7 Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
a blast of heat to him.
8 Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.
9 He stretched out the heavens and came down;
murkiness was beneath his feet.
10 Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.
12 Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him
and rained down hail and burning coals.
13 The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
his lightning flashed, and they were greatly confused.
15 Then at your command, O LORD,
at the blast of your breath,
the bottom of the sea was seen,
and the foundations of the earth laid bare.
(Psalm 18:7-15 DKB translation from literal Hebrew)
Mighty God:
From Masada David saw a volcano blast the sky;
yes, volcanoes shook Israel in the Halocene.
But one eruption in particular inspired Psalm 18.
The birds were first to sense the pressure,
shrieking calamity, taking flight,
winging southwest to Aqaba.
Then stacked amphora chattered their alarm,
barely noticed, tinkling, rattling,
now falling over, tumbled, broken
something seismic growing stronger,
spilling wine and sleeping men from beds;
water dancing in the sisterns,
now the mountain lurches, a wall cracks,
vibrations, like a woman's birth pangs,
increase the tempo of sheer terror,
men are yelling, shouting orders,
but barely heard above the chaos
of mountains quaking, breaking ... (v.7)
... and then silence...
for just a moment.
All look around, up, then down,
and then ... The Sound.
They had no words to describe
the ferocity of the VAAAROOOOMMMM,
the loudest they ever heard,
rippling the sky in a shock wave,
rumbling, thumbling,
coming from some distance, still,
the force to throw men backward,
bracing falls with arms outstretched,
and to the northeast horizon,
a flash and smoke and fountains of fire, (v.8)
a bomb in Gilead.
David's men point to the eastern sun,
enveloped in cloud, peeking out (v.9)
now and then from the glooming.
East winds hit the firery column,
rising, bending, streaking smoke ,
like a smudge above the mountains,
as if a mighty seraph pulls a chariot, (v.10)
and leaves a trail of ash and fire.
Then burning coals plop-plop like rain,
catch alight the grassy rooftops,
blaze a storehouse filled with grain.
Then the thick cloud of choking dust (v.11)
drives all to shelter in the cliff face,
more shakings and new tremors,
sounding like the voice of God, (v.12)
moments before a wave of smoke and heat
sweeps across the valley floor and up,
burning, searing, gaseous billow;
men with scarves over faces,
peer from deep shadowed caves (v.13)
and see the Dead Sea crater bottom, (v.15)
as deep as Masada height.
Such signs Moses saw on Sinai,
lightening, cloud, and fiery wind.
So David sees a prophetic vision
in this cataclysmic morning,
a theophany, a revelation,
of deliverance for God's people,
those who trust God alone to save; (v.4-6)
when God's people are safely gathered, (Heb 9:28)
comes this blast of destruction
and Messiah's epiphany.
Jesus used imagery from this Psalm
to describe his second advent,
when He returns with power and glory,
to rescue his beloved bride
and take possession of the Earth.
Shaking moutains, fire from heaven,
skyward signs herald the end of epoch,
destruction of the Halocene.
Such forces as can destroy the world
lie deep within its molten core,
orbit in the asteroid belt,
rocks colliding, bumped from orbit,
on an earth-bound trajectory; (Rev.18:21)
each event fits the Lord's scenario
that accompanies his return --
exploding dust and ash
turn the moon to blood, blot out the sun, (Mark 13:24-27).
pyroclastic Armageddon.
So the Scriptures the end portray,
when the last man has been betrayed,
and the world helpless cowers
in the fire of meteor showers,
Jesus then will appear
and by His Word the sky will clear (2 Peter 3:10)
and the sea will disappear (Rev. 21:1)
to make room for new Jerusalem,
coming as a bride adorned
for her husband, for her Lord. (Rev 21:2)
Save us from all fearfulness.
Save us from all faithlessness.
Let courage be our watchword always,
for we trust your timing and grace.
Help us not to love this world
except as creation bears You witness,
and at that hour of Earth's demise,
when Your wrath shall be unloosed,
we will then know the whole Truth,
we shall with upturned eyes
behold Him who was our sacrifice,
Jesus Prophet, Priest, and King
our righteousness, our everything.
Amen.
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