A Hurricane’s Story

On the television screen it appeared only as a four-inch-in-diameter swirling red mass. But the reality was that it was a category five hurricane named Katrina. Its outermost cloud bands gave it coverage of hundreds of water-churning, land-buffeting miles. It came ashore early in the morning on August 29 with the eye-wall slightly east of New Orleans. It slammed into the Gulf coast with a deadly ferocity. Homes, stately live oaks, barges, and bridges were demolished and pushed around like a child’s toys. But this was not child’s play. Thousands of people have had their neighborhoods blown away or washed to who-knows-where. All storms have an unsettling nature about them. We may like to watch them from a distance and even be exhilarated by the wind, thunder, and lightning. But to be caught in the middle of nature on a rampage can make even the strongest weep.

Is there anything to be learned from such a catastrophic storm as Katrina? The television networks are filled with angry victims and politicians blaming everyone but themselves. Why didn’t relief come sooner? How could there be such seeming ineptness in the richest nation of the world? Debates rage over the future of the city of New Orleans. Should it be bulldozed or restored to its historic charm? However, there is a story behind this storm and all storms that goes relatively untold. Centuries ago King David of Israel watched a monstrous storm in his own land. It was so overwhelming that the moods of the mind could only be expressed in poetry. With his God-guided hand the psalmist penned a song that could be entitled, “The Lord of the Storm.” It tells a story that transcends low pressure systems, gale force winds, and ground-shaking thunder. It is a poem about God, His power, and where to take refuge when hurricanes take over.

Psalm 29 opens with an unrelenting call to worship the Lord. David was so impressed with the power of the “forces of nature” that he calls for worship of the King of creation (vv. 1-2). He even calls on the angels to assist in offering praise to the Lord of the storm. The declaration of God’s greatness is the only sane thing to do when rain, wind, thunder, and lightning overwhelm the senses. A subplot may also be found in this appeal to give God credit for His glory and strength. The Canaanites interpreted the weather in terms of their god Baal, the alleged storm god. Like mother-nature to moderns, Baal was a figment of the imagination. It is the true God, not a fictitious god like Baal, to whom our will and mind is to be subordinated. David proceeds with his riveting, poetical account of the march of the wind and devastation. One can almost hear the thunder roll in the repetition of “the voice of the Lord.” Storms communicate eternally valuable lessons. God is in absolute control over all of nature. Not one rain drop falls without His permission. “For God is the King of all the earth” (Psa. 47:7). What we call disasters execute God’s infinitely wise purposes (Isa. 45:7; Amos 3:6). The champions of unbelief may scorn “Intelligent Design” as contradicted by the massive destruction of Hurricane Katrina, but in doing so are pitiful in their attempts to challenge the Maker of heaven and earth (Job 38:1-3; 8-11). The majesty and power of the God of the universe should leave us awestruck. The peals of thunder echoing across the land reminded the sweet psalmist of Israel of the actual voice of God “which is infinitely beyond it.” When God speaks, the earth trembles. As one commentator has said, “The storm is not an outbreak of meaningless or hostile forces, but the voice of the Lord, heard in all His works” (Derek Kidner).

Many are reluctant to associate storms with the judgment of God. One does not want to appear insensitive to human misery left in the wake of storm surges and violent winds, but the fact remains, hurricanes tell us that the world is under the judgment of God. We live in a sin-cursed world that is dying. What we see in nature is not the way things ought to be. The rebellion of the first Adam plunged the human race into the mire of moral and natural evil. Nature is groaning, longing for its redemption. It “waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19, 22). Hurricanes tell us that God is calling sinners to repentance (Lk. 13:1-7). Jesus made no bones about it. We all deserve to die. Judgments in this life are God’s last effort, so to speak, to bring sinful human beings to Himself for the eternal joy of fellowship with Him. As God ruled over the universal flood of Noah’s day, He continues enthroned, offering the grace of forgiveness to those who repent and come to Jesus Christ for eternal life.

Where did David’s storm leave him and the rest of us? God’s power is available to benefit those who trust in Him (Psa. 29:10). He alone can enable hurricane-weary people to live hopefully. God’s peace is available to those who trust in Him. There is a greater storm that is coming when the wrath of God breaks upon the earth in the great and terrible day of the Lord (1 Thess. 5:3). The Lord of the storm offers His people shalom. Peace with God can be ours because the howling winds of God’s wrath fell upon His beloved Son, in whom He was well-pleased. Because of the refuge that is in Jesus Christ things can be as they ought to be in this life and in the world to come.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church