“For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.” Psalm 107:25-30
When Jesus calmed the storm with just a word of command, the disciples marveled and asked one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41). When the storm swept up on them and threatened to fill their ship they were afraid. But when Jesus calmed it, they were terrified.
Most likely those twelve Jewish boys thought of Psalm 107 and they realized that only the LORD – the covenant God of Israel – could calm a storm like that. So somehow, in this rabbi from Nazareth, the LORD had come to live among them!
Consider the Biblical presentation of the sea, representing chaos, disorder and evil.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” Revelation 21:1
The first verses of the Bible and some of the very last verses frame the whole revelation of the Bible with God bringing peace and order to chaos and disorder. This article reviews a 2019 book by Sidney Greidanus – From Chaos to Cosmos: Creation to New Creation.
This verse [Gen. 1:2] describes total chaos, piling up five words that will be used later in Scripture either individually or in combination to refer to some forms of chaos: “without form,” “void,” “darkness,” “the deep,” and “the waters.”
Sidney Greidanus, p. 29
This is the work God is doing – bring order and harmony into a world of brokenness and pain. One day He will complete that work by destroying the world and re-making it without sin, suffering or death. Until then, we are His agents to bring love and light into places of darkness and evil.
Psalm 107 presents the four points of the compass as four directions people run from the Lord. Come Sunday (8/28/22) to hear God calling us back from these four deadly traps.
The Eastern Desert of Emptiness (v. 4-5)
- We wander in the barren wilderness of stubborn Self-reliance (Jer. 17:5)
The Western Stronghold of Slavery (v. 10-12)
- We hide in the dark cell of secret Self-indulgence (Ps. 32:3-4)
The Northern City of Temptation (v. 17)
- We struggle with the consequences of refusal to Repent (1 Cor. 11:30)
The Southern Sea of Chaos (v. 23-27)
- We stagger, gripped by fear of surrendering Control (Jonah 1:13-15)
Psalm 107 presents the Lord as the One who transforms everything.
“He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants. He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.” Psalm 107:33-35
And that is how the New Testament presents Jesus – the fountain of living water! He is the One who can calm every storm – speaking peace and life into the chaos and distress of our lives.
Are you ready to stop running east and west, north and south?
Are you ready to come home?