THE FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH

The faith and worship of biblical Israel is structured by two forms of praise and prayer. On the one hand there is the uninhibited and joyful celebration of God as Creator, Redeemer, and Sovereign Lord over all the forces of darkness. On the other hand, there are psalms of lament which continue to affirm God’s glory but raise questions concerning suffering, injustice, and historical events, and suggest that the Lord is hiding His face from His people. Our psalm today belongs firmly in the first category.

Every line in this psalm asserts the sovereign glory and control of God. He is eternal and majestic. Also, because this is His character, the world – His creation – is “established, firm and secure” (1). The wonderful description of the power of the seas in verses 3 and 4 echoes the mythologies of the ancient world: order had to be established against the massive powers of chaos represented by the raging of the seas – and human beings remain in constant fear that such terrors would one day overwhelm and destroy civilization. The psalmist acknowledges the terrifying force of the waves of the sea and the very real threat they pose, yet he knows a power “Mightier than the thunder of the great waters” because “the LORD on high is mighty” (4). Artur Weiser comments that the raging of the seas is here celebrated because “behind them towers the mighty God, whose power gloriously proves itself in the taming of the raging elements”(Artur Weiser, The Psalms, SCM Press, 1962, p620).

In our times, the threat posed by the sea has returned in the age of climate change, and we have to ask whether the fundamental cause of this crisis lies in the loss of the theological foundations celebrated in this psalm.

Reread the psalm and let the writer’s confidence in God renew and strengthen your own comfort and hope.