Beauty and Power

A short time ago, I took a morning stroll—a nice 2.5 mile-long stroll (give-or-take a few feet). I meandered along local roads I’d never been on, walked a hidden trail in the woods, and made quite a few older ladies nervous by being the stranger to walk down their street, provoking their dogs to bark while the suspicious elders peeked through their curtains at me, scowling.
But that wasn’t the point of my walk. Instead, I was seeking to explore, first of all. And I was seeking to spend some time with God.
After awhile, I opened up my pocket Bible to Psalm 29. It read,

1Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD strikes
with flashes of lightning.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
11 The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

It’s a beautiful psalm, to be sure. But I couldn’t help but be a little surprised when I got to verse 9. “Hang on a second,” I thought, “Why are the people praising God while it seems as though a tornaquake…er, a hurrinado…um, I mean an earthicane—while natural disasters are going on right and left?” I don’t know about you, but if there’s a tornado going on, more than likely I won’t be crying out, “Glory!” I’m thinking it’d be more along the lines of “God, please don’t let me die yet!”
But the images painted by this passage aren’t about judgment or wrath or fear. I mean, they could be about any of these, but I don’t think that’s why everyone is praising God. Notice the words used—words like “splendor” and “glory”. Psalm 29 is about the absolutely enthralling, over-powering, all-engulfing Beauty of God.
And yes, that’s Beauty with a capital B, as in Actual, fully-real, 100%, pure Beauty. See, one cant’s see beauty without seeing Beauty—not truly. The beauty of this world cannot be fully appreciated without appreciating its Designer. And that’s what’s going on here. Fearing for one’s life aside, the raging power of the overturned elements is enough to get one to notice and, at least in some sense, to contemplate The Designer.
I mean, think about it. What power over beauty do we have? Can we really make beauty happen? After all, this world operates by natural laws we have no real control over. We can affect them, but we can’t control them. For example, think about the plant in your garden. You can water it, you can give it sunlight, you can prune it—you can do all the right things, but natural laws in effect are what actually determine the success of its growth. Ultimately, beauty is something we have no control over. Beauty is in God’s hands.
Now, sadly, the common definition of beauty often takes God out of the picture. Beauty is reduced to something shallow—something merely on the surface. Behind the elaborate décor of buildings are thin walls and plywood. Towering columns that look like marble are merely plastic fronts around central poles. And in terms of people, beauty is reduced to the false perfection of the outermost layer. Digital imagery allows the enhancement of facial features in print. The accentuation of the human form becomes the standard of beauty. And when all is said and done, beauty becomes only a façade. Minus the depth of True Beauty, the world becomes a shell of its truest self. And so do we.
As I pondered these things about beauty, I realized that, since you can’t truly appreciate beauty without appreciating the Designer, you have to come to terms with Faith. And Psalm 29 shows us a picture of faith. The people in verse 9 aren’t celebrating their strengths, their weaknesses, or their abilities. They aren’t even celebrating themselves. Instead, they’re celebrating God, and His power, splendor, and beauty. Faith is not believing I am capable of something. It is believing He is capable of anything. Sometimes, one thinks of faith as a hidden, seldom used power, and that if we could just really grasp it, we would have no limits. “Just believe, and you can do whatever you put your mind to.” Faith alone is powerless, just like beauty without God is only skin deep. Power—like Beauty—comes from what you have faith in, and that Power has a will of its own. God is Power, and Power can only be served, not owned. God is untamable and fierce. If you don’t believe me, try ordering a tornado around. Try stopping a hurricane. Try keeping the ground still during an earthquake. We aren’t really in control at all. That leaves us at His mercy. Depending on how you take that, it’s the most Beautiful position to be in.