Control

1 Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD strikes
with flashes of lightning.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
11 The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

--Psalm 29

We think we are in control. We think we are slowly gaining more and more control of our surroundings. The ancients understood the world to be under God's control. Drought, famine, rain, plenty--were all at the whim of God. God was in control and deserved praise. But our modern world has squeezed Him out. We have conquered nature. We sit in our heated or air conditioned homes. We travel the world in a day. And we feel in control. But come on. A friend of mine was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We are not in control. One patch of black ice or a poorly timed cell phone call--we are not in control. And even aside from the dramatic, there was a period in my life when within a year I picked up the phone to make calls that would radically have altered the course of my life, but stopped. If I had or hadn't waited a day or two longer maybe I'd have come to a different conclusion and now be somewhere totally different. We are not in control. I was browsing through a bookstore with a friend. He pointed out a book about a guy he'd heard something about whom I'd only barely heard of. I bought the book on a whim. Two years later I almost moved to England to study the guy. We are not in control. We arrogantly turn from God when we should gather in his temple and cry "Glory." And when we do, he gives us peace.