“Psalms 29:7: “The voice of the Lord divided the flames of fire.”
There are many interpretations of this Psalm. One is that it is referring to God making a covenant with man. Some commentators say David is making a reference to the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace (although David lived long before this event). The most common interpretation is that David wrote this Psalm before a thunder storm. The fires of flame were representative of the lightning and the voice of God was the thunder.
The Midwest has been hit with unusual amounts of thunderstorms lately and the other night during one of those storms I sat on my porch pondering Psalms 29:7. Is it possible that David or the writer of this Psalm was reflecting on a thunderstorm? It is possible that it was a thunder storm that prompted this Psalm? If so one is still left wondering just what David was implying about the nature of God and his relationship with man in this verse. In ancient times lightning and thunder were said to be the gods battling against each other. As we in the Midwest were reminded recently, lightning and thunder are an awesome event and does remind one of how powerful God really is.
A demonstration of God’s power may be the literal meaning but I think David saw a lot more than that in this. David was the king of one of the most powerful nations in the world. Maybe he saw himself as the flames of fire being divided. That word divide in Hebrew is chesev which means to be cut, be destroyed or hewed by the voice of God. David flashes his lightning and God responds with his thunder which cuts him down to size. The word is spelled with a Cheth which has the idea of joining oneself with God. This is followed by the Sade which represents humility and the Beth which speaks of the heart. In other words, God’s voice draws us away from our own splendor and humbles us before God.
Numerically the word for fire ’esh has a value of 301 (Aleph = 1 and Shin = 300). The word for making one fearful is miraim which also has a value of 301 (Mem = 40, Yod = 10, Resh = 200, Aleph = 1, Yod = 10 and Mem = 40). Fire has a way of making you fearful. The blazing or the flame comes from the word lehev which comes from an old Canaanite word for the glittering of the sun off a sword. The flames of fire could be a picture of those fears that constantly wear us down. As I sat on my porch watching one of our fiercest thunderstorms of the season I think I began to understand what David was talking about. I would feel very peaceful, then all of a sudden, without warning there would be a flash of light. Then a few seconds later a tremendous clap of thunder. I thought how I have been living my life the past few months. I would feel peaceful one moment and then all of a sudden there would be a disturbance to my sense of peace, almost like a warning, like the flash of lightning is the warning of the coming of the thunder. I would hold my breath waiting for that thunder to fall.
As a king, David lived with constant fear, for his life, his kingdom and overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility. Perhaps as he sat watching the thunderstorm he saw the lightning flash and it caused him to think about how he could be so at peace one moment and then like a lightning flash he is reminded of some serious problem or situation that he had to confront. Then suddenly right after that flash of lightning there was thunder, almost like the voice of God cutting or destroying that fearful or distressful situation.
The voice of God is interesting. True there are occasions when the voice of God boomed out and people thought it was thunder. An example is at the baptism of Jesus or the mount of transfiguration. But we also find that the voice of God can be a still small voice. The word voice is qol which simply means a noise, a sound, or a report. The three letters to the word for voice Qof, Vav and Lamed would represent a unification between God and man through the receiving of divine knowledge. This bears out when you consider the numerical value of qol which is 136 (Qof = 100, Vav = 6 and Lamed = 30). The word for he is known is venudo which also equals 136 (Vav = 6, Nun = 50, Vav = 6, Daleth = 4 and Ayin = 70). This word comes from the root word yoda which means knowledge and strength. This knowledge or yoda is a deep and intimate knowing.
The voice of God can represent an intimate knowledge of God and this intimate knowledge of God destroys all your fears and distresses As David watched the display of a thunderstorm, and wrote these words: “The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire,” he may have been dwelling on one of the many stresses he was feeling as a king and then looked up and saw the flash of lightning and then hearing the thunder he was reminded that he was intimate with a powerful God who could destroy the lightning of his fear and distress.
Have you ever sat out under a porch during a thunderstorm. Try it sometime. There is something very uplifting about a thunderstorm. For one thing, I read where there is a release of ozone which causes a chemical reaction in the human body to create a very positive or euphoric feeling. Couple that with a picture of the power of God’s voice overpowering your fears and distresses and you have God sending you a special message. At least for me as I sat under that storm I felt God was giving me a message that I had nothing to fear he has everything under control. He will fight for me. Maybe the next time you sit under a thunderstorm, don’t follow the metaphor that stormy times are ahead for you, but rather think of it as God is fighting for you or doing battle for you.
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