING FOREVER.

AND THEN THIS FINAL WORD OF PROMISE – THAT THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GOD IS ALSO THE GOD WHO: “…GIVES STRENGTH TO HIS PEOPLE!” AND “WHO BLESSES HIS PEOPLE WITH PEACE.”

WHETHER OR NOT THE PSALMIST IS SIMPLY USING THE IMAGERY OF STORMS AND THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD’S VOICE TO SPEAK TO THE STRENGTH AND MIGHT OF ALMIGHTY GOD…

OR IS INTENDING TO SAY THAT GOD IS WITH US – OUR STRENGTH AND PEACE – IN THE LITERAL, AND I WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE, FIGURATIVE STORMS OF LIFE, IS OPEN TO INTERPRETATION I SUPPOSE…

BUT I TOOK IT TO MEAN THE LATTER.

THAT OUR GREAT AND POWERFUL GOD IS EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN THE STORMS OF LIFE;

THAT THE STRENGTH OF ALMIGHTY GOD SURPASSES EVEN THAT OF THE GREAT CEDARS OF LEBANON;

THAT THE MIGHT OF ALMIGHTY GOD COULD WIPE AWAY ALL THE EARTH, AND BY HIS GRACE, GOD COULD CREATE IT ALL OVER AGAIN.

BUT MOST OF ALL – THAT THE POWER OF GOD, AS WELL AS THE PEACE OF GOD, IS AVAILABLE TO ALL WHO BELIEVE WHEN THE STORMY WINDS OF CHAOS, DESTRUCTION, DEVASTATION, DISAPPOINTMENT BLOW THROUGH OUR LIVES.

AND WHERE THIS IDEA TOOK ME WAS TO THE TITLE OF A SONG BY JIM MORRISON AND THE DOORS – RIDERS ON THE STORM.

FOR THAT IS WHAT I BELIEVE WE ARE, AT TIMES, FOR SOME PEOPLE WHAT SEEMS LIKE ALL THE TIME, BUT FOR MOST OF US, THANKFULLY, ONLY SOME OF THE TIME – RIDERS ON THE STORM OF LIFE.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW THE SONG, YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE PARTS OF IT WHICH SPEAK TO THE DARKER SIDE OF LIFE;

BUT THE CHORUS OF THE SONG SUGGESTS THAT WE ARE SIMPLY SORT OF THROWN INTO LIFE, AND THEN IT WOULD APPEAR, MOSTLY LEFT ON OUR OWN, COME WHAT MAY.

FROM THE CHORUS:

RIDERS ON THE STORM, RIDERS ON THE STORM,

INTO THIS HOUSE WE’RE BORN, INTO THIS WORLD WE’RE THROWN,

LIKE A DOG WITHOUT A BONE, AN ACTOR OUT ON LOAN,

RIDERS ON THE STORM…

IN A CLASSIC CASE OF LYRICOSIS – DO YOU KNOW THAT WORD?

THAT’S WHEN YOU SING A LYRIC OF A SONG COMPLETELY WRONG, SOMETIMES YOUR ENTIRE LIFE, OR AT LEAST UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY SEE THE LYRIC ITSELF, OR SOMEONE EMBARRASSINGLY CORRECTS YOU.

LIKE THOSE WHO SING: “I WANT TO ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT, AND PART OF EVERY DAY.” (IT’S PARTY EVERYDAY.)

OR THOSE WHO THOUGHT ELTON JOHN WAS SINGING ABOUT: “HEAD LICE ON THE HIGHWAY;” – I KNOW IT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE – (HEADLIGHTS) OR “HOLD ME CLOSER TONY DANZA;” (TINY DANCER).

WELL WHEN I WAS YOUNGER WHAT I THOUGHT JIM MORRISON WAS SAYING IN RIDERS ON THE STORM WAS “ACTORS ALL ALONE;” AS IF WE ARE ALL JUST ACTORS ON THE STAGE OF LIFE, AND EVEN AT THAT, ALL ALONE.

THE AUTHOR OF THE 29^TH PSALM WANTS US TO KNOW THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE.

THE PSALMIST BEGINS BY TELLING US THAT IT IS RIGHT FOR US TO PRAISE GOD –THAT’S HOW THIS AND SO MANY OF THE PSALMS BEGIN.

THEN, THAT WE ARE TO BELIEVE THAT GOD IS ALMIGHTY, ALL POWERFUL, AND EVERYWHERE PRESENT.

THAT COME WHAT MAY IN OUR LIVES, EVEN IN THE STORMINESS THAT IS SOMETIMES LIFE, THAT EVEN THEN, EVEN THERE, GOD IS WITH US; THAT GOD IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE WORST OF STORMS – LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE;

AND THAT GOD WILL BE THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH AND PEACE EVEN IN THE WORST OF TIMES.

YEARS AGO AS PART OF MY CONTINUING EDUCATION AS A MINISTER, I COMPLETED TWO ADDITIONAL UNITS OF CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION, HAVING TAKEN A PREVIOUS UNIT WHILE STILL IN SEMINARY.

AS PART OF THIS TRAINING I SERVED AS A CHAPLAIN AT ERLANGER MEDICAL CENTER – A REGIONAL TRAUMA HOSPITAL IN CHATTANOOGA, TN.

THE HOSPITAL GOT THE MOST SEVERE CASES AND A VAST MAJORITY OF ACCIDENT VICTIMS FROM THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES.

I WAS OFTEN SURPRISED BY SOME OF THE FAMILIES, WHO, IN THE MIDST OF TRAGEDY, ESPECIALLY ACCIDENTS INVOLVING THEIR CHILDREN, WOULD SPEAK OF HOW GOD HAD CAUSED WHATEVER TRAGEDY WAS OCCURRING;

AND

HOW GOD WOULD NOT ONLY BE WITH THEM, AND WITH THEIR CHILD, BUT HOW GOD WOULD WORK HIS PURPOSE OUT WHATEVER THE OUTCOME WOULD BE.

I REALIZED AND TALKED TO MY PROFESSORS OFTEN ABOUT HOW MY THEOLOGY WAS QUITE DIFFERENT THAN THAT OF MANY OF THESE FAMILIES.

FIRST OF ALL, MY IMAGE OF GOD IS NOT ONE THAT INCLUDES GOD GOING AROUND, SAY, WITH HIS HAND ON THE GUN OF A SHOOTER SHOOTING SOMEONE;

OR ON THE STEERING WHEEL OF A HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER;

OR THAT GOD WOULD CAUSE A TOO-YOUNG-TO-BE-RIDING-ALONE PRE-TEEN TO STEER HIS ATM INTO THE PATH OF AN ONCOMING TRUCK;

OR OF GOD TAKING HIS COSMIC POINTER FINGER AND STIRRING UP THE WATERS OF THE ATLANTIC AND SENDING A CATEGORY FIVE “H” CRASHING INTO THE SHORES OF FLORIDA OR ELSEWHERE.

FOR ME – GOD IS NOT THE DIRECT CAUSE OF EVENTS SUCH AS THESE.

I CAN USUALLY FIND PLENTY OF LOGICAL, REASONABLE, AND SOMETIMES ILLOGICAL, UNREASONABLE, UNBELIEVABLE, HORRENDOUS EXPLANATIONS FOR PEOPLES’ SUFFERING WITHOUT LAYING IT UPON THE SHOULDERS OF GOD.

SECONDLY, I’VE ALWAYS SUBSCRIBED TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD I HEARD YEARS AGO – OF GOD BEING A GOD OF “MINIMAL PROTECTION AND MAXIMUM SUPPORT.”

WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS THAT BAD STUFF IS GOING TO HAPPEN, AND DOES;

AND BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A FINITE, MORTAL WORLD – A WORLD WHERE THERE IS BOTH ORDER/CHAOS, GROWTH/DECAY, LIGHT/DARKNESS, HEALTH/SICKNESS, LIFE/DEATH;

THERE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE THOSE DARK TIMES; THOSE TIMES OF SUFFERING AND SICKNESS; THOSE ACCIDENTS AND ATROCITIES; THOSE DISAPPOINTMENTS AND DISASTERS; THOSE STORMS IN LIFE (LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE) THAT CAUSE US GREAT PAIN AND ANGUISH.

BUT AGAIN, I CAN USUALLY FIND EXPLANATIONS ENOUGH FOR THESE WITHOUT LAYING THE BLAME AT GOD’S FEET. “MINIMAL PROTECTION AND MAXIMUM SUPPORT.”

SO BY THAT I ALSO MEAN THAT I BELIEVE, AS THE PSALMIST DESCRIBES IN THE END OF THE PSALM, THAT GOD IS ON BOARD IN THE MIDST OF OUR SUFFERING; THAT GOD WILL SEE US THROUGH; AND AT SOME POINT IN TIME, THINGS WILL GET BETTER AGAIN.

AND FURTHER, THAT WE CAN TRUST GOD TO BE OUR SOURCE OF STRENGTH, COMFORT, CARE, AND PEACE IN THE STORMS OF LIFE;

INCLUDING THOSE WHOM GOD SENDS TO US TO COMFORT US IN THOSE TIMES AS WELL.

THIS IS NOT TO SAY, OF COURSE, THAT I AM RIGHT AND THOSE PARENTS, THOSE FAMILIES, I MENTIONED EARLIER WERE WRONG IN THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF GOD.

AND AS SOME OF MY PROFESSORS AND SOME OF THOSE FAMILIES, WHO I FINALLY ASKED ABOUT WHAT THEY BELIEVED, HELPED ME UNDERSTAND:

IT WAS THIS: THAT FOR THEM, UNLESS GOD WAS INVOLVED IN ALL OF IT;

UNLESS GOD WAS IN EVERY SECOND, EVERY MINUTE, EVERY MOMENT OF IT, WHATEVER IT WAS THAT WAS GOING ON…

UNLESS GOD WAS ALL IN – IN ALL THAT WAS HAPPENING, THEN FOR THEM, GOD COULD NOT BE IN CONTROL OF THE OUTCOME EITHER – AND THEY VERY MUCH NEEDED TO BELIEVE THAT GOD WAS IN CONTROL OF THE OUTCOME – HOWEVER IT TURNED OUT.

FOR MANY OF THEM, EITHER IT WAS GOD’S WILL – WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO THEIR CHILD, AND WHETHER OR NOT THEIR CHILD WOULD SURVIVE;

OR IT WAS GOD’S WILL TO CALL THEIR CHILD HOME TO BE WITH HIM IN HEAVEN.

FOR ME – I’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT IN TRAUMATIC, TRAGIC EVENTS SUCH AS THESE, THAT IT WAS NOT GOD’S WILL THAT THESE THINGS OCCUR, BUT THAT GOD’S HEART IS THE FIRST OF ALL OUR HEARTS TO BREAK WHEN THEY DO.

I WOULD NEVER BEGIN TO TELL THEM THAT THEY WERE WRONG; OR DIDN’T HAVE A RIGHT TO BELIEVE AS THEY BELIEVED; OR THAT I KNEW THE WILL OF GOD BETTER THAN THEY.

FOR ONE THING, THAT’S NOT THE TIME OR PLACE FOR SUCH ESOTERIC CONVERSATIONS; AND FOR ANOTHER, WHO AM I TO SAY THAT I KNOW BETTER THAN THEM?

IT IS NOT, HOWEVER, MY MAIN INTENTION THIS MORNING TO ARGUE THE FINER POINTS OF THEOLOGY WITH YOU, OR TO DEFINE FOR YOU WHAT YOUR OWN BELIEFS MIGHT BE…

INSTEAD, LIKE THE PSALMIST AND I SUPPOSE LIKE RIDERS ON THE STORM, I WOULD SIMPLY ASK:

HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND GOD TO BE AT WORK IN THE WORLD, AND IN LIFE, AND IN OUR LIVES?

AND MOST ESPECIALLY, HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND GOD TO BE AT WORK IN THE STORMY TIMES OF OUR LIVES?

WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT ALL GOES TO POT? WHERE IS GOD IN THE MIDST OF OUR SUFFERING? AND IN THE SUFFERING OF THE WORLD?

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE (AND ALL PEOPLE, FOR THAT MATTER) WHERE’S GOD?

AGAIN, RATHER THAN TRYING TO GIVE YOU SOME PAT ANSWER TO THOSE QUESTIONS, THUS DECIDING FOR YOU WHAT YOU SHOULD BELIEVE, I WOULD SIMPLY ASK YOU THE QUESTION:

HOW SAY YOU? WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE? HOW DO YOU BELIEVE GOD IS AT WORK (OR NOT) IN THE WAYS OF THE WORLD? IN THE SUFFERING OF THE WORLD? IN THE STORMS OF YOUR LIFE?

THE AUTHOR OF THE 29^TH PSALM SEES GOD IN, THROUGH, BEHIND, BEFORE, ABOVE, BELOW, AND BESIDE BOTH THE DEVASTATION AND THE RECOVERY.

PSALM 29 IS WILLING TO GIVE GOD THE GLORY IN THE BEGINNING, SUFFER THROUGH THE DESTRUCTION THAT COMES (BELIEVING THAT GOD IS IN THE MIDST OF IT), AND SEES GOD AS THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL – THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH AND PEACE OF GOD’S PEOPLE. HOW SAY YOU?

MORE IMPORTANT THAN AN ESOTERIC DISCUSSION OF OUR INDIVIDUAL AND PARTICULAR THEOLOGIES;

OR ENGAGING IN SOME SORT OF INTELLECTUAL VOLLEYBALL WHERE WE BOUNCE IDEAS AROUND AND OFF OF EACH OTHER, IS THE QUESTION: WHERE DO WE TURN WHEN LIFE GOES BAD?

WHEN THE STORMINESS THAT IS LIFE AT TIMES COMES, WHERE, TO WHOM, DO WE TURN? WHERE ARE THE ANSWERS? WHERE IS OUR COMFORT AND CARE?

WHERE IS OUR SOLACE AND UNDERSTANDING? WHERE IS OUR GRACE AND PEACE?

WRITING TO THE CHURCH IN THESSALONICA THE APOSTLE PAUL WROTE IN WHAT I BELIEVE WAS AN ANSWER TO A QUESTION THAT HAD BEEN ASKED OF HIM, OR A CONCERN HE HAD HEARD ABOUT WITHIN THE CHURCH:

“BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIED SO THAT YOU WON’T MOURN LIKE OTHERS WHO HAVE NO HOPE. SINCE WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE, WE BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL BRING WITH HIM THOSE WHO HAVE DIED IN JESUS. SO ENCOURGE EACH OTHER WITH THESE WORDS.”

AND THEN THERE ARE THESE WORDS FROM ANOTHER OF THE PSALMS:

“OUR HELP IS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH.”

AND THESE WORDS TOO:

“THE ETERNAL GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND UNDERNEATH ARE THE EVERLASTING ARMS.”

WE WILL, AT LEAST THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN, AT TIMES, BE RIDERS ON THE STORM IN THIS OLD WORLD OF OURS.

THE GOOD NEWS IS: WE DON’T RIDE ALONE.