The mountains do not mind the storms.  There have been many storms upon these rocks.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Brionne)

    “Then the Lord will appear over them, and His arrow will fly like lightning. The Lord God will sound the trumpet and advance with the southern storms.”
              –Zechariah 9:14 (HCSB)
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I hope you have noticed that I always try to start the week, Monday, with a thought about the Psalms.  With Dorian on the horizon of many people on the east coast this Psalm is very appropriate.  David, being a shepherd, and then a soldier, knew about living outside through storms.  He may have found refuge in caves, or he may have just had to hunker down, let the storm blow through, then look around and pick up the pieces.  Take a look now at Psalm 29 (HCSB).

    1 – Ascribe to Yahweh, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
    2 – Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due His name; worship Yahweh in the splendor of His holiness.
    3 – The voice of the Lord is above the waters.  The God of glory thunders—the Lord, above vast waters,
    4 – the voice of the Lord in power, the voice of the Lord in splendor.
    5 – The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
    6 – He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion, like a young wild ox.
    7 – The voice of the Lord flashes flames of fire.
    8 – The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
    9 – The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the woodlands bare.  In His temple all cry, “Glory!”
   10 – The Lord sat enthroned at the flood;  the Lord sits enthroned, King forever.
   11 – The Lord gives His people strength; the Lord blesses His people with peace.

It was just last week when we planned on going swimming.  We had just gotten in the pool, when “CRACK”, lightning sounded.  It scared my youngest and I’ll tell you, it got my attention as well.  Lightnings and thunder are a way we hear the voice of God.  Being from Colorado, I have seen and been in some terrific lightning storms.  I was playing ball, when lightning hit, I saw another time lightning strike the breaker box for the lights on a baseball field and burn a hole through the metal.  I have been in the high country hunting, with it lightly snowing and all around lightning was flashing.  It can be an scary thing, it is always an awesome thing as is the voice of God.
    David is showing us here that we should react with awe, but not in panic for the power of the storm simply shows His power and holiness.  Maybe if we would see lightning and thunder as God’s holiness we would act more reverently and become more holy ourselves.  Look at the throne of God as seen in Revelation 4.  It should bring awe and wonder to us.  Storms can be fearful things.  I read where Caesar Augustus would wrap himself and hide in a corner during a terrible storm.  Parents may try to calm their children, by saying the thunder is just God moving His furniture in heaven around.  
    But after the storm there is a calm and freshness.  I love the smell after a rainstorm.  They can bring devastation, so keep that in mind when you look at the holiness of God.  Those who do not choose to surrender to Him are asking for the storm of devastation to descend upon them.
    As Christians, however, we do not have to fear, in fact, we should not fear.  Jesus is Lord over any storm:  physical, emotional, or spiritual.  His voice is predominate in any storm, therefore, do not let your focus be on the terrifying elements, but listen for the voice of the Lord.  One day everyone whose name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will hear the terrifying voice of the Lord.
    So now, when you find yourself in the midst of the fury of a storm think of the holiness of God.  When you see the lightning flashing, recall verse 7, “The voice of the Lord flashes flames of fire,” or another version the NLT puts it this way, “The voice of the Lord strikes with lightning bolts.”  Then rest upon the last verse of the Psalm, “…the Lord blesses His people with peace.”  We can, we should, have peace in the midst of the storm.

              “From every stormy wind that blows,
               From every swelling tide of woes,
               There is a calm, a sure retreat:
               ‘Tis found beneath the mercy seat.”
                        –Hugh Stowell

There is a weariness of the flesh, and that can be borne.  Beyond that is a weariness of the bone, far harder to abide, but possible.  But the final weariness, of the nerves and brain, when a man may at any moment pitch unconscious from the saddle, is the worst and most unendurable torment.”
              –Paul I. Wellman  (The Comancheros)

       “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”
              –Hebrews 12:3 (NKJV)
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I had a couple of dogs once.  They were good dogs, when they came into the house, which was seldom, they would not leave the rug that was by the door.  However, they had one major problem–digging.  They were constantly digging up the yard, especially under the fence where they would get out and run. It cost one of them its life for someone shot it.  I finally had to get rid of the other dog.  What a mess they would make.
    Now there is a time to be digging holes and ditches.  There is a purpose in doing it; I’ve dug plenty in my time.  In fact, one summer I worked for a landscaper and it was my primary job to dig ditches.  We put in sprinkler systems, planted trees and shrubs, dug out other trees and shrubs.  It was a summer of digging.  But always with a purpose.
    Throughout the years I have noticed that many people, and I’ve done it myself, have dug ditches, trenches, and holes for themselves.  Sometimes I look and it seems as if they are trying to dig clear through the earth to China.  We dig ourselves into a hole, some of them so deep that we can’t climb out.  Then were are forced to sleep in that ditch.  (Maybe this don’t fit here, but it’s good to ponder:  someone once told me that a rut was simply a grave with both ends cut out).  
    We make mistakes, we find ourselves in a ditch, and instead of owning up or climbing out, we just keep on digging.  The ditch gets longer and deeper, and before too long we find we can’t climb out.  Then instead of working our way out, we sit down, grab our knees and begin a pity party that often leads to the deeper ditch of depression.  The thought comes to our mind, “you made your bed, now sleep in it.”  This becomes our motto, our creed for living.  That thought becomes embedded in our minds and we continually go on digging and digging and living with our mistakes.
    Hold on!  Don’t get me wrong.  We are responsible for our actions; we are accountable for our digging.  But there is another factor that we often forget about.  Even with the consequences of our mistakes Jesus is there reaching down to help pull us out of the ditch.  Our “ditch-digging” doesn’t have to haunt us the rest of our life, affecting our attitudes and lives.  Jesus promises a fresh start and He’ll even help wipe the dirt and mud off that has clung to our clothes.  
    Listen, I know, sometimes the ditch becomes too deep and when we look up all we can see is sky, and then we hope it doesn’t rain so far our ditch doesn’t become filled with mud.  Look closer and see that hand that is reaching for you.  We can’t get out, but if we grasp the hand of the Lord he can lift us up.  It reminds me of the words of the old hymn, “He brought me out of the miry clay….”  And those mistakes of the past; He can even use them and turn them into something good.

The Lord never gives us a job to do without He gives us the strength to carry it out.”
              –Elmer Kelton  (The Buckskin Line)

    “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
              –2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NKJV)
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There is a Scripture that should sober us; it should give us cause to tremble.  

         “You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?  It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men.”
                   –Matthew 5:13(HCSB)

Just how salty are you?  How salty is the church today?  Has it become so complacent, has it so compromised that it is no longer recognizable as being different from the world?  Does it seem that man is trying to trample the church down into the dust?  If so, they wake up!
    I guess it is true–things do not change.  If you read of the apostasy of Israel then compare it to the apostasy that is taking place in the church today there is little difference.  An apostate does not fall into sin, they throw themselves into it.  They become blatant.  Have we changed our God for the gods of the secular humanist or the cosmic humanist?

         “‘Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods?  But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit.  Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate,’ says the Lord.”
                   –Jeremiah 2:11-12(NKJV)

God tells those in heaven to be shocked at what is taking place.  When man calls good evil and evil good it is time to be shocked.  It is time to stand up and be salty instead of joining in with the cultural relativism of the day.
    It is important to understand, realize, and grasp that worship is a lifestyle.  There is not a “time of worship” on Sunday morning in church, but worship is your life and its relationship to God.  Know this–you worship your God/god by behaving as He does.  Hmmm, does your life then show signs of pagan worship, or the very least of tolerating it?
    Part of losing one’s saltiness if not necessarily not “worshipping” God, but worshipping Him in the wrong manner.  The people of Israel never forgot Yahweh, but they borrowed rites, practices, and idols of the pagans and brought them into their worship.  They began to tolerate what God said to destroy.  They began to accept what God said to hate.  They compromised when God called them to wholehearted obedience.  Instead of being controlled by the truth of Scriptures, they were controlled by their opinions and impulses of their sinful natures and those around them.
    Notice, at the beginning I did not ask how salty the Church (capital C) was.  For the true, living Church, the body of Christ will remain true no matter what culture and society thinks or says.  The true Church will not cave in to compromise and bow down to the false teachings of political correctness.  Jesus said, “I am the truth…” and the true believer in the Church of living God will continue to say, “thus saith the Lord”!