I was not home when it began to rain and for the first time the rain spilled from one of the passages into a kitchen then to the sitting room.
It was the first time this will happen since I came into the apartment. It was a torrential downpour; the whole place was filled with water.
While I was coming home late that night, I had to pass through a place where there was a large drainage leading to a stream. The floor was so much that I was terrified by noise that I felt like running. The water gushed out with force and it was as if it would run over its banks towards me. I was afraid.
It was then that Psalm 93:3-4 made a lot of sense to me. It says,
“The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea” (NKJV)
Obviously, the writer was in the midst of some floods. He must have experienced floods from rain or travelled on the sea. He was accustomed with the sounds of storms and waves. Another way to look at this Scripture is that maybe the Psalmist found himself in a life situation that can be likened to the floods.
I also experienced floods that night and I knew how I felt when I saw the speed and force with which the water was running. There was panic as the noise terrified me. It was as if something was going to happen to me.
There are times in our lives when we experience floods too. I am talking about experiences replica to floods of rain. It could be floods of lack, debt, delay, unemployment, discouragement, fruitlessness or sickness. There are times when you are in situations and it seems as if the storms, floods and waves of life will carry you away.
There are moments in our lives when the voice of the challenges we are facing can silent the voice of the Lord and the Lord seems so far away. You cannot hear Him. You cannot see Him. You cannot feel Him. All you see, hear and feel is fear; the fear of the unknown and the fear of failure. You feel hopeless, depressed, and discouraged.
You will likely begin to think something is wrong with you. You will beat yourself up and blame yourself for all the failures you have experienced. You will regret some actions you have taken and some you did not take. If this condition is not addressed quickly, it can lead to despair.
The Psalmist, also in a similar situation went to the Lord and cried out,
The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
Paul also experienced the storms. Jesus and his disciples also experienced the waves of the sea.
Floods, storms and waves are sometimes normal on the sea of life. We may experience the floods and waves in different degrees but no one is completely spared of it. On the sea of life, the key to victory is both prayer and preparations against those floods, waves and storms.
With reference to Jesus’ illustration recorded in Matthew chapter seven verses twenty-four to twenty-seven, both houses - the one built on the rock and the one on the sand were tested with the flood, the rain and the storms. What made the difference was the preparation (the foundation).
Our responsibility is to go to the Lord just like the Psalmist and report to Him. The apostles also went to Him when they were in the same crisis. Unfortunately, most of us worry and complain instead of praying. We allow the floods to get into the boat and we begin to drown. The floods and waters of fear get into our soul and we begin to sink. Peter began to sink when he took his gaze off the Lord and began to consider the storm.
What floods are you experiencing right now? I will ask you to go to the Lord and report it to Him. Tell him just like the Psalmist did,
The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
As the psalmist began to report the case to the Lord in verse 3 of Psalm 93, certain things began to happen;
- His gaze shifted from the flood to the Lord. He no longer saw the floods; he began to see the Lord. Verse 3 began with ‘the floods’ while verse 4 began with ‘the Lord.’ Our challenges become miniaturized before the Lord when we go to Him. His glory swallows our gloom; His light consumes our darkness.
- The floods were the ones that were lifted up in verse 3. The flood was on high but in verse 4, the Lord had taken over. The Lord was now on high. The Psalmist realized the situation was not as bad as He thought when He came to God’s presence. It was not as high because the Lord is higher.
- In verse 3, the flood was said to have a voice but before the Lord, the voice became a noise. The Psalmist in verse 4 said, “The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters…” The voice of fear is not from the Lord It is a noise meant to silence the voice of the Lord over your life and situations.
- Moreover, the Psalmist said the Lord is mightier than the noise of many waters. At first, he was magnifying the strength of the floods but later he could see that the lord is mightier than the noise of many waters.
I can tell you that the Lord on high is mightier than the floods and noise of many waters that you may be experiencing right now. He is mightier. He is bigger. He is greater than whatsoever may be your experience.
Our responsibility is to go to Him and lift Him up. Take note that the Bible did not say, “The Lord is mightier…” It says, “The Lord on high is mightier….”
What is the implication of this difference? I infer that the reason we do not see the Lord act on our behalf is that we have not put Him in his rightful place. He has to be on high before He can act. We have to acknowledge his lordship over all the things.
Isaiah saw his woes and had an encounter that transformed his life but the first was that he “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1).
It is time we put Him in his rightful place in our lives. You must lift Him on high with your prayers, with your worship and with your life. Do not wake Him up with complains like the apostles but with your praise. He is the Master of the sea; the billows will obey Him.
Your victory depends on what you focus on. When you cast your gaze consistently on the Lord, you will realize that He is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.
