The Stormy Winds Fulfilling His Word

Stormy Winds Fulfilling His Word

Psalm 148

I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages.

Charles Spurgeon

Storms can be frightening. The loud cracks of thunder, the flashes of lightening, the torrential rains and strong winds produce fear because in those things is the potential for harm and damage. Even children, unaware of the devastation a storm can bring, are anxious by the power displayed in the middle of a storm.

But storms are not just damage and destruction. Storms are beneficial. Storms bring much needed rainfall to alleviate and prevent drought. Storms clean the air, removing pollutants and dust particles. Storms break down nitrogen, leaving nitrates for fertilizer for plant life. Storms also replenish plant life, carrying spores and seeds to places they would not normally go, thus increasing biodiversity. These benefits parallel some of the spiritual benefits we can receive in the storms of life. In Psalm 148, in the midst of calling all creatures and created things to give praise to the Lord, the psalmist also says, “Praise the Lord…stormy wind fulfilling his word!” It calls to our attention that God has purposes in the storms. He sends them to fulfill what He has decreed.

As God’s children, we have been brought under His teaching and training. He is forming us into the likeness of His Son, maturing us to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). He is growing “oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3 NASB). He is nurturing us so that we would be like trees planted by streams of water that do not fear the heat, whose leaves are always green, who are not anxious in the year of drought, and do not cease to yield fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8). And that kind of maturity and strength needs storms. “No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely, the fragile trees are those that have grown in sunny valleys”.[1]

Just as storms bring rainfall that prevents and alleviates drought, God intends for the hardships we face to keep us ever near to Him, drawing close to His presence, nourishing ourselves with His comforting Word. The difficulties help us feel all the more keenly our desperate need for the true fountain of living waters. When things are going well, there is a danger of complacency as well as a danger of thinking we can make it on our own and in our own strength. The storms of life keep us looking to the Lord, depending on Him to sustain, strengthen, and carry us. He is the sure and steady anchor, and though the tempest rages on, we can hold fast to Him for He will never be removed.[2] As Spurgeon said, "I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages."

Likewise, as storms clean the air and remove pollutants, so also our sufferings have a purification for our souls. The affliction we endure brings to light what is really in our hearts. When things are going well, it may be easy to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. But when we begin to suffer physically, or we feel mentally worn down or stressed, what fruit do we see then come from our hearts and out of our mouths? Storms of life are like an excavator's tool, which digs up and reveals what has been covered up and unseen. The character that God desires to develop in His children will need refining and also purging. He knows exactly what is in our hearts, but often we are blind to it, and we need things tossed around a bit and shaken up so that the old man in us will be revealed and put to death.

Additionally, storms break down nitrogen so that the nitrates can be fertilizer for plants and help them grow. The sufferings of this life can cause us to look to Christ and His Word, being nourished on truths, many truths and comforts, that we overlooked before or perhaps never considered necessary or precious. By faith we walk through afflictions and God takes His Word and ministers to us wonderful truths of His sovereignty, love, care, and presence, and finding these truths sustaining us, we are nourished and grown in our faith. Our roots sink deeper into our Savior and His Word, and this connection supplies us all that we need to continue to stand firm and to flourish.

Lastly, storms disperse spores and seeds, spreading plant life to places it could not otherwise have gone. The storms of our lives take us places, connect us with people, direct our steps on paths we would not have chosen for ourselves, but these are designed by God for us to bear fruit in our lives and in the lives of others. Through difficulties, He takes us on the path He knows we need, and as He crosses our paths with one another, He then uses us to comfort and encourage each other (2 Corinthians 1:4).

All of these purposes in our trouble, He designs. And we can praise Him because the “stormy winds [are] fulfilling His word!” (Psalm 148:8). The day is coming when all the purposes of the Lord will be plainly seen. We may not fully understand yet what He is designing in the storms He brings into our lives, but a glorious day is coming, and “the calm will be the better for the storms that we’ve endured”[2].

Let’s praise Him through Psalm 148, even in the midst of the storms of life, knowing these things are fulfilling His word.

148: 1-6 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.

Lord, I pray:

▫️I praise You, Lord, because You are great. You made the heavens and the heights, the angels and all Your hosts. You made the sun and moon, and all the shining stars. You tell us to look up the stars, and be reminded that You are the one who leads forth their host by number, and You call them all by name, because of the greatness of Your might and in the strength of Your power, not one of them is missing. The things that concern me will not escape Your notice. I ask that You give strength to the weary. I pray that we would wait for You and gain new strength, and we would not become weary or tired in the storms of life (Isaiah 40:26-31).

▫️Lord, when You give a decree, it does not pass away. I praise You that You have promised to complete the work that You began in me (Philippians 1:6). I know that difficulties and afflictions are making me mature in Christ, shaping me into His image, causing me to look to Him and be nourished by His Word. Use my current difficulties to stabilize my faith in Christ. Deepen my prayer life. Root me deeply in Your truth. Make me like a tree planted by the streams of living water, not fearful in the heat of life, unafraid of drought, but always yielding fruit.

148:7-14 Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the Lord!

‭‭Lord, I pray:

▫️I praise You because the stormy winds are fulfilling Your word. The things that come into my life are not chance or happenstance, but these are ordered by You for my good and Your glory. You are the sovereign ruler over everything, great and small. Every sorrow has been directed by Your divine love. You are producing an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. No eye has seen, nor ear heard, all that You have prepared for those who love You. Help me to understand the width and length and depth and height of Your love through the storms of life.

▫️You visited us and accomplished redemption for Your people, and You have raised up a horn of salvation for us (Luke 1:68-69). Because of Christ, our lives, the ups and downs, have purpose and meaning. In Him all shall be renewed and made right. What a privilege to be a people “who are near” to You. Thank you that You are with us in the fury of the storm.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[1] Seneca the Younger

[2] Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor, Matt Papa and Matt Boswell.

Photo credit to @a_luschen

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