The Voice of Peace

 Don't you love the Psalms?  I do.  They constitute my safe place.  When anxiety, fear and worry start crawling down my spine, I open the book of Psalms and there I find a perfect place to hide until the storm passes.  I read one after the other until my heart settles into a more rhythmic pace, enough to help me even take a restoring nap.  Today, I read Psalm 29 and a reminder came to me:  The Lord's Presence brings peace.

What I want when I am immersed into those moments of intense worry is peace.  Only that peace that transcends all understanding can sooth my soul.  Circumstances may not always change, but the peace of the Lord makes everything bearable.  And where do we find that peace like a river?  In His Presence, of course.  But, how do we perceive His Presence?  I believe, Psalm 29 is saying, we find His Presence in His Voice.

Ascribe to the Lord, you 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 his holiness.


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.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”


The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;

the Lord blesses his people with peace.

The Voice of the Lord is what we need in order to remain in His Presence and be able to dive into His Perfect Peace.  But, where do we go to hear His Voice?  The only place I know for sure is to His Word.  If there is a place where I can be certain that the Voice of the Lord is speaking directly to me is in the Bible.  Reading Scripture is like making a direct call...no operator, no receptionists...we have the Lord's Direct Line, which we can dial any time to hear His Voice...and His Voice is Powerful and Majestic.  And in His Voice we find the blessing of His Peace.  In His Word He tells us that He is enthroned over all the storms as the Eternal King.  In His Word He tells us He is the Giver of Strength and that All Glory belongs to Him.  In His Word we invites us to worship Him in the splendor of His Holiness.  In His Word He calls us to seek refuge in Him.

In His Word we Hear His Voice and we find His Peace.  May the Holy Spirit always lead us back to Scripture, the place where we can be sure we hear the Voice of the Lord.  In the Precious Name of Jesus, the One Who Calls us His Own.  Amen!