Psalm 107.23-32
Luke 8:22-25
Our Psalm begins with business, and it ends with praise:
V23 ‘Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters’
V31 ‘Let them thank God for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind’.
It is not that business is wrong. It is just that there is something that is bigger.
And what happens in between the business and the praise:
There is the sea the encounter with God. He takes them down and he lifts them up.
The Sea helps us to see
1. It helps us to see our vulnerability
The sea is vast, seemingly unending. It dwarfs us, everything that we have created or built. It is a reminder that we are so small.
And on a stormy day, we encounter the overwhelming power of the sea.
We try to tame the sea: with our huge vessels [on our visit to Stavanger we saw the huge hotel ships – some of you may have been in them] and rigs.
But however big your ship or your rig – when that storm comes there is nothing that you can do.
Or we build our sea defenses. But when the floods come, again there is nothing we can do.
And we realise how small we are. And it is a bit scary.
Most of the time we can curate the sea. But we cannot control the sea. If you do not fear the sea, if you do not treat it with the greatest respect, you are a fool. And there are moments when it blows.
No wonder the ancients feared Poseidon
No wonder that for ancient Israel, the sea was the symbol of separation and chaos. It was the place of uncontrollable sea monsters, the great Leviathan. Even in Revelation, when John is trying to describe heaven in human language, he says that there will be ‘no sea’: in other words, no demons, no chaos, no separation.
I don’t know whether seafarers are more religious than others
They do say there is no such thing as an atheist in a rubber dinghy in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.
But the sailors in Psalm 107 certainly saw their vulnerability
‘They reeled, and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits end.’
2. The sea, if we are prepared to look, shows us the greatness of God.
Romans 1:20 states, “Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things God has made.”
The sea shows the beauty of God.
There are those who say that beauty is cultural. I dispute that. I challenge anyone from any culture at any time not to look at the sea on a calm sunlit day and deny that it is beautiful. And through the sea we can begin to see the beauty of the one who created the sea.
The sea gives us a glimpse of eternity.
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| 'The Calming of the Storm' from the 'Holkham Bible Picture Book', c.1327–35, Unknown English artist. Illumination on parchment, 285 x 210 mm, The British Library, London. A commentary can be found at Calming the Storm | VCS. |
Our Psalm begins with business, and it ends with praise:
V23 ‘Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters’
V31 ‘Let them thank God for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind’.
It is not that business is wrong. It is just that there is something that is bigger.
And what happens in between the business and the praise:
There is the sea the encounter with God. He takes them down and he lifts them up.
The Sea helps us to see
1. It helps us to see our vulnerability
The sea is vast, seemingly unending. It dwarfs us, everything that we have created or built. It is a reminder that we are so small.
And on a stormy day, we encounter the overwhelming power of the sea.
We try to tame the sea: with our huge vessels [on our visit to Stavanger we saw the huge hotel ships – some of you may have been in them] and rigs.
But however big your ship or your rig – when that storm comes there is nothing that you can do.
Or we build our sea defenses. But when the floods come, again there is nothing we can do.
And we realise how small we are. And it is a bit scary.
Most of the time we can curate the sea. But we cannot control the sea. If you do not fear the sea, if you do not treat it with the greatest respect, you are a fool. And there are moments when it blows.
No wonder the ancients feared Poseidon
No wonder that for ancient Israel, the sea was the symbol of separation and chaos. It was the place of uncontrollable sea monsters, the great Leviathan. Even in Revelation, when John is trying to describe heaven in human language, he says that there will be ‘no sea’: in other words, no demons, no chaos, no separation.
I don’t know whether seafarers are more religious than others
They do say there is no such thing as an atheist in a rubber dinghy in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.
But the sailors in Psalm 107 certainly saw their vulnerability
‘They reeled, and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits end.’
2. The sea, if we are prepared to look, shows us the greatness of God.
Romans 1:20 states, “Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things God has made.”
The sea shows the beauty of God.
There are those who say that beauty is cultural. I dispute that. I challenge anyone from any culture at any time not to look at the sea on a calm sunlit day and deny that it is beautiful. And through the sea we can begin to see the beauty of the one who created the sea.
The sea gives us a glimpse of eternity.
Of course it is not eternal. There will come a day – billions of years from now – when there will be nothing. But as we watch the waves ebb and flow – through it we are given a glimpse of one who is eternal.
And the sea gives us a glimpse of the God who is powerful.
The Psalmist writes that it is God who ‘commanded and raised the stormy wind’. It is God who ‘made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea hushed’.
We know today more about storms than them. We know about weather patterns, depressions, currents and the impact of the warming of the seas. (I say ‘we’: collective we!)
But the Psalmist is convinced that it is God who created those processes, who controls them and who can, seemingly, and in a way that is beyond our understanding, override them.
And that is important.
Because if we are in a storm that is going to overwhelm us, and if in the end this world is ruled by natural forces that have come about by blind fate, we are – and I am putting this technically – stuffed.
And the sea gives us a glimpse of the God who is powerful.
The Psalmist writes that it is God who ‘commanded and raised the stormy wind’. It is God who ‘made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea hushed’.
We know today more about storms than them. We know about weather patterns, depressions, currents and the impact of the warming of the seas. (I say ‘we’: collective we!)
But the Psalmist is convinced that it is God who created those processes, who controls them and who can, seemingly, and in a way that is beyond our understanding, override them.
And that is important.
Because if we are in a storm that is going to overwhelm us, and if in the end this world is ruled by natural forces that have come about by blind fate, we are – and I am putting this technically – stuffed.
But if you are in an overwhelming storm and you trust that behind all of this there is a God – and a God who loves you – there is some hope. There is one to whom you can cry out.
And whether the answer is the answer that Jonah received, which saw him thrown into the depths of the water and into the deep pit of the belly of the fish; or whether the answer is the calming of the storm, it is OK.
Because God is bigger than the sea and he is bigger than the storm. He is bigger than life and he is bigger than death. And he loves us.
3. The sea, if we are prepared to look, points to the glory of Jesus.
The disciples have followed Jesus. He has told them to get into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake. Jesus falls asleep. And the storm comes and ‘they were in danger’. The boat was filling up with water and it was overwhelming them.
Those of them that were fishermen were used the sea of Galilee for business (for fishing and trading). And although it is a lake and not a sea (it is fresh water), it is large and the winds can whip down and create terrifying storms.
And they call out to Jesus.
I am not sure what they expect him to do.
Probably to help with the rowing, or to help bail – or maybe to make him realise just how foolish he had been to make them set off at that time. ‘You are sleeping and we are going to die because of you’.
But he does so much more.
He calms the storm.
And then he asks them, ‘Where is your faith? I was with you. I may have been asleep, but I was still there and I was in control.’
I don’t know whether you noticed in the picture that I sent out with the weekly update, that remarkable C14th image – incidentally the earliest image of the calming of the storm that I have come across – from the Holkham Bible (and I never even knew there was one!) But in that picture, amidst the chaos, Jesus is asleep, but his left hand is over the side of the boat and he is calming the waves.
There will be a time when there is danger. When a different kind of storm threatened to overwhelm Jesus and his followers. It was when Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, just before they arrested him and took him away to crucify him: ‘Father, take this away from me – but not my will but your will be done’.
Then he called on his followers to be awake. And they slept.
But now the disciples are in awe of him: ‘Who is he? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’
Jesus has just done what God does in Psalm 107.29
‘He brought them out from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed’.
Today we give thanks for the sea and especially we thank God and pray for all who make their living from the sea. We thank God for the improved safety measures aboard ships. Last year, 2024, according to commercial maritime industry data, only 5 people died. There is probably significant underreporting, but it does contrast with the over 8000 migrants who globally died attempting to cross the seas.
But I pray that God will open our eyes, so that as we look at the sea, we will see our vulnerability, the wonder of creation, and that we will be given eyes to see 'the eternal power and divine nature' of the creator.
And whether the answer is the answer that Jonah received, which saw him thrown into the depths of the water and into the deep pit of the belly of the fish; or whether the answer is the calming of the storm, it is OK.
Because God is bigger than the sea and he is bigger than the storm. He is bigger than life and he is bigger than death. And he loves us.
3. The sea, if we are prepared to look, points to the glory of Jesus.
The disciples have followed Jesus. He has told them to get into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake. Jesus falls asleep. And the storm comes and ‘they were in danger’. The boat was filling up with water and it was overwhelming them.
Those of them that were fishermen were used the sea of Galilee for business (for fishing and trading). And although it is a lake and not a sea (it is fresh water), it is large and the winds can whip down and create terrifying storms.
And they call out to Jesus.
I am not sure what they expect him to do.
Probably to help with the rowing, or to help bail – or maybe to make him realise just how foolish he had been to make them set off at that time. ‘You are sleeping and we are going to die because of you’.
But he does so much more.
He calms the storm.
And then he asks them, ‘Where is your faith? I was with you. I may have been asleep, but I was still there and I was in control.’
I don’t know whether you noticed in the picture that I sent out with the weekly update, that remarkable C14th image – incidentally the earliest image of the calming of the storm that I have come across – from the Holkham Bible (and I never even knew there was one!) But in that picture, amidst the chaos, Jesus is asleep, but his left hand is over the side of the boat and he is calming the waves.
There will be a time when there is danger. When a different kind of storm threatened to overwhelm Jesus and his followers. It was when Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, just before they arrested him and took him away to crucify him: ‘Father, take this away from me – but not my will but your will be done’.
Then he called on his followers to be awake. And they slept.
But now the disciples are in awe of him: ‘Who is he? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’
Jesus has just done what God does in Psalm 107.29
‘He brought them out from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed’.
Today we give thanks for the sea and especially we thank God and pray for all who make their living from the sea. We thank God for the improved safety measures aboard ships. Last year, 2024, according to commercial maritime industry data, only 5 people died. There is probably significant underreporting, but it does contrast with the over 8000 migrants who globally died attempting to cross the seas.
But I pray that God will open our eyes, so that as we look at the sea, we will see our vulnerability, the wonder of creation, and that we will be given eyes to see 'the eternal power and divine nature' of the creator.
I also pray that we might see the God who loves us, and the glory of Jesus
And I pray that as we use the sea, whether for business or travel or recreation, and as we experience the storms and the calms, as we ‘mount up to heaven and go down to the depths’ (Psalm 107:26), that he will give us grace to call on him, and that he will give us ‘quiet’ and bring us to our ‘desired haven’ (Psalm 107.30). The English word is the clue!
And then, there we will praise.
“Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders’ (Psalm 107:32)
And I pray that as we use the sea, whether for business or travel or recreation, and as we experience the storms and the calms, as we ‘mount up to heaven and go down to the depths’ (Psalm 107:26), that he will give us grace to call on him, and that he will give us ‘quiet’ and bring us to our ‘desired haven’ (Psalm 107.30). The English word is the clue!
And then, there we will praise.
“Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders’ (Psalm 107:32)
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