Psalm 29

There have been so many times, especially as I’ve navigated my recent health adventures, that you could overhear me saying something like, “I haven’t heard the audible voice of God BUT I do hear and see Him move through the love, care, and support of others.”

And while I wholeheartedly believe that God does speak most often through our relationships, as I read Psalm 29, I have to admit that it makes me think deeper about how God’s voice shows up all around us in different ways.

In The Message translation of Psalm 29 verses 3-4 it says:

God thunders across the waters, Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness—God, across the flood waters.

God’s thunder tympanic,

God’s thunder symphonic.

And in the NIV translation (because reading multiple translations helps me better understand scripture) it says it this way:

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.

These verses were an incredible reminder to me that God doesn’t just speak through others; He speaks loudly, powerfully, and tympanically (yeah, had to look that one up, haha) through other channels - even, and maybe most awesomely, through things in nature like thunder!

My 5-year-old son Taj has also reminded me of God’s ability to speak through thunder. Well, more accurately, the band Imagine Dragons has helped my son remind me, because his favorite song is called - you guessed it - “Thunder.” I love watching him shake his head and move his little body to the music. Hearing him sing is yet another way I hear God’s “symphonic” voice, loud and clear.

Maybe today we won’t hear God’s audible voice.

BUT!

Maybe today we can open our ears just a little bit further to His “…thunder [which] sets the oak trees dancing…” (Psalm 29:9).

And!

Just maybe, like my son Taj inspires us to do so often, you too can even dance along.

If you’re in need of hearing God’s thunderous voice in your life today in the form of clarity on what to do next, relief from a sickness, or simply being reminded of your immeasurable worth, try reading Psalm 29 slowly and in a different translation than you usually do. I find the use of new and different Biblical translations helps scripture come alive in new ways that help me understand God’s guidance even more clearly.

Use it as your prayer today, asking God for His voice to become audible right here, right now.

Kyle Moss

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