Peace in the Storm

We're going to begin our worship this evening by singing to God's praise in Psalm 46, the

Scottish Psalter version, Psalm 46, page 271 of the Psalm books.

We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 7.

God is our refuge and our strength and strength, a present aid, therefore although the earth

remove, we will not be afraid.

The tune is St. Andrew and we'll stand to sing to God's praise.

God is our refuge and our strength, in space and present aid, therefore although the

earth renew, we will not be afraid.

The hills of mist and seas be cast, the waters rolling bay, and drought will be made for the hills,

by swearing seas to shame.

The river is to streams to glad, the city of our God.

God is our refuge and our strength, the waters of the Lord.

The holy place, great in the Lord, most high, but is above.

God in the midst of earth dwell.

God in the midst of earth dwell, nothing shall have renewed.

God in the midst of earth dwell, the Lord to have a helper will, and that right there he grew.

God in the midst of earth the Spirit, the Lord drowns us live, and that right there he is safe.

God in the midst of earth do not have one at any event, he forget.

God will read,ольше yet, there he is safe andolo.

God in the midst of earth all day, here God the Lord Irish presence is the one which is the one who our brave

The kingdom's doing where the Lord God uttered his voice.

The earth did well for fear.

The Lord of hosts upon our side.

The hosts that we remain.

The God of hosts upon our refuge.

Our saving to maintain.

Let's come to God in prayer.

Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer.

Amen.

Our Father in heaven, as we still ourselves in your presence anew this evening, as we come,

unworthy as we are, the sin in our heart is often so clear before us.

We know so often, Lord, that we are not worthy of the least of your mercies.

But yet we come, as you command us to, to come boldly to the throne of grace that we might receive mercy.

We thank you that you are a God who is the God of redemption.

That you are a God who has promised so much to his people.

And your promises are fulfilled.

And have their amen in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

And so we thank you that it's not about how we feel as we come to worship you.

It's not about how we are unworthy of it.

But it is our duty.

And it is what we are to long and desire to do.

To praise your name.

For as we come, O Lord, we recognize that you are able to pardon our sin.

That you are the one who is able to refresh our soul.

That you are the one who is able to encourage us, even as we go on.

Feeling our own weakness, but knowing your strength.

And we thank you that we have sung of that strength that you are able to give.

That you are the God who is our refuge and our strength.

Our present aid in all the straits that we go through.

That even though the hills be removed, Lord.

That you are able to help us, to shelter us.

And we do thank you, Lord, for the many blessings that are ours in Christ.

We thank you for how you protect us from so much.

That you are the God who keeps his people.

That you are the God who watches over his people.

That you are the God who is calling his people.

Even those who are maybe not yet acknowledging you as Lord and God.

We thank you for your Holy Spirit.

That works.

That moves.

That comes to speak to us.

Even in the quietness of our hearts.

And through the power of your word.

We pray for your spirit to be at work.

We pray, O Lord, for that blessing.

To be ours.

To have ears.

To hear what you are saying.

Not just here, but far and wide.

May your people hear and receive your word with joy and great gladness.

We thank you.

We thank you that no matter what stage we are at in life.

We thank you for young, old, middle-aged.

We thank you that together we come to worship and praise your name.

We thank you that there is that blessing of unity in worship.

That families, individuals, that we are all able to come.

And to come and know what it is to be a brethren, a people who enjoy the blessing of unity.

And we pray that you will guard our unity and guard our hearts.

For we know how easy it is to drift away from you.

We know how easy it is to neglect our prayers or the reading of your word.

We know how easy it is to neglect our attendance at the means of grace.

And we know, Lord, that it can so quickly come upon us.

And the longer we leave it, the harder it is to come back to.

So we thank you, Lord, for our accountability to one another.

And above all, our accountability to you.

For you are a God who will not leave us to drift away.

And we thank you for that.

And that you use many means to bring us back to yourself.

That you use people.

That you use our word in season.

And that you use even the things of this world to remind us of how empty they are.

And we pray for any, Lord, who maybe are feeling that sense of drifting away from you.

That they would feel the call back.

That they would feel the urgency of the Spirit working in their hearts to return to you.

And so we pray, Lord, for all who go through these struggles.

That you will help, that you will bless.

And that you will help us even to watch out for those who may find themselves in such situations.

Not to criticize, but to be a blessing to them.

And to encourage them back.

We thank you too, Lord, for the way you encourage us together.

The way that we are able to fellowship one with another.

Not just here, but throughout the week as well.

And we thank you for the many different meetings that we have during the week.

May we are able to be together around your word.

And to seek to serve you with all our hearts.

We thank you for the prayer meetings during the week.

We pray your blessing on them.

Upon the prayers of your people.

And upon the preaching of your word.

That it will be blessed to all our souls.

We thank you that we come prayerfully to you.

Recognizing our dependence upon you.

But as we call on your name.

We thank you that you are faithful in your hearing.

And that as we pray, your will be done in all things.

That you are able to do so much for us.

So teach us to pray and help us to pray.

And to pray with faith.

Help us to remember the work that goes on around us.

And the protection of your cause.

We thank you for the Christian Institute.

And for the way they are defenders of the faith.

And how they help your people in so many different situations.

How they help your cause.

And seek to honour your name.

In education.

In politics.

And in every walk of life.

And we do pray for the meetings taking place around Scotland.

Just now we pray for the meeting.

Here in Stornoway on Tuesday evening.

We pray Lord your blessing on that time.

And that people would be encouraged to attend.

And to hear what is said.

We know the topic is such an important one at this time.

The importance of the family circle.

And how so much is being eroded to that end.

Oh Lord.

We do pray for Christian homes and families.

We pray Lord for your protection over us.

We pray Lord for your word.

To be at the heart of all that we do as a people.

We know we have drifted away from that.

And we pray for your restoration in that as well.

We do continue to pray for our young people.

We thank you for the work of campaigners.

Over many years in this congregation.

We thank you for all who have been involved in it to this point.

And the many encouragements and blessings that there has been.

We pray for the meeting to take place on Thursday evening.

For the resumption of that work.

That you would be in it to bless.

That you would bless our young people.

And look after them in this day of so many different pressures.

So many different temptations.

But a day of salvation too.

And we thank you that you work in the midst of all.

And we pray that you will do a powerful work.

In amongst our young people.

To shelter them.

And to watch over them.

But above all Lord.

To bring them to know the Lord Jesus as their saviour.

To know him as their Lord.

And as their God.

We pray Lord for your continued blessing over us.

As a church and as a people.

Far and wide as we were thinking this morning.

Of the scattered nature of our congregations.

And of your people.

Throughout our nation.

And throughout all ends of the earth.

We thank you that there is so many gospel ministries going on.

That your word is being proclaimed.

Faithfully week by week.

In many different parts of the world.

And we thank you for the promise.

That as your word goes forth.

It will not return empty or void.

But accomplish every purpose for which you send it forth.

And so we pray Lord your blessing on your word.

And upon your people far and wide.

That there will be a people praising your name.

Even as we join in the praise of your name at this time.

We do so Lord with many around the world.

In so many different parts.

And so we thank you that yours is a kingdom.

That is being built.

That yours is a kingdom.

That has power.

And authority over all others.

And that your kingdom will indeed come with power.

We ask your blessing on us.

As we continue in your word.

As we read it.

And as we sing your praise.

May we oh Lord be blessed by it.

And encouraged through it.

And reminded of all that is ours in Christ.

The one who indeed is our refuge and our peace.

So we ask your blessing as we sing your praise.

May we lift up our voices.

With thankful hearts.

Thankful for all that you do for us.

All that you have done.

And all that you will do.

Uphold the one who leads us in the praise too.

And may we all be encouraged to lift up our voices to you.

We pray that you will hear our praise.

And our thanksgiving and our prayers.

As we ask it all in the name of our precious saviour.

Our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we ask for the forgiveness of all our sins.

And to his name be praise and glory forever.

Amen.

Let us again sing to God's praise.

This time we sing in the Sing Psalms version of Psalm 36.

Psalm 36.

Sing at verse 5.

Page 44 of the Psalm book.

Psalm 36 and at verse 5.

We're going to sing from verse 5 to 10.

The Tunis Free Church.

And we stand to sing.

Amen.

Your steadfast love is great, O Lord.

It reaches heaven high.

Your faithfulness is wonderful, extending to the sky.

Your righteousness is very great, like mountains high unseen.

Your justice is very good, like ocean depths.

Oh, God and peace to thee.

How precious is your steadfast love, what God's faith brings.

Oh, God and love.

God and love thy shelter in the shadow of your ways.

The peace within your hands standing, from streams of your delight.

For when you raise the source of light, in your life we see light.

To those who know you must bear God, your steadfast love impart.

Maintain your righteousness to those of you and of my heart.

Well, let us turn to God's word as we're going to read two passages.

First of all, in the Old Testament, in the book of Psalms.

And then we'll turn to the New Testament and to the book of Hebrews.

Our first reading is in the book of Psalms, reading Psalm 29.

We can read the whole of this psalm together.

Psalm 29, a psalm of David.

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings.

Ascribe to the Lord, glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord, the glory due his name.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters.

The God of glory thunders.

The Lord over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful.

The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars.

The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf.

And Syrian like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.

The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth.

And strips the forest bare.

And in his temple all cry, glory.

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood.

The Lord sits enthroned as king forever.

May the Lord give strength to his people.

May the Lord bless his people with peace.

Then we turn to our second reading in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament.

And we read in Hebrews chapter 12 and at verse 25.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 12 at verse 25.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.

For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth,

much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

At that time his voice shook the earth.

But now he has promised.

Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.

The phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things that are shaken.

That is, things that have been made.

In order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

And thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe.

For our God is a consuming fire.

Amen.

And may God bless these readings from his word.

Before we come to look at, in particular, Psalm 29, we are going to again sing to God's praise.

This time in Psalm 107.

In the Scottish Psalter verse in Psalm 107.

And at verse 23.

Singing down to verse 30.

Psalm 107 at verse 23.

We sing from verse 23 to 30.

To the tune Torwood.

And we stand to sing.

We go to sea in ships and in great waters trading me.

Within the sea.

Within the sea.

These men go to sea.

And his great wonders see.

For he called man stand forth in place.

The stormy tempest flies.

The stormy tempest flies.

Which shakes the sea with rolling waves.

A love to spend the rise.

They mount to heaven.

They mount to heaven.

They mount to heaven.

They mount to the rest.

They do go down again.

Their stormy.

The stormy temos got to heaven.

Their stormy Yes.

This is as fair.

ям a love to spend it.

They rely low on high heat.

We'll answer like one drunk, a fair which then they lead.

Then they do all in troubled pride, who then from strays doth fear.

The star is changing to a crown, but it's all man and will.

So that the waves which rage before, not quiet, not still.

Then our day but the host of rest, and quiet now they be.

So to the heaven he embrings, which they desire to see.

Well, our main focus this evening is going to be on Psalm 29.

But just to take with us into that psalm the words that we read in Hebrews as well,

especially maybe verse 25 there.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.

For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth,

much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

There in the Hebrews, the writer is warning the people of a coming day,

a day when the earth will be shaken,

and our only place of refuge will be in the Lord.

And he's warning them to listen to the one who is speaking.

And as we turn to Psalm 29, there we find the one who is indeed speaking.

For you see the phrase used throughout this psalm,

the voice of the Lord.

And it's the voice of the Lord that is over the whole of creation.

The voice of the Lord that is crying out to people everywhere.

And this is the voice that we are to heed.

Psalm 29 is a psalm again with that image behind it,

one of the shaking of the whole of creation,

and the devastation that a storm brings upon creation.

And in the past week, we have realized again just how the seasons change,

and how we enter into the stormy seasons once again.

We can enjoy relative peace, as it were, over the summer months,

although even then we're not immune to storms and gales coming upon us either.

But in these times, as we move into these months,

and around the world, we start to see that the seasons change.

And in this last week, we've seen it locally ourselves,

with the gale that came through on Friday.

And we've seen it far and wide as well in the United States,

with the hurricane that passed through there,

and the devastation that that brings.

There are these storms in life that will always come our way.

And sometimes it's impossible to shelter from them,

or to get out of the way of these storms.

We find ourselves caught up in them in many different ways.

We don't want to be a people who are out at sea, for example,

when these storms come.

Ferries don't sail.

There's not much movement around the coast.

But even on land as well, we don't want to be caught out in the storm.

We want to find a place of shelter and a place of peace.

And that's the warning that we have in Hebrews that we read there,

and also in the psalm.

There are many situations that we can find ourselves in.

And we can turn to the psalms and find in the psalms

similar experiences in the lives of others.

We can often enter into the experience of the psalms

and relate to it in our own experience in life.

They help us to understand how to deal with things.

And they speak to us so much of the reality of the world that we live in.

And you often see the psalmist using the illustrations from around him

to remind us of a greater power.

And so often the psalmist uses the illustrations of the natural world.

And it highlights so much to us.

When you think of the power of storms and gales and hurricanes,

typhoons, tornadoes, all of these things,

they leave a devastation behind them.

But again, when we look at the psalms,

they speak of these things, but maybe in a different way.

And at times it's in a way that we don't maybe see

as powerful as the natural world.

And yet there's a greater power behind them.

There's a greater storm being spoken of here.

And the psalmist uses the illustration of the natural world

to remind us of the Creator.

The Lord, whose voice it is, that is over all things.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters.

The God of glory thunders, it says in verse 3.

The Lord over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful.

The voice of the Lord is what's calling to us.

Now, in our day and age now, we see storms come.

And they are given a name.

The hurricane in the United States was Hurricane Ian.

And they've got a whole season of hurricane season

where each hurricane will have a name.

The same as the storms that will come our way

during the winter months as well.

They'll all be given a name.

And if you want to give a name to the storm

that is being spoken of here in the psalm

and the book of Hebrews,

it's the storm judgment.

The storm is judgment.

And that day when the Lord is going to come

and judge all his people.

Again, we just say for a minute that the psalms,

they use the imagery to remind us of the greatness of God.

In Psalm 8, the psalmist says,

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name

in all the earth.

The psalmist is lifting up his eyes

and seeing the heavens created by God

and the way his name is spread all over the world.

Psalm 19 uses the imagery of the sun and its warmth.

The heavens declare the glory of God

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

There are these ways that we see the calmness of creation

and the beauty of the Lord.

But there's other ways, as we saw in Psalm 107,

where it speaks about the Lord

who causes the waves to rise, the storms to come,

and the Lord who is able to bring peace.

Psalm 65, verse 3 says,

Psalms 65:3

When we were overwhelmed by sin and guilt upon us lay.

The psalmist there is speaking about the flood.

We were overwhelmed by the waters of sin.

There was nothing that we could do

to stop that flood coming upon us

unless the Lord intervened.

And the psalm goes on to show that.

And here in Psalm 29,

we have this illustration from the natural world,

a time of a great storm.

And it's teaching us,

I want to see three things this evening.

As we think of this storm called judgment

and the devastation that that can cause to us.

Unless we find refuge,

this psalm is reminding us of how to be prepared

and to weather that storm

and to come through that storm

with the peace that only God can give.

So today, despite the storms that we see around us

and despite us going into another stormy season,

we can come and see that there is peace

to be found with God from this storm judgment.

And the three things I want us to see in this psalm,

how it tells us, first of all,

the way to be prepared.

If we know a storm is coming,

we prepare for it.

The second thing we see in this psalm

is the powerful reminder it gives

of the devastation that this storm brings.

We see that in verse 3 through to verse 9.

But then at the end of the psalm,

in verse 10 and 11,

we see that we can find peace and strength.

And that we can find that in the Lord.

And all of these are related

to listening to the voice of the Lord.

So the first thing we see is

to be prepared for the storm.

And the way to be prepared,

as the psalmist is making clear for us here,

is to be prepared by praise.

If you know a storm is coming,

we often get warnings days in advance now

that storms are coming.

And if we know a storm is coming,

what do we do?

We make sure that everything that was loose

and outside, maybe over the calm summer months,

that it's put away inside,

it's put somewhere safe,

that things are tied down.

One of the greatest things that you often see

storms take with them is trampolines.

You often see it in the news

where trampolines are seen rolling down the road.

And so if you've got a trampoline

and you know a storm is coming,

you tie it down or you take it down.

You do everything that you can

to be prepared for this storm coming.

You make sure you are ready as you can be for it.

And as we think of that preparation,

how do we prepare for the storm

that this psalm speaks of?

How do we prepare for the storm called judgment?

Well, the psalm here begins

with the theme of worship.

Ascribe, it says to the Lord,

O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.

Worship the Lord in splendor of holiness.

And in the book of Hebrews chapter 12,

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

we read quite similar things there as well.

It speaks in verse 28 about us being grateful

for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken

and thus let us offer to God

acceptable worship with reverence and awe

for our God is a consuming fire.

Both of these texts are speaking about

the devastation that the Lord can bring.

And living in light of that

and the fear of the Lord

being prepared for this storm that's coming.

The Lord is a gracious God.

He gives time.

He warns us of this time that's coming,

this storm that comes.

But he's saying that we are to be prepared for it.

And as you look at the Psalms here,

and as you look at David's day,

the problem with the people was

they were not prepared.

They were not ready for this storm coming.

God was not their refuge and their strength,

as Psalm 46 says.

Instead, they were putting their confidence,

their trust, their strength,

and giving glory to the idols

and everything else that they worshipped.

They were giving false worship to false gods

when God the Lord was there for them.

And they were ignoring the warnings

that he was giving.

David, in writing this Psalm,

makes it clear that there is no other

who is due praise like the Lord.

That's the theme that you see throughout this Psalm.

The glory is due to God.

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.

And it goes on then with the voice of the Lord.

The Lord speaks,

and yet the people are choosing to ignore this voice.

And so the question for us

as we are thinking of preparing for storm judgment

is are we giving the Lord the glory

that is due to his name?

Are we ascribing to the Lord

the glory that only he deserves?

Giving glory and strength

that is due to his name.

The way to prepare for this storm

is to be ready by worshipping God

with all our heart.

By him being the centre of everything

that our life revolves around.

When you see a weather warning,

you prepare for it.

You listen to it.

You pay great attention.

This time of year,

we start looking more and more to the forecast.

Every time we're going to travel somewhere,

we check the winds

to see if there's going to be a gale

or rain or whatever.

But as we are as diligent,

are we as prepared for this storm?

Are we heeding the weather warning

that the Lord gives us?

Are we preparing for this storm of judgment

over our lives?

Are we listening to the voice of the Lord?

There was a hurricane

that hit the United States

on the 21st of September 1938,

many years ago.

But for years after,

people were speaking about it

because of the severity of it,

but also just how quickly it hit.

They knew a storm was coming,

but they hadn't expected it to be a hurricane.

They hadn't expected it to be quite as serious

as it turned out to be.

There wasn't the same advance warning

that we have today.

It wasn't tracked by satellite

for the week before seeing its track.

But they knew something was coming,

but they hadn't prepared.

There was a story told of one man

who lived in Long Island,

close to New York.

And just the days before,

he had bought a barometer.

That's what tells us

how the weather is going to be,

what the pressure is doing,

and what we can expect from the weather.

Well, on the morning of the 21st of September,

the barometer arrived at his house.

A nice, calm morning.

And when the man unpacked the barometer,

he was so disgusted.

He was so annoyed with what he saw.

He saw the barometer,

and the needle was pointing so low,

pointing to stormy weather.

And he said,

this cannot be working.

There's something wrong with this.

It's such a fine, calm day outside.

So in his disgust,

he packed it up,

and he went back to the post office

to send it back to where it came.

It took a little over an hour

to get to the post office,

and yet in that time,

before he got back to his house,

his house had been devastated

by the hurricane

and blown away.

The storm came so quickly.

He had the warning in his hands before him,

but he chose to ignore it,

thinking it wasn't right,

that there was something wrong with it.

He ignored it,

almost threw it away.

And that's the reality for ourselves

so often just now.

We hear the warning of God.

We hear the voice of the Lord,

but we don't believe that it's true.

We don't believe that this could possibly come our way.

Not yet.

Maybe sometime in the future,

something's going to happen,

but we have such days of peace just now.

But do we?

The warnings are all around us.

The voice of the Lord,

as it goes on in this,

thunders in many different ways.

And to us,

it is thundering in many different ways just now.

But we're choosing to ignore it.

We're choosing to throw it away.

You know,

on Thursday evening,

standing outside,

you would think to yourself,

there's a storm coming.

There was hardly a breath of wind.

But we hear the saying so often,

the calm before the storm.

And sure enough,

through the night and into the morning,

the wind got up,

the rain came,

and you could hardly stand outside the next morning.

That's the reality for us today.

The warning is there to be prepared,

to be ready for the storm of judgment.

It's the calm before the storm.

But in the calm,

we are to make ready

and to heed the word of God.

The scripture tells us

to build our house upon the rock.

So when the storm comes,

we're prepared,

we're ready.

And what is the rock?

Who is the rock that we are to build on?

The rock is Jesus Christ.

He is the only one

who we can find refuge in

for the storm of judgment.

The second thing we see here

is a powerful reminder.

From preparing for this storm,

we move into verse 3 to verse 9.

And you see just how powerful

this storm is that it arrives.

It's one that the voice of the Lord

goes forth so dramatically.

And again, it ties in so closely

with what Hebrews is saying to us as well.

It's talking about this shaking

that's going to take place.

And if you've ever been in a storm

of any great magnitude,

even just popping your head outside

on Friday morning,

you hear the wind whistling and howling.

And there's something frightening

about that wind noise.

There's something frightening

about being in the midst

of this storm.

But imagine the storm

that the Scriptures speak of.

The storm called judgment.

And what it'll be like

to be in the midst of that.

It's not the howling wind

you're going to hear.

You're going to hear the voice

of the Lord.

In the same way as the psalmist here

describes the voice of the Lord

over all things

and the power and devastation it brings.

The voice of the Lord

on the day of judgment

is going to do one of two things.

It is either going to bring you peace

as you hear the voice

of the one who is your Lord.

Or it's going to bring terror

because you don't know

the voice of the Lord

as your Lord.

But he's going to speak.

He's going to speak powerfully.

He's going to speak loudly.

He's going to speak clearly.

And he's going to say

one of two things.

On one hand,

to those who are his own,

he says,

Come.

Come,

you who are blessed.

But on the other hand,

he says to those

who have ignored his voice,

he says,

Depart.

Depart from me.

I knew you not.

And so it is what we do

in our preparation

and preparing for that day

that affects how this storm,

what devastation

it's going to leave for us.

Will we know the peace of God?

Or will we know the devastation

and terror of the voice of the Lord?

Look at the voice of the Lord here.

It's described in two ways for us.

First of all,

it's described as powerful.

And you see the way the voice of the Lord

goes over all things.

Over the waters.

The God of glory thunders over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,

those trees,

the cedars of Lebanon,

famous for their strength,

famous for standing strong.

The Lord will destroy them.

It says,

The voice of the Lord.

It flashes forth flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness,

the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes a deer give birth.

There's such a shock,

such a power in this voice of the Lord.

And the power that it does,

it strips the forest bare.

All of this devastation that it brings.

We've seen in the news in these past days,

the devastation of the hurricane in America.

It wreaks havoc.

It leaves a great trail of destruction behind it.

The voice of the Lord is even more powerful.

In the devastation that it's able to leave behind,

it's a powerful voice.

God's voice is seen from the outset of Scripture.

Scripture, when you go back to the book of Genesis,

it is the voice of the Lord

that speaks everything into creation.

And it's the voice of the Lord

that is going to bring things to an end.

The voice of the Lord is powerful.

The power of God is seen in His voice.

A powerful judgment.

And you heard the voice of the Lord.

You have.

For the voice of the Lord is speaking even now.

The word of God is His word to us.

It speaks powerful.

It speaks wisely.

It speaks truth to us all here this evening.

This is a powerful voice.

But we thank God that just as it is powerful,

it is a voice full of majesty.

In verse 4, it describes the voice of the Lord in these two ways.

The voice of the Lord is powerful.

The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The Lord has graciously spoken.

The Lord is still graciously speaking.

He speaks to us in our days of calm,

in our days of peace.

He speaks an invitation.

He speaks an encouragement.

He speaks a blessing to us.

So may we heed that voice of the Lord.

Because God's voice is heard through the scriptures.

Calling people to Himself.

Calling people to find refuge before this storm comes.

To find in Him the one who is able to give salvation.

In the book of Hebrews, in the beginning of that book,

in chapter 1, verse 1, it starts by saying this,

Long ago, at many times and in many ways,

God spoke to our forefathers by the prophets.

It goes on though,

But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son,

whom He appointed the heir of all things,

through whom He also created the world.

He has spoken to us through His Son,

so powerfully.

The great invitations of the Lord Jesus to come.

Come, all who labour, and I will give you rest.

Come to the banquet.

Come to the waters.

Come and take.

The invitation goes out.

We hear the voice.

And so later on in Hebrews, in that verse we read,

it says,

See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking.

For if they did not escape when they refused Him

who warned them on earth,

much less will we escape if we reject Him

who warns from heaven.

His voice to us will be final.

So are you hearing the majestic voice of the Lord calling on your life,

calling to find shelter,

to find refuge in Him?

He says,

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

He says,

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

Come unto me and rest.

Lay down, O weary one,

lay down your head upon my breast.

I came to Jesus as I was,

so weary, worn and sad.

I found in Him a resting place,

and He has made me glad.

He is the only place we can find,

that place of security,

that place of peace.

The voice of the Lord is powerful,

but the voice of the Lord is majestic.

It is full of grace just now.

May we heed the voice.

What's the response of the people here in verse 9?

It says,

In the temple,

all cry glory.

All cry glory.

A storm can leave us with a sense of awe.

The power of the natural world,

but behind that is the power of the Creator.

The one who made all things.

And any storm should leave us saying glory.

God is in it.

And this storm of judgment,

may we be found to say glory to God,

who remembered us.

For the last thing we see in this psalm

is a peace that is found.

In verse 10 and 11,

it says to us,

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood.

The Lord sits enthroned as king forever.

May the Lord give strength to his people.

May the Lord bless his people with peace.

God is on the throne.

God is king over all,

forever it says.

And that's the one who is able to give peace

and to give strength.

Psalm 107 shows us

the picture of calling on the name of the Lord

in the midst of the storm.

And the Lord changing that storm

into a calm.

And bringing the people

into that desired haven,

that haven of rest.

The same picture with the disciples

who were with Jesus in the boat

in Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

As we were passing over to the other side

and across the sea

and a great storm arose,

who spoke the voice of the Lord.

And what did he say?

Peace, be still.

The voice of the Lord

is able to bring that peace.

The disciples were in awe.

They cried out,

Who is this?

That even the wind and the waves obey him.

That is the power that he has.

And tonight as we come

to look for a place of peace,

a place of shelter,

it is to find it in the Lord.

Peace with God is not something

to be taken for granted.

It is something we don't deserve.

Our sin destairs the destruction

of judgment.

But God, by his grace,

delivers us from our sins

through faith in Jesus Christ.

So as we look to the one

who bore our sin,

as we look to the cross at Calvary,

as we see the one

who takes away the sin of the world,

the Lamb of God slain,

does that leave us

with a sense of wonder.

Wonder that he would do that

for you and for me.

The wonder that he would bear

our sin.

Even before the crucifixion,

the disciples saw the glory of God

in Jesus Christ.

There in the storm,

in Mark 4,

they said,

who is this?

And another time

in the Gospel of Luke,

Luke 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

there in the first number of verses

in that chapter,

you read of Jesus

calling his disciples.

And they see the power

that he has

as they're out fishing.

And they say,

we've labored all night

and we caught nothing.

But at your command,

at your voice,

we let down our nets.

And they had a great haul

of fish,

we're told.

And what does it do

to Simon Peter?

It says of him in verse 8,

but when Simon Peter saw it,

he fell down at Jesus' knees,

saying,

depart from me,

for I am a sinful man,

O Lord,

unworthy of it.

And yet,

as we've seen,

as we're looking at the study

in Peter,

the love

that Jesus showed to him,

undeserving as he was,

he knew the grace

of his Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace

is something

that we are to desire

and long for.

And the peace

is found

in Jesus Christ.

The more we see

our sin,

the more we should see

our need of a Saviour.

The more we know

the storm that's coming,

the more we should be prepared

for when it comes.

Because a storm

called judgment

will come.

We may enjoy calm

just now,

but it's just the calm

before this storm.

And the voice of the Lord

is saying,

be ready,

be prepared,

for this storm

will bring

great devastation.

but through me

he is saying,

you may know strength,

you may know peace.

Worship

the Lord

with the glory

that is due

to that name.

Bow the knee

before him,

unworthy as we are,

and cry for mercy

to him

while we have

opportunity.

Hebrews

and this psalm

both speak

of this great

shaking

that is to come.

But they also

speak

of the wonder

of our God

who saves.

May the Lord

give strength

to his people.

May the Lord

bless

the people

with peace.

That is a God

who is powerful

but majestic

and patient

and long

suffering.

But he is

calling us

now,

now

to find

peace

in him

before

the storm

comes.

May we offer

to him

an acceptable

worship

with reverence

and awe

for our God

is a consuming

fire.

In that day

may we know

his refuge

and strength

and not

the full wrath

of his judgment

for we take heed

of the warning

of the storm

that is coming

and are prepared

by trusting

in him.

Let us pray.

Our Father

in heaven

every warning

we have

is an opportunity.

We are given

direction

in your word

to find

that place

of refuge

and a place

that is found

only in Christ

Jesus

your son.

And so we pray

that you will help us

to be prepared

for that day

that's coming

for the storm

of judgment

that we would not

be overwhelmed

by it

but that we would

find in you

both refuge

and strength

the voice

that is powerful

the voice

that is majestic

speaks

so give us

ears to hear

and we ask it

in his precious

name.

Amen.

We are going

to conclude

by singing

to God's praise

in Psalm 84

in the Scottish

Psalter

Psalm 84

page 339

of the Psalm book

we are singing

at verse 8

to the end

of the Psalm

Lord God

of hosts

my prayer

hear

O Jacob's

God

give ear

see God

our shield

look on

the face

of thine

anointed

dear

we'll sing

from verse 8

to the end

of the Psalm

the tune

is

weather

be

and we stand

to sing

to God's

praise

Lord God

of hosts

my prayer

and hear

O

take

love

song

give

ear

sing

to h tard

Father, shield, look on the face of thy anointed ear.

For in thy course one day excels a thousand rather in.

My God's arms will my King adore and dwell in tents of sin.

For God the Lord's a sun and shield in grace and glory day.

And will the faithful know him from there as the bright He did.

O thou that art the Lord of hosts, the man is truly blessed.

Who I trust you, the hope of grace.

On thee, hallowed, O praise.

After the benediction, I'll go to the door to my right here.

Let's close with the benediction.

Now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore.

Amen.