Prophesy About the Character of Yahweh

Scripture:
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Psalm 107:28-29

Observation: The psalmist sings this song of faithful Jews put out to sea. A storm rises and they are distressed; their courage melts away. They have no ability or skill to survive, but when they cry out to the Lord, he responds. He calms the storm with mere gentle words, and the sea and storm obey.

This is exactly what happened with the disciples and Jesus. They were on the sea and the storm rose. In the midst of the storm their longtime skill as fishermen was overcome by the waves, and they became very fearful. Then they cried to Jesus, and with gentle words he calmed the storm.

The psalm is to be a metaphor of how, in the midst of one's storms of life and living in fear, those storms and fears can be calmed by the gentle love of the Lord, simply by reaching out to him. Then, this very psalm became a prophesy, predicting the actions of both the believing disciples and Jesus. And of course, that act of Jesus becomes again a metaphor for our lives, with the exact same message as the psalm, this time for all Christians and not just Jews.

Application: It is said that, for everything in the New Testament, there is a 'type' of it in the Old Testament. This is both a type, and a prophetic vision. As a type, this is a passage that provides the same provision and promise, which is that the in the midst of life's storms, the Lord will hear our cries for help, and from his outpouring of love he will redeem us.

As a prophesy, this is a little different than others. This prophesy doesn't say, "in the future the Messiah will do the following." Instead, it says, "let me tell you a hypothetical example of what the Lord is like, and then someday when the Lord actually comes to earth in the form of Messiah, he will prove this correct by actually doing the exact thing I describe." In other words, the psalmist/prophet isn't given a word of prediction, but instead is given an insight into the character of Yahweh that he can explain through demonstrated action.

The Lord responds to problems in my life when I cry out to him. We praise him in our storms for this. This is more than just a demonstrable action of Christ, but a key element of the Lord's character that believers have understood for millennia.

Prayer: Lord, you are so loving that you cannot help but save us in our troubles. I thank you for that. I praise you today in the calm of my life, for I know storms will come, and I will cry out to you and praise you then as well. Amen.