THE LORD DROWNS THE VOICE OF THE WATERS

The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea (Psalm 93:1-4).

We all have the problem of deciphering between the huge number of voices coming at us from every direction in life. In the book of Psalms, this problem is dealt with expertly.

In Psalm 18, David described ungodliness as a flood (waters). In verse four he says, “the pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.” The Psalmist feared the power of the flood of ungodliness, its relentless forward progress, rustling and churning with sweeping hands, pulling everything in its path into a whirlpool of helplessness. Ungodliness erupted against him with the fury and power of the waves of the sea threatening his peace, security, and even his life. In Psalm 93:3-4, he calls out to the Lord saying, “the floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.” His cry for help does not go unnoticed by God. Then he reminds himself that “the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea” (Psalm 93:4). In Psalm 18:5-6, he says, “the sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice […] and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.”

In these times in which we live, we find ungodliness constantly surrounding us, lifting its boisterous voice so as to make us afraid. We, like the Psalmist, must call upon the Lord. We should use his experiences as precedence that the faithfulness of our God will quell the voice of the sea of threatening violence, terrorism, economic decline, and war. Our lives and well-being are not left to chance, but are in the hands of the Lord.

Let us remind ourselves that regardless of the problems we face, “the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.”