1 The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. 2 Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.
4Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the LORD on high is mighty!
5Your decrees are very trustworthy;
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, forevermore.
A few years ago, my family and I decided to visit the beach over the Christmas break. It is about a 75-minute drive from my house. The weather was stormy but my children, home for the holiday, wanted some beach time. We packed up the rain gear and headed out, found a place to park near one of the jetties and started walking. First, we went out on the jetty. The waves were high. We came back and walked up and down the beach, finally circling behind a tall dune and through a park that lay just off the beach. As we were returning to the car along the road to the jetty, we were confronted with a surge of seawater coming down the road along followed by several damp and bedraggled fellow hikers. An unusually large wave had crested the jetty, inundated the parking lot, and strewed softball sized stones across the road. Had we still been on that jetty, it is likely we would have been swept away.
The psalmist speaks of floods lifting their voices and roaring. That moment served remind all of us of just how small we were in the face of the ocean. If you want to see some dramatic pictures, search the internet for images of the king tides which are striking the Oregon and Washington coast this fall and early winter. The psalmist notes that those powerful forces of ocean and wind acknowledge the greater power of God. Mightier than the thunders of many waters and mightier than the waves of the sea is our mighty God. So, praise God today for His great might, but even more praise Him that His decrees are trustworthy. For one of those decrees was spoken in your baptism.